By Phillip Bunnell
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters today that the election of Democrat Kathy Hochul demonstrates that voters have rejected Republican plans to overhaul Medicare.
It is believed that Hochul defeated Republican Jane Corwin in the race for the right-leaning upstate New York district by opposing the 2012 GOP budget, which transforms both Medicare and Medicaid.
Reid said that Medicare cuts are “what the voters cared about and were most scared about.”
New York’s 26th district was previously occupied by Chris Lee, who resigned after it was revealed that the married Congressman had attempted to solicit a relationship with a women he found on Craigslist. Before Lee, the seat had been controlled by Republicans for decades, making Hochul’s victory all the more surprising.
Democrats are hoping to use Medicare as a tactic to turn more and more voters against the GOP next year.