House GOP Makes it Rain for Tedisco
Reid Wilson reports that 82 House Republicans have donated to State Rep. Jim Tedisco’s campaign for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D) vacated seat in New York’s 20th Congressional District. The reason:
“„Though officials at the NRCC warn the race will be close, privately Republican strategists say a loss would be devastating. Republicans hold a wide voter registration advantage in the district, and before Gillibrand beat an ethically tainted incumbent in 2006 Republicans had held the seat since the 1970s.
The marginal benefit of one extra Republican congressman, in a district that will very likely get chopped up in 2011 redistricting, is not enough of a reason for all of this. It’s about enthusiasm and momentum: a Tedisco win means one or two news cycles about the “Republican comeback,” and a defeat means the opposite, plus donor panic about the GOP.
