GOP Medicare Plan Puts House Seat in Jeopardy

The Medicare debate that the U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan touched off has turned an interim U.S. House race in New York from an expected Republican win into a nail-biter, The New York Times reports. The Democrat, Kathy Hochul of suburban Buffalo, has erased the polling gap in a Republican-leaning district by vilifying Ryan's Medicare reform proposals.

Hochul’s opponent, Republican State Assemblywoman Jane L. Corwin, has supported the House-approved budget proposal of Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, throughout the special election campaign. A Corwin spokesman said Hochul and other Democrats “are trying to scare seniors.”

A Democratic fundraiser didn’t necessarily dispute the charge. “The Republican vote to end Medicare has moved the needle in this race,” said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A Siena College poll shows Corwin leading Hochul but within the poll’s margin of error. The same poll found 59 percent opposed to Medicare cuts.