Kathy Hochul, wife of Buffalo U.S Attorney William Hochul, may be poised to pull an upset Tuesday and win a U.S. House seat to fill the term of former Rep. Chris Lee.
Polls conducted in the upstate 26th District of New York showed Hochul with a lead over Republican Jane Corwin and Tea Party candidate Jack Davis.
The Sienna College survey of likely voters released Saturday found 42 percent preferred Hochul and 38 percent were for Corwin, while 12 percent supported Davis, CBS News reported.
The election is needed as Lee resigned Feb. 9 after it was revealed that he had been exchanging emails with a woman on Craiglist who had placed a personal ad. Lee, who is married, lied about his age and occupation and sent the woman a shirtless photo of himself.
President Barack Obama nominated William Hochul as U.S. Attorney and Kathy Hocuhl’s victory over a Republican might be viewed as particularly ironic. A 2008 Department of Justice Inspector General report found the Bush administration declined to promote William Hochul, an experienced counter-terrorism prosecutor, because of his wife’s affiliation with the Democratic Party. Under the direction of then-DOJ White House liaison Monica Goodling, a less experienced Republican was promoted over Hochul, who prosecuted the “Lackawanna Six” on charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda. The IG report didn’t name Hochul directly but called his case “the most troubling example” of politics-based hiring decision that the office had reviewed.
Kathy Hochul currently is the Erie County clerk, the the highest ranking female elected official in the county. Previously, she served as first deputy county clerk. She also has worked as in-house counsel to a major corporation engaged in homeland security, private practice in Washington, D.C., and legal counsel and legislative assistant to Sen. Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and Rep. John LaFalce (D-N.Y.). Kathy Hochul also established her own practice in Washington, D.C.
Both parties are watching the special election with great interest as they try to hone their messages heading into the 2012 election. Hochul has hammered Republicans on their position on Medicare and she appears to have gained some political traction from the issue.
