Pete Sessions delivers NY-23--to Democrats!

The Democrats on the Sessions Watch team would like to thank NRCC Chair Pete Sessions for giving another Congressional seat to the Dems--NY-23, which has been a Republican district since the 1890s. Thanks, Pete, for delivering a district that's eluded Democrats for 100 years. We literally couldn't have done it without you.

The Republicans on the Sessions Watch team would like to remind the NRCC that this blog did try to warn you that Pete Sessions backs candidates with an uncanny ability to raise money for the other side.

And the team as a whole gives our bipartisan thanks to the NRCC once again for raising Pete Sessions' profile. Now, the whole country is watching him, which makes our job easier.

For those who haven't been following this race, here's a brief summary:

• NY-23 became vacant when President Obama picked Republican Congressman John M. McHugh to be Secretary of the Army.

• The local Republican Party chose Dede Scozzafava as their candidate, and Doug Hoffman won the backing of the Conservative Party of New York. Democrats chose Bill Owens.

• The NRCC spent a huge amount of money in this race on Scozzafava's behalf, some of it on attack ads--not against the Democrat, but against Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate.

• The Conservative Party candidate started getting support from members of the Tea Party movment, so much support that Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the race--and on Halloween, of all times--and started making robo calls for Democrat Bill Owens.

• The tally so far (with 93% precincts reported): Bill Owens is declared the winner, with 49% of the vote; Doug Hoffman came in second at 45%, and the GOP candidate came in last with 6% of the vote.

And what does Pete Sessions have to say about the election result? True to form, he refuses to take any responsibility himself, and blames someone else--in this case, the Republican Party of New York state:

On the heels of the GOP’s second special election loss in New York this year, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Wednesday morning that Empire State Republicans need to adopt a more open candidate selection process.

“After two special elections in New York, there is no doubt in my mind that the candidate selection process lacks openness and transparency and should be changed to a primary system so voters can have a say in who their respective parties nominate,” he said in a statement...