BUFFALO, N.Y. — Republican Assemblywoman Jane Corwin began campaigning Wednesday for the congressional seat vacated two weeks ago by Christopher Lee in a scandal over a shirtless photo he is believed to have e-mailed to a woman he met on Craigslist.
During a series of stops in the western New York district, Corwin said reducing government spending, repealing the year-old health care law dubbed “Obamacare” by opponents and lowering taxes would be her top priorities.
Republican leaders voted unanimously to support Corwin for Congress earlier this week, citing her conservative voting record and pro-business philosophy.
Corwin has been in the Assembly since 2009 after working in the private sector for The Talking Phonebook, her family’s business. She was on the company’s board of directors and served as secretary and treasurer before the business was sold to Hearst Publishing in 2004.
While she’s expected to spend a significant amount of her own money on the campaign, Corwin made an effort early on to head off expected criticism that she’s trying to buy the election.
“Races aren’t about money; they’re about ideas,” she said at the Greatbatch Medical plant in Alden. “If the ideas I put out there make sense to the voters of the district, that’s how I will get elected.”
So far, no Democrats have entered the race. Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard Lenihan said party leaders are moving toward an endorsement.
Corwin also may have competition from wealthy businessman Jack Davis, a Republican who ran for the seat as a Democrat in 2004, 2006 and 2008, then rejoined the GOP.
The Buffalo News has reported that the 78-year-old Davis is considering a third-party run, which would require he collect 3,500 signatures in a 12-day period that would begin after a special election is declared.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to comment on when he might schedule an election.
Lee had just begun his second two-year term in Congress when he abruptly resigned Feb. 9, hours after the gossip website Gawker posted a picture and flirtatious emails the married congressman is believed to have sent in response to a woman’s online personal ad.
The district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 27,000, spans from the northeastern suburbs of Buffalo to the suburbs west of Rochester. Before Lee, it was held for five terms by Republican Thomas Reynolds, who retired.