Free Republic

Senator Gretchen Hoffman isn’t letting police union opposition to a gun bill she sponsored get to her. Instead, she’s focused on the voices of support she’s received on a piece of legislation she’s dubbed the “Stand Your Ground” bill. The bill (SF 1357) expands gun owners’ self-defense rights. Currently, the use of deadly force is authorized when a person believes they are in danger of bodily harm or death, but the new bill presumes that threat may be posed by a home invader. It also eliminates residents’ “duty to retreat” from a threat if possible, instead allowing deadly force. The...

Russia’s national parliament, the Federal Assembly, has voted to restrict abortion for the first time in decades, in the face of a demographic decline that has reduced the population by 2.9% since 1992. The new law, which is expected to be signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, prohibits abortions beyond the 12th week of pregnancy, and imposes a mandatory waiting period of between two and seven days. Exceptions are permitted for economic hardship, which allows abortions up to the point 22 weeks of gestation. Join a Facebook page to end abortion here. Legislators discarded proposals by the Orthodox Church to...

Gingrich rips Paul Ryan's plan, then backpedals... Gingrich backed RINO establishment candidate Scozzafava (who later withdrew and threw her support to the Democrat candidate) instead of giving his support to the independent conservative, Hoffman, back during the 2009 special election; then Gingrich backpedaled over that. Winks and nods to the Republican and Democrat establishment followed by grinning mea culpas for the benefit of conservatives. Par for the course...

A Democratic congressman who backed Speaker Nancy Pelosi for minority leader said Monday it is "quite possible" he might vote for Republican John Boehner for Speaker in the next Congress. Rep. Bill Owens (N.Y.) said he voted for Pelosi (D-Calif.) for minority leader in a House Democratic caucus meeting last week, even though he thinks she is too liberal. But Owens said he is open to supporting Boehner, whom House Republicans designated as the next Speaker, when the full House votes next year.

SARNAC LAKE, Ny -- Failed Congressional candidate Doug Hoffman is calling for unity after Democrats take New York's 23rd Congressional seat once again. He is also taking shots at the GOP establishment in the North Country. Plattsburgh Democrat Bill Owens managed to hold onto his seat over Watertown Republican Matt Doheny in Tuesday's general election by a mere 37 hundred votes. Hoffman is being blamed for the Republican's loss. Hoffman managed to garner more than 9,000 votes, even though he had dropped out of the race. Hoffman, who lost to Doheny in the GOP primary back in September, remained on...

Or so implies Andrew J. Hoffman, current sitter in the cushy Holcim chair at the University of Michigan, and writer of the peer-reviewed (I'm guessing) article "Climate change as a cultural and behavioral issue: Addressing barriers and implementing solutions". This sonorous creation resides in the journal Organizational Dynamics. The publisher of that august serial, Elsevier, thinks so highly of Hoffman's prose, that the article can be had for a mere $39.95. A bargain! Hoffman, who not un-coincidentally has the look, mannerisms, and speech cadence of a television evangeli$t, has a deep, but narrow faith. He is certain sure that It's...

The NRCC provided a polling memo that showed Doheny ahead of Owens 51 percent to 37 percent. The poll, however, was conducted Sept 22- 23, before conservative Doug Hoffman suspended his campaign this week. Hoffman, who was running on the Conservative Party ballot line, threatened to draw significant support away from Doheny in what is a Republican leaning district. While Hoffman is no longer actively campaigning, his name will still appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Earlier this morning Doug Hoffman announced he was dropping out of the race and is supporting my candidacy for Congress to take back the 23rd. I am deeply appreciative of Doug’s support. Now, more than ever, Republicans, Conservatives and independents are united in our efforts to defeat Bill Owens in November. Thank you for all your support. Please read a copy of the article that appeared in this morning’s Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Hoffman out of Congress race SARANAC LAKE — Doug Hoffman has dropped out of the race to represent New York’s 23rd Congressional District. Hoffman’s name will still appear...

Tea party may stop backing Hoffman 23RD DISTRICT RACE: Upstate group may now support Doheny By JUDE SEYMOUR TIMES STAFF WRITER SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010 One hundred tea partiers made Douglas L. Hoffman's Republican candidacy possible. Now 1,000 are considering whether their group should help get his opponent elected in the 23rd Congressional District. Members of the Upstate New York Tea Party, Plattsburgh, overwhelmingly supported Mr. Hoffman over fellow Republican Matthew A. Doheny during a May poll. But with Mr. Doheny holding a 582-vote lead with 1,969 absentee ballots to be counted in the GOP primary, Chairman Mark L. Barie...

