Story Published:
Oct 31, 2009 at 9:48 AM EDT
Story Updated:
Oct 31, 2009 at 8:00 PM EDT
Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign, in the wake of a new political poll that contains devastating news for her.
A tearful Scozzafava broke the news to supporters Saturday morning at her campaign headquarters in Watertown.
She is not endorsing either of the two other candidates - Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democratic Party candidate Bill Owens.
"It's clear the campaign is lagging," Scozzafava told 7 News. "It was time to do the right thing, which is to release the Republican County chairs, they've stood by me this entire time, and let them do what's best for the Republican Party."
The Siena College poll puts Owens at 36 percent, Hoffman at 35 percent (which is a statistical dead head) and Scozzafava far behind at 20 percent.
To quote from the poll press release:
Owens has increased his lead among Democrats, while Hoffman has taken the lead with Republicans and maintained his lead with independent voters. Hoffman has widened his lead in the southern portion of the district, as Owens’ lead in the eastern part of the district has narrowed and Scozzafava’s strong lead in the western portion of the district has virtually disappeared, although she maintains a narrow lead. By a 51-29 percent margin, likely voters have an unfavorable view of Scozzafava, while both Hoffman (41-37 percent) and Owens (40-36 percent) receive slightly favorable ratings from voters.
“Unfortunately for Assemblywoman Scozzafava, this has become a two person race between Owens and Hoffman,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg. “She now has the support of only one in five voters, having gone from 35 percent support to 20 percent support since the beginning of the month."
Scozzafava was the odds-on favorite to replace John McHugh when the campaign began, but fell to a concerted attack from Democrats and, in particular, a wave of conservative anger at some of her positions.
"My whole career has been guided by principal and I believe living my personal life and I'm guided by my faith," Scozzafava told 7 News reporter Rachel Kent Saturday morning.
"You've got to do the right thing."
"Sometimes things happen for a reason and I just have to believe that right now," she said.
Owens has shown slow, steady momentum, particularly with Democratic and independent voters, according to the Siena College poll.
With the exception of Democrats, however, Hoffman has picked up considerable steam with voters of virtually every demographic, and particularly with Republican, younger and Catholic voters.
"He has picked up 10 points in the region he does best in, 12 points in the region Owens wins and 15 points in Scozzafava’s home territory,” Greenberg said.
Share Your Thoughts for Your Turn
