Obama taps GOP Congressman as Secretary of the Army

President Obama has appointed New York Rep. John McHugh. the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, as the next Secretary of the Army:

In tapping McHugh, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Obama sidelines yet another senior GOP lawmaker.

The veteran congressman from upstate New York joins his former colleague from Illinois, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, the Ambassador-designate to China, among the ranks of Republicans in the Obama administration, a list that nearly included Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) as Commerce Secretary. And McHugh’s appointment comes just over a month after administration officials helped push veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter to switch from a Republican to a Democrat.

“The president has made an outstanding choice in John McHugh on his credentials,” said former Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who also represented upstate New York. “He’s a leading expert on Armed services that members on both sides of the aisle respect. ... On any major issue on armed services, I wanted to hear John McHugh’s opinion.”

Do Democrats have a shot at this seat with his departure? Some seem to think so:

McHugh has won re-election with ease – taking 65 percent last year — but his successor may have a more difficult time in a district that Obama carried – something that surely didn’t go unnoticed by the president’s aides.

McHugh’s departure — which leaves only two Republicans in the 29 seat New York congressional delegation — sets off a likely fight for his seat, which Obama carried over Republican John McCain in November 52 percent to 47 percent. Sources say McHugh’s chief of staff, Robert Taub, is likely to be an early frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

“This seat is one of the best opportunities for Democrats to pursue now that McHugh out of the way,” said Reynolds, who is also a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Already we’re watching the Democrats downplay their chances but make no mistake, you can bet they’ll be as forceful as this as they were in NY 20[special election].”

Sounds good to me.

Tedisco concedes, but Norm Coleman's not going anywhere soon

The NY-20 special election to replace Kirsten Gillibrand (who replaced Hillary Clinton in the Senate) is now over. Jim Tedisco conceded today to Scott Murphy, a Democrat who started well behind in this Republican-majority district and went on to deny Republicans any sign that the country likes them more than they did on November 4th of last year. That makes 256 Democrats to 178 Republicans in the House, with 1 seat still vacant.

Meanwhile, the never-ending Minnesota election continues. The state supreme court won't hear oral arguments on appeal until June 1st. But Coleman has promised a federal appeal if he loses that, so this thing could go on for several more months, through the summer and possibly fall, denying Senate Democrats the 59th seat that is rightfully theirs. Of course, that's the whole point...

NY Congressional race too close to call

Democrat Scott Murphy currently holds a 65-vote lead over Jim Tedisco in the race to replace Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is significant because despite the fact the seat is being vacated by a Democrat (albeit a conservative one), this is a rural district where Republicans have a large party ID advantage. The race is largely seen as a referendum on President Obama's economic policies, so a Democratic win would just be more bad news for the GOP.

The race will come down to the roughly 10,000 absentee ballots issued by the state Board of Elections. Those ballots aren't required to be returned until April 13th.