Well, this was completely unexpected:
Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) is finished with Congress after a single term, he plans to announce in a press conference call today, sources confirm to Hotline OnCall.
Massa, a former top aide on the House Armed Services Committee and aide to ret. Gen. Wes Clark, will cite health reasons in his announcement, the New York Daily News, which broke the story, reported today, though Massa warned a source for the paper about “hearing things that aren’t true,” a seemingly veiled reference to embarrassing information that may emerge.
Massa has been consistently marching to the beat of his own drummer in his year in Congress (since narrowly taking out incumbent GOP Rep. Randy Kuhl in 2008)… voting against health care reform, ostensibly from the left, and against foreclosure reform. So, bailing on his seat (especially after his cryptic will-he-won’t-he re-election announcement several months ago) doesn’t seem that out of character.
As much as replacing Massa with someone more consistent would be nice, an open seat throws the DCCC for one more loop. The mostly rural district centered on Elmira is an R+5 district, possibly the toughest in New York, and Corning mayor Tom Reed is a reasonably strong Republican opponent, touted by the NRCC (although he certainly hasn’t set the world on fire with his fundraising), and, as one of the few loud-and-proud moderates running this cycle for the GOP, may be poised to follow in the footsteps of the district’s beloved ex-Rep. Amo Houghton.
UPDATE: Massa’s spokesperson says he’s leaving because of a recurrence of cancer. Best wishes to Massa as he focuses on his health.
UPDATE: Looking at state legislative maps, this looks like a real dead zone in terms of a Dem bench… nothing in the state Senate, thanks to the hegemony of the GOP old-timers staying on. In the state Assembly, looks like David Koon in Perriton overlaps a bit in the Rochester suburbs. We may want to go the Scott Murphy/Bill Owens charismatic guy-with-money approach anyway.
LATER UPDATE (James): Yikes. The Politico has a dramatically different take on why Massa is retiring, citing allegations that he sexually harassed a male staffer. They also cite a few new potential Republican candidates: Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, state Assemblyman Brian Kolb and state Senator Kathy Young.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Sources are now saying that Massa plans to resign today, which would further complicate the health care reform vote in the House. (Wait… or does it? He voted against it the first time, and since he voted against it from the left doesn’t seem likely to have budged.)
STILL MORE: No, it sounds like he’s retiring at the end of his term… although his prognosis doesn’t sound good, as he said he’ll be “entering the final phase of his life at a controlled pace.”
RaceTracker Wiki: NY-29
This is the first time in my memory a congressman has opted to retire after one term. Anyone got any others?
Guess it’s delete NY-29 and rework the lines on NY-3.
Man, this one sucks. I got to admit though, Massa has been voting and acting in a very odd manner since he elected. I didn’t have a lot of faith in him getting re-elected. I don’t recall seeing positive press on him either (granted I’m in Texas and don’t read NY rags . . . ever). But he did make gizmodo early into his career with trying to demonstrate an electric vehicle and having it crap out on him and he just bs’ed his way through the press conference afterwords in a negative way.
He can do it again. All the best. Any suggestions who might step up?
I hope he gets better.
But yea this seat is lost.
But district is tough (at least for North-East). And Democratic bench rather weak.
How is our side getting so unlucky….
Best wishes to Massa.
Politico is reporting that he is retiring due to a sexual harassment complaint from a staffer
http://bit.ly/bHg1Di
If he’s retiring for health reasons, I wish him the best of luck in the future.
I never really liked Massa though, he was a severe left-wing obstructionist mostly, a la Kucinich. I had him going down in 2010 anyway, so this retirement won’t change my overall breakdown any.
Allegations he sexually harassed a male staffer
This one was the hardest to hold anyway! No favors done here.
I’m sure there are some on the list from the district, ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W…
Parment has been interested before, but may be too old (he’d be 70 in 2012). I don’t know if Donna Lupardo’s district overlaps with NY-29 at all.
AFAIK, the 2 NY State Senators are both Rs. Don’t know if they’d be amenable to running as Ds.
The staffer’s hotness will determine if this was all worth it.
And I, for one, will miss having Massa in the House. I didn’t agree with all his votes, but he said a lot of good things that contributed to serious debates on issues. I am not Tekzilla, but I think that, given the partisan breakdown of that district, it is very likely, all things being equal, that a Republican will succeed him. All my best wishes for Massa’s good health in the future.
Political Wire says Massa is resigning today
http://pwire.at/aFTL8I
Although I guess if he wasn’t going to vote for HCR, that HELPS, Nancy?
Sounds like Politico was right…
But assuming we keep the Senate and the Governor’s mansion, it’s probably better that we lose this upstate district and make it much easier to protect the other incumbents in the upstate area.
It sucks to possibly lose the seat and lose someone like Massa, but this isn’t the worst thing in the world for us.
Before Massa’s announcement of retiring, was he electable in the 29th? I personally had him listed around the 20th most vulnerable Democrat. I didn’t think his voting record was in line with his district and as a result was a prime target.
With all due respect to Massa and his health (I’m not trying to be insensitive), but are we in better shape with promoting a younger state rep/senator than worry about winning with Massa’s current record? I don’t know the answer because I don’t know a thing about our bench in the 29th.
If Massa’s resigning today, when’s the special likely to be held?
I think our only hope for this seat right now is the NY GOP’s…success, at candidate selection.
Massa will not resign. Will be interesting to see how he votes on HCR. Probably still a “no” according to his prior justification of his no vote.
Jesus that terrible.
n/t
I hope he gets the treatment he needs for the cancer.
http://www.stargazette.com/art…