Representing New York in the Senate: RFK, HRC . . . and TBA

[babylonsister]

Representing New York in the Senate: RFK, HRC . . . and TBA
By Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray
Monday, November 24, 2008; Page A03


Now that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is headed to the State Department (right?), the race for her seat begins in earnest.

Senate seats in New York are a precious commodity with a powerful lineage -- Clinton, Robert F. Kennedy, etc. -- so every ambitious politician in the Empire State (literally) is being mentioned.

Ultimately, the choice lies with just one man -- Democratic Gov. David Paterson, who will fill the seat until a 2010 special election for the remaining two years of Clinton's term.

So, who's the front-runner? Here are the Fix's odds, based on a series of conversations with New York political sharps:

3-1: Thomas Suozzi. Suozzi is known nationally (to the extent he is known at all) as the guy who ran a quixotic primary challenge against soon-to-be-governor Eliot L. Spitzer (D) in 2006. With two years of hindsight, however, Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, looks better and better. Like that of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, Suozzi's geographic base (Long Island) is appealing for Democrats looking for a statewide winner, and Bill Cunningham, the top political aide to Paterson, is also extremely close to Suozzi.

5-1: Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand. Gillibrand, who won an open Upstate seat in 2006, is a political dynamo who received the most votes of any New York incumbent (177,667) earlier this month. Gillibrand's geographic positioning, coupled with her fundraising prowess ($4.6 million raised in the past two years) and the idea of replacing Clinton with another woman, makes her a top prospect.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302366.html?nav=rss_print/asection