Jim Tedisco, the Republican candidate for Kirsten Gillibrand’s former House seat, has now stated his position on the stimulus bill: He’s against it.
“I’m going on the record now to say I would have voted no,” Tedisco said at a press conference that he’d called to talk about the AIG bonuses. Tedisco explained to reporters that he thought there was too much spending on pork projects, money that could have gone toward tax cuts.
Democrats had been attacking Tedisco for not saying one way or the other how he would have voted. A recent poll gave Tedisco only a four-point lead over his Democratic opponent Scott Murphy, down from a 12-point lead three weeks ago, with a sharp turnaround of support among independents.
So now this race could potentially turn into a question of whether it pays to be an anti-stimulus Republican — whether Tedisco can successfully mobilize his own base, or whether he alienates swing voters by being a down-the-line Republican House candidate.
Late Update: Democratic candidate Scott Murphy has a press release pouncing on Tedisco, and touting his own support for President Obama’s plan:
“On the defining issue in this special election, I have repeatedly made clear my support for President Obama’s jobs and economic recovery package, which will put shovels in the ground and people back to work all across the 20th Congressional District,” said Murphy. “It’s just shameful it took well over a month for Assemblyman Tedisco to finally admit that he’d vote ‘No’ on saving or creating 76,000 jobs in Upstate New York, and ‘No’ on providing the largest middle class tax cut in American history. During these tough economic times, we can’t afford a career politician in Congress like my opponent who plays games with voters on the economy to hide the fact that he’d vote against saving and protecting their jobs and against middle class tax cuts.”
