NY GOP Dropout Backs Dem Over Palin Fave

Hoffman looks to pick up Scozzafava's supporters

(NEWSER) - With late polls inconclusive, Josh Kraushaar of Politico runs down five things to watch in the NY-23 congressional race as returns filter in:

• Dede Scozzafava's supporters: The big question is whether independent-minded GOP voters will go to her endorsed candidate, Democrat Bill Owens, or Conservative Doug Hoffman. Results from her stronghold of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties will tell the tale.
• Syracuse region: This is neutral turf, and Hoffman needs "a decisive victory" here if he hopes to win.

Limbaugh: VP should 'reacquaint himself' with Constitution

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden took aim at a variety of GOP and conservative opponents today at a rally for New York congressional candidate Bill Owens. The VP said Conservative candidate Douglas Hoffman was “handpicked” by Rush Limbaugh, adding that Hoffman is in line with conservatives like Sarah Palin who “will not tolerate” dissenting views, the Watertown Daily Times reports. Stand back! More»

Conservative gets a boost, but maybe not a very big one

(NEWSER) - Republican Dede Scozzafava's surprise decision to suspend her congressional race in New York leaves Conservative Doug Hoffman to battle Democrat Dan Owens. Here's what the political blogosphere is saying:

• Nate Silver , FiveThirtyEight: "Gun to my head? Sure, I'd take Hoffman at this point." But it's not that cut and dried: Most conservative Republicans had already defected to Hoffman, so the gain may not be that big.

Democrat Owens is already sworn in, but absentee ballots remain

(NEWSER) - An odd twist in that closely watched congressional race from upstate New York: Even though Democrat Bill Owens is already sworn into office to represent NY-23, the state is still counting the ballots—and the margin between him and Conservative Doug Hoffman is shrinking. At last count, Owens led by about 3,000 votes, meaning the race will be determined by 10,000 or so absentee ballots yet to be counted, reports the Syracuse Post-Standard . More»

Polling guru gives a post-mortem on last night's elections

(NEWSER) - The numbers are in, now it's time to make sense of them. Nate Silver breaks down last night's election results:

• Don’t blame Obama; Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine were probably just weak candidates. In New Jersey, 57% of voters approved of Obama, but 27% of those supporters voted Republican anyway. In Virginia 20% of those who approved of Obama voted GOP.
• Democrats had turnout problems in Virginia; the voters who came out last night supported McCain 51-43 in 2008, a mirror image of that year's margin.