New York: Surprise swing state

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Pundits are rarely in a New York state of mind in November. The state hardly ever comes up as a battleground. Most people assume it’s unwaveringly blue. But the past two years of political turmoil have made New York the front line in the battle for Congress.

According to the Cook Political Report, New York now has eight congressional races that are either leaning toward one side, or which are flat-out tossups -- more than any other state. The next closest is California with seven such districts — despite having nearly twice as many congressional representatives than New York. That means that President Obama’s ability to get legislation through a friendly Congress in a second term could be decided by the results in several key New York races.

In 2010, no state was stung by the Republican sweep of the House more than New York. Before the election, New York had three Republican representatives. After the dust settled, Republicans increased their numbers in the New York delegation nearly three-fold -- eight of New York's 29 seats were Republican.

Salon.com > Colby Hamilton

New York: Surprise swing state