New York Special Election: Polls Close for Weiner Replacement
A special election took place Tuesday evening in New York's heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District, where Democrat David Weprin was facing an unusually tight race against Republican Bob Turner.
Commentators have predicted that voters, many of whom are disillusioned with President Obama, could elect a Republican for the very first time.
The special election has been organized for a replacement to be chosen for disgraced Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned earlier this year in a sexting scandal.
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Polls closed at 9 p.m. and candidates are currently awaiting the election results.
Republicans have attempted to stoke public unrest at Obama, and have presented the election as a referendum on Obama.
Turner said Tuesday, “It wasn't planned that way, but this is the only nationally contested election on the federal level, so it is, in a way, a referendum on President Obama's policies.”
A Siena Poll released Friday indicated that Turner was leading Weprin among the likely turnout voters, with a 50 to 44 percent margin.
According to the same poll just 43 percent of voters currently approve of Obama's job performance, where as 54 percent said they disapproved.
On Tuesday, Weprin said, "We have a lot of people with us, and I think we are going to pull out the votes.”
He added, "I think the polls are not going to reflect who's going to come out to vote."
As the election drew closer the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee invested more than $500,000 in television ads in an attempt to pull back voters.
Former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have also been seen to record phone calls for Weprin, in the hope to pull ahead of Turner.
Weprin, an orthodox Jew, has previously voted in favor of same-sex nuptials in the New York Assembly, which has angered some would-be supporters.
The House seat became vacant in June when former Gov. Weiner resigned after sending sexually-charged messages to women he had met online.
