GOP Picks Woman to Run for Lee’s Seat

Republican county chairpersons in New York unanimously selected Jane Corwin, a state assemblywoman who has voted against marriage equality, to run for the congressional seat relinquished by Chris Lee, the former representative who shared topless photos of himself with a woman on Craigslist.

GOP leaders from the seven counties represented by the 26th district seat picked Corwin on the basis of her fiscally conservative platform, according to the Buffalo News.

"Though eight Republicans interviewed with party leaders in Batavia on Sunday, Corwin was considered the front-runner from the outset," reports the News. "She sports a stellar Republican voting record, is expected to snare the Conservative Party endorsement and possibly Independence, too, and has earned a reputation as a hardworking assemblywoman who makes it a point to attend community functions."

In 2008, Corwin was elected to the state assembly, where she voted against the marriage equality bill that passed the chamber with bipartisan support. The state senate failed to pass the bill in 2009, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for another vote before the end of June.

Democrats have yet to settle on a candidate in the upstate contest. Republicans hold an edge in the district.

Gov. Cuomo is expected to call a special election to replace Lee, who resigned after Gawker revealed that he sent topless photos of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist.