The underdog victory of Democrat Kathy Hochul in New York’s 26th Congressional District is making headlines all over the country, as many interpret it as a referendum on the Republican assault on Medicare.
Only occasionally mentioned in the coverage: Hochul does not live in the 26th CD. Nor (as noted here previously in another context) did she have to to run for U.S. rep there, so long as she moves in before taking office. And Tuesday night’s tallies proved that the voters didn’t care.
Hochul said on election day, in response to GOP attempts to make this a campaign issue:
“I’ve just been ignoring that all along... Not one person in this district has ever mentioned that. They know I’m going to plan to move into this district, hopefully very soon.”
One wonders if Democratic Alderman Geeta Cheddie, who has attempted to make residency an issue in this year’s 1st Ward race, would have voted for Hochul... Residency may become a moot issue (as again noted here last week), as her feared opponent may not actually run after all. But it would be nice to see a little consistency in the political posturing that goes on.
N O T E : Personally, I think parties would be smarter to nominate existing residents for everything from Common Councils to Congress, as there’s little sense handing the other side an easy issue. But in Hochul’s case, it didn’t matter—and as a matter of law, she (like Tim Rodgers) was entitled to run.