Businessman Matt Doheny's GOP primary victory Tuesday night sets Republicans up for a case of déjà vu in upstate New York's 23rd district. Doheny led accountant Doug Hoffman 53 percent to 47 percent when the race was called with just over 93 percent reporting. But Hoffman holds the Conservative Party line and has promised to campaign through November. That would create the same scenario that helped Rep. Bill Owens (D) win last year's special election against Hoffman and Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava.

Doheny is +60 in Jefferson County. Watertown Daily Times says Doheny is up over all +19. Lots of ballots to count…

Long notes Doheny called Scozzafava “terrific” in a July 23, 2009 Watertown Times article and pledged to do “everything I can for her and more.” He subsequently contributed $2,400 to Scozzafava’s campaign – the maximum allowed by law.

Washington -- A year ago, Doug Hoffman could do no wrong in the eyes of conservative Republicans, who viewed the political newcomer as a rising star, the darling of the tea party movement. As a third-party candidate seeking an open seat in the 23rd Congressional District, his anti-Washington message resonated from Upstate New York across the nation. A conservative group honored him in Washington with its Charlton Heston “Courage Under Fire” award. He fell just 3,600 votes short of an upset win against both major political parties. But as the millionaire accountant from Saranac Lake makes his second bid...

...On the other hand, sometimes you need a few "wets" to gain a majority and advance your own ideas. Ask Nancy Pelosi, who rode the victories of Rahm Emanuel's hand-picked Blue Dog Democrats to the House Speakership in 2006 and then used them to pass 40 years of liberal dreams in this Congress...

English novelist George Eliot once penned the following: "Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress." Albert Einstein famously quipped, "insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  There are more than a few famous quotes on the destructive nature inherent in the repetition of foolish behavior. What is to be said for the way in which the Republican Party is actively pursuing a repeat of last November's special election for NY's 23rd Congressional District? If you were outraged at Dede Scozzafava, wait until you see their latest candidate, Matt Doheny. It...

Doug Hoffman, who took the North Country by storm in the NY-23 special election last fall and became a cause celebre for the Tea Party movement, has had trouble catching fire in his re-match attempt against Democratic Rep. Bill Owens. Hoffman’s GOP opponent, Matt Doheny, has sewn up the support of most local party leaders, a number of whom have grumbled to me about Hoffman’s lack of fire in the belly – even though he has managed to maintain the support of state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long. (Doheny has the Indy line, while Owens has the Democratic and WFP...

Joining Pat, aka Honest Conservative, on Freedom Radio tonight are Doug Hoffman who is leading the 2010 race in New York-23 for the people's seat. Former Air Force and CIA veteran Gary Berntsen of New York will also be with us after announcing his candidacy today for the U.S. Senate. In addition, Iraq War veteran and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Allen West returns to Freedom Radio to discuss his run for U.S. Congress in Florida's 22nd Congressional District. Here is the show link. The call-in-number is 646-478-5613.

Since Doug Hoffman's electrifying campaign in last fall's wild three-way special election in upstate New York, other candidates have thrown their hats in the ring for the GOP nomination for the seat now held by Democrat Rep. Bill Owens. Among those candidates is Matt Doheny. Jude Seymour of the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times reports that Conservative Party chairman Mike Long says he's committed to supporting Hoffman this fall... To grasp the problem now facing the GOP in NY-23 requires an understanding of New York's multi-party system. In addition to the Democratic and Republican parties, several other minor parties have ballot...

Al Hoffman, the former RNC finance chairman and ambassador, tells us the FBI interviewed him several weeks ago as part of their investigation into activities at the Florida Republican party and credit card spending by party leaders and staffers. "They had Jim Greer's travel expense records and wanted me to react to some of the issues surrounding that debacle. ... There wasn't one single question asked about Marco Rubio. There were a lot of questions asked about Jim Greer, (former party executive director) Delmar Johnson, Victory Strategies (the Johnson/Greer company paid by the party) and the (Greer) 527,'' said Hoffman,...

In New York’s 23rd congressional district, it’s déjà vu all over again. Internecine fighting has broken out between candidates in the district’s Republican primary, and the race threatens to be a repeat of the divisive 2009 special election that saw a Democrat take a historically Republican district. On Monday, the Oneida Republican county committee endorsed Matt Doheny, a businessman who lives in the district. This comes on the heels of three endorsements from other Republican county chairs. Doug Hoffman, who failed to win the Republican nomination in 2009 but then ran on the Conservative Party ticket, has so far failed...

