Update from NY-25
As usual, there’s a lot going on in race for NY-25. The Republicans *still* don’t have a candidate in the race. The Walsh Watch found an article about a potential self-funder who might run on the Republican side. I think a self-funder makes a lot of sense here: Maffei already has 400K plus cash on hand and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a 30 million dollar cash-on-hand advantage over the National Republican Congressional Committee (which may get larger as the NRCC financial scandal grows) so any Republican is going to have find a way to get his hands on beaucoup de Benjamins to make the race competitive. A self-funder also makes sense because self-funders are, by definition, suckers. Any experienced politician knows that NY-25 is tough hill for Republicans to climb in 2008 — it’s an open set in a Democratic district in what’s shaping up to be a Democratic year for Congress. Some low level local politico might take a flyer on it but it’s hard to see a top-tier Republican throwing his hat into the ring.
WalshWatch also has his list of possible candidates, which includes former State Senator Nancy Lorraine Hoffman, who started out as a Democrat and switched parties once she got to Albany. If you grew up in the 315 in the 70s and 80s — as I did — you probably remember her “Nancy Lorraine, she’s a woman on the move” song. It’s a classic of the genre.
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I’m not sure he is a self funder. He hasn’t donated a dime to any campaigns and from what I can tell he rents a place in the City of Syracuse. The article makes it sound like its his company, but it also says he is a vice president, which doesn’t quite make sense to me. On the other hand, I still think he has a good profile, I doubt without the endorsement he could raise the money though.