GOP House Nominee Endorses Democrat

New York Republican House nominee Dede Scozzafava -- a moderate who was abandoned by conservative activists for a third-party candidate -- followed her stunning withdrawal from the contest Saturday with another shocker on Sunday: She has urged her supporters to vote for Democratic nominee Bill Owens over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, on Tuesday in the 23rd Congressional District's special election.

Scozzafava released a statement supporting Owens for the seat nine-term Republican Rep. John M. McHugh vacated to become secretary of the Army.

"You know me, and throughout my career, I have been always been an independent voice for the people I represent," said Scozzafava, who ran afoul with prominent conservative Republicans because she supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage and has ties to organized labor. "I have stood for our honest principles, and a truthful discussion of the issues, even when it cost me personally and politically. Since beginning my campaign, I have told you that this election is not about me; it's about the people of this district.

"It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same. ... In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first."

Scozzafava made the decision to withdraw after the latest poll in the race confirmed that her support had collapsed, and that she had slipped to third in her closely watched three-way race with Owens and Hoffman.

The Siena Research Institute poll indicated that the race between Owens and Hoffman is a dead heat, with Owens at 36 percent and Hoffman at 35 percent. Scozzafava had dropped well behind to 20 percent in the survey, which had a margin of error of 4 points.

Although Scozzafava quit the race because she determined she had no chance to win, her endorsement of Owens would clearly tip the contest in his favor should her supporters decide to jump on his bandwagon.

The Republicans' hopes of preventing a Democratic pickup now depend on persuading Scozzafava's faithful to stick with the more conservative candidate remaining in the race, even though their nominee was thrown over in favor of Hoffman by well-known national Republicans as 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas.

The Watertown Times, Scozzafava's hometown paper, switched its support Sunday to Owens. Scozzafava's name will still appear on the ballot in Tuesday's election and she will no doubt draw some votes.

The Republican National Committee and its campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, switched quickly to endorse Hoffman on Saturday after previously being strongly behind Scozzafava. And on Sunday, Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., pledged to help Hoffman secure a seat on the Armed Services Committee, on which McHugh had been the ranking member.

"Doug Hoffman has our full support for the next available seat on the House Armed Services Committee so he can best serve the interests of Fort Drum and the troops and military families of New York's 23rd Congressional District," the two leaders said in a statement.

The race has emerged as a major skirmish in the "battle for the soul of the Republican Party," between pragmatists who say the party's setbacks in 2006 and 2008 recommend recruiting more moderate candidates in regions, such as the Northeast, that have turned strongly Democratic, and conservatives who argue that the party's path of recovery is via strict adherence to the Republicans' conservative national platform.

Boehner acknowledged Sunday that the situation in New York's 23rd District race is "pretty unusual," but said the message remains that Republicans accept "moderates in our party."

In an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Boehner discussed Scozzafava's decision on Saturday to suspend her campaign in Tuesday's special election.

"This is a pretty unusual situation," said Boehner. "You had seven county chairmen who chose Dede to be our nominee. And clearly, she would be on the left side of our party, a conservative decided to leave the Republican Party and sign up on the Conservative Party ticket, which is allowed in New York."

When asked whether Scozzafava's decision sends a signal from the party to other GOP moderates who may be pondering seeking elective office, Boehner stressed, "We accept moderates in our party and we want moderates in our party. We cover a wide range of Americans."

"I think that going after Republicans is one thing," he said. "Having a party standing on fiscal responsibility, like we have all year; standing on principle against the crazy policies that we see out of Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Majority Leader [Harry] Reid -- the American people want to see us take these principled stands. And they want to see us continue to offer what we think are better solutions. If we can continue to do that, we'll have a broad cross-section of people in our party."

White House adviser Valerie Jarrett disagreed. Appearing earlier in the day on ABC's "This Week,", Jarrett said of Scozzafava that Democrats would "love to have her support," but also pointed out the situation is "rather telling when the Republican Party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think a great deal, about where the Republican Party leadership is right now.

"I think it's becoming more and more extreme and more and more marginalized. Look at the number of people who actually say that they are registered, consider themselves a Republican," she said. "And if that's the direction they want to go find, what we're going to do is what we've always done, and that is, we're going reach out, we're going to try to include as many people to be a part of our governing process, being open, being transparent, and we're going to let the American people decide."

White House adviser David Axelrod, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," agreed with Jarrett's assessment.

"The Republican candidate withdrew because of the strong third-party movement behind a very right wing conservative," he said. "And I think it sends a clear message to moderates within that party that there's no room at the inn for them. That's why you see Republican identification in polls at a historic low. So that may be where the energy is in the Republican Party. But it's certainly not a view on which you can build a majority party."

Greg Giroux contributed to this story.