Claudia Tenney Loses to GOP Incumbent Richard Hanna in NY-22

NY Republican Assembly Woman Claudia Tenney lost the 22nd district’s GOP Congressional primary to Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) on Tuesday night. 

Tenney exceeded expectations in the contentious race where the incumbent, Hanna, spent over 2 million dollars to win his re-election by just 6 percent. Tenney spent just over $100k on her campaign. According to the Tenney camp, Hanna spent $125 per vote, while Tenney spent just $15 on each voter.

“I think that this is sending a big message. We’re talking about over $2 million spent on race in a market that is probably the equivalent of Eric Cantor spending $5 million. I got only grassroots support,” Tenney told Breitbart News on Tuesday night. “I used mostly my own money–small donations. I didn’t really get a push from the national media until last week–just no real push from national media in the end. I think had I gotten that a week or so earlier, you would see us making a difference.”

Tenney, who was endorsed by high-profile conservatives toward the end of the campaign, was critical of the tactics Hanna’s campaign used to win over voters, saying, “The level that they would stoop to. My opponent was actually publically talking to people in groups this week saying that I voted for the governor’s gun laws.” She said incredulously, “Right away that was a bold-faced lie–actually saying that–tweeting out that I allowed it to pass– saying that I was a Democrat–that I ran for judge as a Democrat.”

She added, “It was just dirty and dishonest. We tried to keep it about our records–about the Constitution–my conservative principles and standing up for what’s right. You’re talking about a real David and Goliath situation here.”

Twice as many voters went to the polls this year as opposed to the 2012 election year. Tenney said, “It was an honor to run for the position: and her supporters may feel down but “they did such a great job.”

“A lot of people spent a lot of time trying to get out there and get the message out and we were just getting inundated with ads–100 ads a day–three or four flyers a day. Robocalls, radio ads. It was relentless. We couldn’t counter that.”

Mclaughlin & Associates, a Washington, DC-based GOP polling firm, predicted in March that Hanna would trounce Tenney with over 70 percent of likely GOP voters in the district.