Republicans have a shot at winning the special election for the House seat once held by Anthony Weiner

Will the House seat once held by Anthony Weiner, the Democratic representative from New York who was decked by his own tweets, go to a Republican?

The campaign by the Democratic candidate, David Weprin, has done little to boost his party's efforts in the special election that is a week and a half away, on Sept. 13.

Weprin, a state Assemblyman, chose not to attend a debate with his Republican opponent, Bob Turner, on Monday night, saying that Hurricane Irene caused scheduling and logistical problems and prevented half of his campaign staff from being reaching his office that day. Republicans are loudly asking exactly why Weprin couldn't attend.

And during a New York Daily News editorial board interview this week, Weprin flubbed a question on the national debt by appearing to be unsure of the debt's total, and then incorrectly stating $4 trillion. (The correct answer is roughly $14 trillion.)

A Republican-commissioned poll released yesterday suggests the candidates could be in a dead heat.

A McLaughlin & Associates poll of likely voters conducted for Turner showed a tie --42 to 42 percent--between Weprin and Turner. The remaining 16 percent indicated they were undecided. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 5.7 percent.

Democrats were quick to discredit the poll because it was conducted for Turner. The poll is the only survey released publicly since an Aug. 10 independent Siena Research Institute survey found Turner trailing Weprin by 6 percentage points, a surprisingly close margin.

New York's ninth congressional district covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The seat has been reliably Democratic and the party holds a strong voter registration advantage in the district.

The voter turnout for special elections is usually low and hard to predict.