New York Repub­li­can touts ‘bet­ter mes­sage’ in long-shot spe­cial elec­tion against Kennedy

House Democ­rats are count­ing on the spe­cial elec­tion in New York‘s 26th Con­gres­sion­al Dis­trict on Tues­day to nar­row Speak­er Mike Johnson‘s (R‑LA) House major­i­ty even more, while Repub­li­can Gary Dick­son is hop­ing for a “dra­mat­ic” under­dog vic­to­ry.
Dick­son, a West Seneca super­vi­sor who is an Army and FBI vet­er­an, argues he has a “bet­ter mes­sage” than his Demo­c­ra­t­ic oppo­nent for New York‘s spe­cial elec­tion to replace for­mer Demo­c­ra­t­ic Rep. Bri­an Hig­gins.
Hig­gins, who announced he would depart Con­gress ear­ly in Novem­ber, stepped down on Feb. 2 to become the pres­i­dent and CEO of Shea’s Per­form­ing Arts Cen­ter in Buf­fa­lo, New York. Local par­ty com­mit­tees select­ed their nom­i­nees for the Tues­day spe­cial elec­tion and the win­ner will fin­ish the remain­der of Hig­gins’ term.
Long­time New York state Sen. Tim Kennedy ral­lied sup­port and was select­ed in Jan­u­ary as the Demo­c­ra­t­ic Party’s nom­i­nee. In a seat ranked “sol­id Demo­c­ra­t­ic” by the Cook Polit­i­cal Report, the race is very favor­able for him to become the sole Demo­c­ra­t­ic Kennedy in …