Dede Scozzafava's friends have another bad day ... Doug Hoffman 2010 going strong in NY23! Yep, even the north country New York GOP has good news for us. Happy St. Patrick's Day. "Mr. Barclay was the most outspoken of the potential candidates during his brief flirtation with the seat, with Mr. Owens and Mr. Hoffman being his two main targets for criticism." - Watertown Daily News

New conservative candidates are emerging in New York House races ... updates are included in this thread. Perhaps the most exciting new conservative on the scene is Retired Army colonel Chris Gibson (R) in NY-20. (Recall that freshman Rep. Murphy was elected last spring in a tight special election over GOPer Jim Tedisco.) An Albany Times Union blog reports: "Retired Army colonel Chris Gibson of Kinderhook won an endorsement from the Clifton Park Republican Committee Thursday night. The members talked to Gibson as well as the other men looking to challenge Democrat U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy in the 20th Congressional...

Doug Hoffman stopped by Red State's Bloggers Lounge to talk with the bloggers. I was fortunate enough to work with another brilliant conservative blogger - GenMom - and snagged an interview with Doug.The video was shot in a busy hallway, please turn up your speaker volume to better hear this interview with Doug.[VIDEO AT SITE] Doug is currently running for Congress - Hoffman for Congress 2010Read more at floppingaces.net...

Interesting take on the two-step campaign that will be waged for the NY-23 race this year.

Join Honest Conservative tonight at 8 PM Eastern for a Nite Cap with 4 heroes of the American Conservative Movement, all defenders of the constitution. Lt. Col. Bill Russell, running or the seat formerly held by the late Jack Murtha, Doug Hoffman running or the House Seat from NY's 23rd, Major Diggs Brown (retired) running for the House from Colorado, and Adam Taxin, columnest and raconteur running after all the nations most important and timely news in an original point of view. Don't miss it! The link is here. The call in number is 646-478-5613.

Three months after a rift between GOP party leaders and grass-roots conservatives led to the special election loss of a historically Republican-held seat in upstate New York, another campaign melodrama is taking shape in the same district. Doug Hoffman, last November’s Conservative Party nominee in New York’s 23rd District who is vying again for the seat, is refusing to rule out running as a third-party candidate this year if he fails to win the Republican primary. And his leading backer, Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, told POLITICO that he refuses to endorse any candidate other than Hoffman — raising the...

The election results certified by the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections for New York’s 23rd Congressional District contain some numbers that are mathematically impossible. These numbers were requested in person and transmitted by e-mail just hours before certification on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009. For six election districts in St. Lawrence County (the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th districts in Canton, the 14th district in Massena, and the 2nd district in Oswegatchie) negative numbers appear in the column for “blank” ballots, known in other states as “undervotes.” Blank vote counts are ballots in which the voter did not choose any...

What should Diedre Scozzafava want to accomplish by Sunday's appearance on Face the Nation on CBS? Is it just another post-election 'poor poor pitiful me' about being beat up by tea party thugs led by Dick Armey, who will be on the same show? Well, I hope not. Ms. Scozzafava knows politics aint bean bag and there is something for all to learn from the NY23 GOP meltdown. In retrospect, which is a lot like hindsight, Ms. Scozzafava was not the best hope for North Country Republicans and her selection by a handful of county chairs was another example of...

(CNN) - The battle for NY-23 is over. The battle for NY-23 has just begun. After conceding the congressional race to Democrat Bill Owens for the second time in the district’s special congressional election, Doug Hoffman has announced the launch of his 2010 campaign for the seat. “So where to now? Full speed ahead to 2010,” the 2009 Conservative Party nominee told supporters in a message posted on his campaign’s Web site. “Although I’m conceding an election today, I do it with the certainty that we will win back this seat a year from now.”

CANTON, NY – The election results certified by the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections for New York’s 23rd Congressional District contain some numbers that are mathematically impossible. These numbers were requested in person and transmitted by e-mail just hours before certification on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009. For six election districts in St. Lawrence County (the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th districts in Canton, the 14th district in Massena, and the 2nd district in Oswegatchie) negative numbers appear in the column for “blank” ballots, known in other states as “undervotes.” <Rest of article>

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Conservative Party candidate conceded a race in upstate New York for a U.S. House of Representatives seat for the second time Tuesday, saying he doesn't have enough votes.

