Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As returns from the Southern Tier turned the tide for Nick Langworthy's NY 23 Republican primary victory, analysts are looking into what went right in Langworthy's win over Carl Paladino.
Campaign ads worked for Langworthy says Carl Calabrese. "He did an effective campaign commercial when he brought up how much Carl Paladino has financially supported far-left Democrats," says Calabrese, who says he would've recommended more of those ads. Jack O'Donnell of O'Donnell and Associates agrees. "He ran a professional campaign, he had some good spots even if he got close to the line getting people to believe he had the Trump endorsement," says O'Donnell.
O'Donnell says the race came down to turnout. He says a lot of people know Carl Paladino and voted for him before. "I think it shows Republican voters tend to embrace the Trump style," says O'Donnell. But he says we saw institutional Republican support for Langworthy. "County chairs, town chairs, and state level elected officials supported Langworthy and that's what we expected from the establishment," he adds.
Ken Kruly of Politicsandstuff.com credits Paladino for controlling himself and not going off on what he said in the past. "I think he knew voters would identify with someone they can relate to. Carl can relate to voters in this district," says Kruly. He says Langworthy had to rely on an outside PAC to help raise funds. But Kruly adds Langworthy had good connections with local leaders to put votes together.
Langworthy now faces Max Della Pia in November.
