The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

The Kuhl campaign says that Randy is in Yates, Schuyler and Steuben Counties today, stopping in at local businesses and going door-to-door. Here's Randy at a coffee shop in Penn Yan, supplied by the Kuhl campaign.

Click on the picture for a bigger version. There's another one after the break.

The New York Times reports that NY-29 and NY-26 are the only races where the NRCC is spending money in New York.

The Ithaca Journal has a race backgrounder by Larry Wilson of the Star-Gazette.

The Kuhl campaign reports that the RNews debate will be re-broadcast as follows:

The R News Debate will be replayed on Time Warner Cable Channel 6 in the Olean and Wellsville areas Thursday, October 30th at 8:30 PM, Friday, October 31st at 12:30 PM and 8:30 PM, and Saturday, November 1st at 1 PM. For Time Warner Digital Cable Customers in the Rochester area, the debate is also available for viewing anytime on 108 R News on Demand.

The debate will also be on C-SPAN this weekend. I'll post more on that when the schedule is announced.

WROC will cover this afternoon's Schumer-Massa press conference. I assume that means the other Rochester media outlets will, too.

Michael Parks spent some time with Eric Massa yesterday and was good enough to send a few photographs. The one below is from the set of the WXXI program Need to Know. I assume Massa's interview will air Friday at 9 PM or Sunday at 12:30 PM on WXXI.

There are more after the break, including one more shot of yesterday's Hillary Clinton rally. Click on each image for a full-size view.

WETM has answered the "where's Randy?" question once and for all. Today, he's taping an episode of the Southern Tier political program Coleman and Company. Tomorrow, he's handing out trick-or-treat candy in Corning, and he'll be canvassing door-to-door in Elmira on Sunday.

Conspicuously absent from Kuhl's schedule is a major event like Massa's well-covered Hillary Clinton rally yesterday. The AP reports that Rudy Giuliani was campaigning in the Albany area in support of the Republican candidate in NY-20 yesterday. If Rudy showed up on Rochester for a rally supporting Randy Kuhl, Chris Lee and Dale Sweetland, it would get the kind of coverage that Hillary got yesterday.

Massa will be in Ontario and Monroe counties today, with the main event being a news conference with Chuck Schumer.

Though a few Republican strategists are quoted saying that the 29th is one of the more viable races in New York, and I agree with that assessment, independent analysts are still bearish on the race. Today, Larry Sabato moved the 29th to Democratic take-over status. NY-29 had been a toss-up in his last ranking.

Hillary Clinton's visit yesterday prompted stories by Syracuse's News 10, the Democrat and Chronicle, the Buffalo News and the Ithaca Journal.

The D&C also has a race backgrounder for the 28th and 29th districts. The 28th is Louise Slaughter's district. I had assumed she was running unopposed because there was no FEC report from her opponent, but she has an opponent. He just didn't raise the minimum ($5K) needed to file a FEC report.

Finally, in the department of best-laid plans, Exile at The Albany Project has the details on Kuhl's election-night "victory party".

Michael Parks was kind enough to send some pictures of today's rally at MCC.

There are more after the break. Click on each image for a full-size view.

The Wellsville Daily Reporter has profiles of Randy Kuhl and Eric Massa.

Roll Call has an article where a Republican strategist is quoted saying that the 29th is the best chance for a Republican win in New York.

According to the Kuhl campaign, Randy's at an Independence Party fundraiser in Rochester tonight.

Eric Massa is attending a rally with Hillary Clinton today. Tomorrow, he'll be at a press conference with Chuck Schumer and Brighton Town Supervisor Sandy Frankel, at 3:00 at the St. John's Meadows nursing home. Today's Hillary rally has already received free media attention. Tomorrow's press conference will likely get some, too.

The Kuhl campaign, by contrast, hasn't had a public event in a while. The campaign is still issuing press releases, but the campaign web site says "9 Days to Victory" today, and the events page is empty. If someone sees Randy, please let me know where he is and what he's doing.

Jeremy Moule at City News notes that the political analysts ("wonks") at CQ rate the 29th as a toss up. In other wonk news, apparently the Rothenberg Political Report names Randy Kuhl as one of five incumbents who should be "cut loose" immediately according to this second-hand source.

Today's Clinton rally gets mentions at the Hornell Evening Tribune, WROC and WHEC.

Update: Here's the original Rothenberg article. Money quote:

Five GOP incumbents who have benefited from a total of more than $2.2 million in NRCC spending also should have been cut loose immediately and told to fend for themselves: Reps. Randy Kuhl (New York's 29th district), Bill Sali (Idaho's 1st), Jean Schmidt (Ohio's 2nd), Mark Souder (Indiana's 3rd) and Marilyn Musgrave (Colorado's 4th).

Each of the districts represented by these incumbents is reliably Republican under normal circumstances, and their vulnerability, even in this political environment, reflects their individual weaknesses.