Dear Friends, Today, Tuesday, November 24, 2009, it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount. This was a difficult choice to make because so many people have put their faith, hope and aspirations into our campaign. Yes, there seem to have been many vote counting problems, missed vote counts and, as was recently reported by the Gouvernour Times, software problems in the computerized voting machines. Despite these incidents, I do not believe the voters of NY-23, or New Yorkers in general, would be well-served...

It is time to issue a federal subpoena to find out exactly how officials “corrected� the vote.Why, you may ask?Because, as we learned yesterday, at least some of the certified electronic voting machines in the NY-23 congressional special election were discovered to be running malicious code (a virus) in the week prior to voting. We now hear word that election officials, According to the report, election officials, after cleaning only the identified machines, took no further action to re-certify other voting machines in the district. Although the technical nature of such a virus is interesting; it is difficult to adequately...

GOUVERNEUR, NY - The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus - tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines

Even as he faces near-impossible odds of pulling ahead in the count, Doug Hoffman announced Wednesday night that he is officially revoking his concession from Election Night, and is accusing labor unions and ACORN of stealing the election for Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.). Hoffman posted a message on his campaign site Wednesday alleging dirty tricks by Democrats, and is asking for additional campaign contributions to fund a legal challenge to the election results. “As evidence surfaces, we find out that reported results from election night were far from accurate. ACORN and the unions did their best to try and sway...

Dear Fellow Conservative, As evidence surfaces, we find out that reported results from election night were far from accurate. ACORN and the unions did their best to try and sway the results to Obamacare supporter Bill Owens. I was forced to concede after receiving two pieces of grim news - - down 5,335 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted on election night - and barely won my stronghold in Oswego County. Get every vote counted in NY-23On Election Night, the information we received was far different from what we received this week! Rest assured, they will not succeed,...

Doug Hoffman picks up 20 votes so far in 23rd Congressional District recanvass By Mark Weiner / The Post-Standard November 17, 2009, 7:25PM Washington, D.c. -- Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman picked up a net gain of 20 votes Tuesday — far from what he needs to win — as the count of absentee ballots began in the 23rd Congressional District. Hoffman received the tiny boost after Madison, Oneida and Hamilton counties said they finished counting their absentee ballots Tuesday. The majority of the sprawling district – eight other counties – will finish the process this week. But if early...

Today was the final day for absentee ballots to be received in New York's 23rd District Special Congressional Election. Already three counties have completed the final vote counts, and Hamilton County has already certified those counts to the State Board of Elections. Updated Counts Here: County Hoffman Owens Scozzafava Clinton 7530 10536 686 Essex 3175 3718 432 Franklin 4589 5125 247 Fulton 2489 1969 676 Hamilton* 1265 938 369 Jefferson 10884 10460 1179 Lewis 2676 2169 282 Madison* 9155 8290 724 Oneida* 3225 2243 459 Oswego 12748 11000 950 St. Lawrence 8748 12987 1194 Totals: 66,484 69,435 7,198 * -...

Hoffman 'unconcedes' in N.Y.-23 House race By Jordan Fabian - 11/16/09 06:34 PM ET Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has "unconceded" in New York's special House election after reports that the vote margin between him and Rep. Bill Owens (D) has narrowed. Hoffman conceded the race on Election Night after learning he trailed Owens by 5,335 votes. But the Syracuse Post-Standard reported last week that the margin had shrunk to 3,026 votes after recanvassing. Hoffman appeared on conservative commenatator Glenn Beck's radio show this afternoon. Beck asked the him if he would "unconcede." "Yes, if I knew this information at...

Should Doug Hoffman had waited and let all the votes be counted? I’m certainly not a fan of taking election counts to the courts, but maybe Doug Hoffman should have let all of the votes be counted before conceding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quickly got Bill Owens (D- N.Y.) down to Washington D.C. and swore him in within a few days so he could break his first campaign promise and vote to include a public option for health care. To be fair, Owens was against the public option early in the campaign, only to quietly reverse his opinion in the...

Doug Hoffman just told Glenn Beck they are 2000 votes behind in NY 23with 10,000 absentee votes left to count. This is NOT over.

