SHOT: “a sign that national Democrats
are growing worried about holding on Rep. John Hall’s seat in NY-19 next
fall: A fund-raising appeal on his behalf from Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz. . . . Between the anti-incumbent sentiment on display on Nov. 3,
including in Rockland County, a small piece of which is in NY-19, and the
backlash expected in the 2010 midterms, the next election might not be so easy
for Hall.”

CHASER: “For John Hall, all signs point
to trouble on Election Day.  He’s voted for Nancy Pelosi’s big
government, job-killing agenda 98 percent of the time and, along with his
Washington leaders, he’s thrown fiscal discipline out the window. 
Voters in the Hudson Valley want a strong, independent voice in Washington, not
a rubber stamp for Pelosi’s partisan policies.” – Tory Mazzola,
NRCC Spokesman

Helping Hall

By Elizabeth Benjamin

The New York Daily News

December 18, 2009 2:39 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/12/helping-hall.html#ixzz0a4WAX0Oe

Here's a sign that national Democrats are growing worried about
holding on Rep. John Hall's seat in NY-19 next fall: A fund-raising appeal on
his behalf from Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz made to supporters of
former Sen. Hillary Clinton.

In an e-mail sent by Hall's campaign committee to members of
"Hillary Clinton's online community," Wasserman Schultz asked supporters
to contribute to Hall, who is "being challenged by multi-millionaire Republican
Nan Hayworth."

"John Hall voted
against the Stupak amendment, which would ban insurance policies that cover
abortion even if they are paid for with private money," Wasserman Schultz
wrote.

"Nan Hayworth told the press (Roll Call and CQ) that she would have voted
for the Stupak amendment and other restrictions if she were in Congress."

"Despite decades of fighting for reproductive rights for
women, the fight is not over. The anti-choice forces keep chipping away, state
by state, court by court, seat by seat, to reverse Roe v. Wade. We need to
support members of Congress we can count on."

It's actually not clear at this moment that Hayworth has a clear
shot at the GOP nod to take on Hall, even though she has the support of the
NRCC.

Local Republican leaders have expressed support for a potential
primary challenger to Hayworth, with some even lamenting the fact that
outspoken Assemblyman Greg Ball changed his plans to take on Hall in favor of a
primary challenge to Sen. Vincent Leibell.

Hall came to his current seat by way of a four-way primary in 2004
in which he did not start out as the party's favored candidate. At the time,
Hall was best known as a former member of the band Orleans, and he drew on his
connections in the music industry to help him raise campaign cash.

That cash helped fuel Hall's primary win, in which he garnered 48
percent of the vote. He went on to oust incumbent GOP Rep. Sue Kelly, winning
with 51 percent of the vote, and was easily re-elected last year.

Republicans had trouble finding a candidate to take Hall on in
2008, finally settling on the little-known Kieran Lalor, against whom Hall won
with 59 percent of the vote.

Between the anti-incumbent sentiment on display on Nov. 3,
including in Rockland County, a small piece of which is in NY-19, and the
backlash expected in the 2010 midterms, the next election might not be so easy
for Hall.

###

Tory Mazzola

202-557-5735 Cell

TMazzola@NRCC.org

www.nrcc.org