Now a 2-man race, the North Country's seat in Congress is a 'pure tossup'

Washington -- It took Democrats a long time — 152 years, to be exact — to win back the North Country congressional seat they lost in 1857. Now U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, the man who pulled off the upset victory last year, does not want to be remembered as the Democrat who held the 23rd Congressional District for...

Washington -- It took Democrats a long time — 152 years, to be exact — to win back the North Country congressional seat they lost in 1857.

Now U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, the man who pulled off the upset victory last year, does not want to be remembered as the Democrat who held the 23rd Congressional District for only one year.

The question voters in Oswego, Madison and nine other counties will decide Nov. 2 is whether Owens deserves a full term after winning the 2009 special election. Or will challenger Matt Doheny ride into office on a fresh Republican wave?

The outcome here will help determine if Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives, which the GOP lost in 2006. Republicans must pick up a net gain of 39 seats nationally to win the House.

Until Tuesday, when Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman dropped out of the race and endorsed Doheny, most political analysts in Washington had given Owens the edge in a three-way race — a repeat of last year’s.

But Hoffman’s withdrawal changed everything, according to at least three prominent analysts who changed their ratings to a toss-up by Friday.

“This is a break Republicans had hoped for but were never sure they were going to get,” analyst Stuart Rothenberg wrote in his Rothenberg Political Report. “For now, the race moves to ‘Pure Toss-Up.’”

The first independent poll in the race is expected this week, but Democrats are not waiting for the news. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, aware of the new threat of losing the seat, decided late in the week to reserve up to $725,000 in air time for ads supporting Owens, tripling its budget.

With Hoffman out of the campaign, voters in the 11-county district covering Northern and Central New York are left with a choice between two candidates with sharply contrasting views on the issues.

Both Owens and Doheny agree the No. 1 issue in the district is the economy and how to create jobs. But that’s where the common ground ends.

The two disagree on what needs be done to create jobs, how far to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, whether to move forward with health care reform, how to ensure the future of Social Security and how to reduce the national debt and federal budget deficits.

Owens, 60, an Air Force veteran and lawyer who was not enrolled in a political party until he ran for office last year, insists Doheny “has no real plan for job creation.” Owens said Doheny is out of touch with district residents after leaving for almost a decade to work on Wall Street.

“I have lived in the district for 33 years, and I have been involved in job creation,” said Owens, who noted his service on local development boards, little leagues, chambers of commerce, a local ballet company and on boards at the State University College at Plattsburgh.

“I have been very involved in the community,” Owens said. “When you look at Mr. Doheny’s record, you see he has not created a single job in the district. He has not been involved in the community. And he moved back only to run for Congress.”

Doheny, 40, a native of Alexandria Bay, lives in Watertown and is on leave from his job as a portfolio manager for Fintech Advisory Inc., a company in Manhattan. He worked from 2000 to 2008 for Deutsche Bank, on Wall Street, where he specialized in investing in bankrupt or troubled companies.

Doheny says that experience is exactly what the district and Congress need to help turn around a troubled economy.

“My opponent was a lawyer in Plattsburgh for three decades,” Doheny said. “He does whatever lawyers do. What I have done professionally is invest in and help turn around companies. And I’m proud of the record.”

Owens, who has served on the board of a regional bank, said he knows how to help small businesses and local farms.

“The principal issue here in the campaign is that you have a person, myself, who has a long history of being able to create jobs,” Owens said.

He said Doheny’s career at Deutsche Bank “had no positive impact with anybody in the 23rd District, and certainly not in the past 18 months.”

To help increase his name recognition in the district, Doheny said, he has traveled more than 74,000 miles across its 11 counties over the past 10 months. He said he visited all 181 cities, towns and villages in the district, which includes Oswego and Madison counties. Much of that travel was to gain support from Republican leaders for his Sept. 14 primary against Hoffman, which he won in a tight race by about 5,000 votes.

Doheny said the issues on the economy transcend the 23rd District and are part of a bigger question about the future size of the federal government and the tax burden on citizens.

“People are truly angered and upset with the direction of the country, and I think it cuts across party lines,” Doheny said. “They are worried about the direction of the country.”

His campaign strategy is to link Owens to President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package (on which Owens did not vote), health care reform (which Owens supported), the future of the Bush-era tax cuts and the policies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“This election is about his voting record and his position in being in lock-step with Nancy Pelosi,” Doheny said. “We have a fundamental philosophical difference. He’s in line with the Obama and Pelosi folks. Right now, everyone talks about jobs and economic opportunity as the No. 1 issue this election. And he (Owens) supports job killers.”

Specifically, Doheny said he would oppose any new economic stimulus program, a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize, a climate change bill (known as cap and trade) and any changes to the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush that expire at the end of this year.

“My opponent wants more government, more spending and less money for entrepreneurship,” Doheny charged.

Owens said he has spent his first year in Congress seeking to build a reputation as a fiscal moderate who is willing to work in a bipartisan way. He sponsored a bill, the “War on Debt Act,” aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on foreign creditors. The bill is pending in a House committee.

As for the Bush-era tax cuts, Owens was part of a bipartisan group in the House that attempted to pass an extension before members adjourned to campaign in their districts this month.

Owens said he supports making the cuts permanent for individuals making less than $200,000 per year and couples making less than $250,000. His plan called for a one-year extension for those who earn up to $500,000 per year, and extending capital gains and dividend tax cuts for five years.

Doheny sees no reason to compromise. He said he would push in Congress to simplify the tax code, ideally with a flat tax on all Americans. He also would make all of the Bush-era tax cuts permanent, regardless of a person’s income.

Owens counters that Doheny’s tax plan is simply not one that will do much to create jobs in Upstate New York.

“I think the only plan Matt Doheny is offering is to cut taxes,” Owens said. “There is no economist that I have ever read that says changing the tax code or reducing taxes actually has an impact on employment.”

--Contact Washington correspondent Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751.