November 16, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Dede Scozzafava Is No GOP ModerateShe is a donkey in an elephant costume. By Deroy Murdock Re-canvassed votes in upstate New York’s 23rd Congressional District foreshadow the second coming of third-party candidate Doug Hoffman. As Mark Weiner of the Syracuse Post-Standard reported Thursday morning, Conservative nominee Hoffman’s 5,335-vote deficit behind Democrat Bill Owens has shrunk to just 3,026 after Election Night tabulation errors were corrected. Some 10,200 absentee ballots remain uncounted. State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin told Weiner, “All ballots will be counted, and if the result changes, Owens will have to...

Our Campaign Is Not Over Yet! So many people have written hoping we continue the fight, count every ballot and make sure no one steals this election. Acorn and the unions did their best to try and say that the conservative movement was a sham. Rest assured they will not succeed. On Election Night the information we received was far different from what we received this week. They will not silence our voice that easily! There is also the fact that NY is using the Sequoia Voting Systems machines. Princeton University (http://citp.princeton.edu/voting/advantage/) cited them as having been susceptible to voter...

* What can we all do, every day, to make sure we are ready to prevent fraud in the Iowa Caucus in 2012? PLEASE take this seriously. A massive effort was launched on Dr. Utopia’s behalf from Chicago to game the Iowa Caucus. A good portion of Chicago rolled across the Illinois border to vote in Dubuque, Waterloo, Des Moines,you name it to ensure Dr. Utopia won that Caucus in 2008. The caucus centers are chaos hatcheries. Dr. Utopia’s goons, most of whom certainly appeared to be ACORN or SEIU, marched in, took over, and told anyone who wouldn’t stand...

Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life (HarperCollins) is being pitched by her publisher as "one ordinary citizen's extraordinary journey." That's about right. Palin is ordinary -- remarkably, overwhelmingly, mind-numbingly ordinary. Back in the day, it seemed as if she might be extraordinary. When I started writing about her in 2006, the year that Palin took on the good old boys of Alaskan Republican politics, she seemed intriguing -- even a little, dare we say it, rogue. The story of a small-town mayor mounting a primary challenge to a sitting governor of her own party -- who also happened to...

The pathetic irony in this story is that the racketeering party, the Democrats, claimed "victory" on election day despite the fact that they were routed nationwide. They hung their sad little lies on this tiny race. Hoffman never had a shot. He was a strange little conservative candidate but the RINO on the Republican ticket was so repulsive to those of us on the right, it split the Republican vote. So much so, the RINO Dede Scozzafava withdrew and threw her weight behind the ....Democrat! The Republican party has been hijacked and driven underground by the RINOs (Republican in name...

As it stands now, Bill Owens may be in Washington and voting the Pelosi Party line but when the vote is certified he may be ousted. The state Board of Elections indicated that "...all ballots will be counted, and if the result changes, Owens will have to be removed." Concession speech or not, if the voters in the 23rd District elected Doug Hoffman and not Bill Owens, then Hoffman will be the Representative.

GOUVERNEUR, NY - Despite the fact that Bill Owens has already been sworn-in and has voted on crucial legislation in the House of Representatives, he may not have actually won the NY-23 Congressional Special Election. Several errors were made during the initial vote counts. Over 2,000 votes for contender Doug Hoffman were not counted in the preliminary results, narrowing the current vote gap to less than 3,000 votes between Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman. The errors were discovered during the standard vote recanvas that has been underway since November 4th. The largest error occurred in Oswego County where...

A recanvassing of votes cast in the highly contested NY-23 race shows that the 5,335-vote lead once enjoyed by Rep.-for-now Bill Owens, the Democrat, has narrowed to about 3,000 with another 10,000 absentee ballot uncounted. Owens, who was sworn in last week, was one of 220 Dems to vote give the majority a narrow victory on health care reform. UPDATE: Josh Kraushaar, who has been following this closely, says Conservative Party boss Mike Long thinks Owens is going to win at the end of the day -- because only about 5,400 absentees have been returned. The Syracuse Post-Standard: But Hoffman’s...

Democrat Bill Owens delivers his victory speech at his headquarters in Plattsburgh last week. Owens declared victory after Conservative nominee Doug Hoffman conceded the 23rd Congressional District race election night. Now recanvassing shows the special election has narrowed to a 3,000-vote difference, and will be decided by a count of absentee ballots. The Associated PressDemocrat Bill Owens delivers his victory speech at his headquarters in Plattsburgh last week. Owens declared victory after Conservative nominee Doug Hoffman conceded the 23rd Congressional District race election night. Now recanvassing shows the special election has narrowed to a 3,000-vote difference, and will be decided...