Congressional Races

The down-to-the-wire Senate contest and Gov. George Pataki's re-election effort have hogged the spotlight, but the members of New York's congressional delegation also are up for re-election. It's certain there will be at least four new faces, but that's because some longtime incumbents are voluntarily giving up their seats. While the outcomes will hinge on which party can best get its voters into the polling booths on Tuesday, many observers expect little, if any, change in the delegation's current makeup of 18 Democrats and 13 Republicans. "Steady as she goes, don't rock the boat. That's New York, at least for Congress," said pollster Lee Miringoff, head of Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion. Still, a couple of incumbents are facing spirited challenges. In the southern tier's 26th Congressional District, Republicans have pinned their hopes on apple farmer and businessman William "Bud" Walker against incumbent Rep. Maurice Hinchey. Hinchey, a three-term Democrat, is considered too liberal by many residents of his large, mostly rural district, which extends from Ithaca to Binghamton, but he's held on through some tight races in the past. Hinchey will likely be helped by radical abortion activist Randall Terry. Terry lost the GOP and Conservative lines to Walker but remains in the race as the candidate of the Right-to-Life Party and will siphon some votes that would have otherwise gone to Walker. Terry gave Hinchey a further boost by publicizing child-abuse charges leveled against Walker several years ago by his ex-wife. In the 22nd Congressional District, which takes in much of the upper Hudson River Valley, Republican John Sweeney, a former aide to Gov. Pataki, is favored over Democrat Jean Bordewich, a member of the Red Hook town council. Incumbent Rep. Gerald Solomon is retiring after representing the mostly Republican district for 20 years. RNN will provide full and complete election coverage of all of these races and others in the area on election day.