It’s official now, liberal New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign as the Republican nominee to succeed Rep. John McHugh, R-NY, in the Empire State’s 23rd congressional district.

Scozzafava released the following statement earlier this morning:

 

“Today, I again seek to act for the good of our community,” Ms. Scozzafava wrote in a letter to friends and supporters. “It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so.

 

“I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.”

 

Scozzafava’s wthdrawal came hard on the heels of a Sienna Institute poll showing her campaign had imploded in barely a week since her husband called the cops on John McCormack, a reporter for The Weekly Standard, who persisted in asking her questions about her support for abortion on demand and granting of legal rights on the basis of an individual’s sexual preference.

 

The Sienna poll show the race in a dead heat between Democrat Bill Owens with 36 percent and Conservative Party of New York nominee Doug Hoffman at 35 percent. Scozzafava drew support from only 20 percent of the Sienna respondents. RealClearPolitics has additional details on the poll.

 

UPDATE: Right reactions claim victory

 

Craig Shirley, conservative PR guru and author of “Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the campaign that changed America,” who sees Scozzafava withdrawal as “a huge, huge black eye for the national Republican Party establishment and the first tangible sign that Reaganism is reasserting itself.”

 

Chip Hanlon, RedCounty.com calls it “a very big win for principle and a loss for political expediency and cronyism.”

 

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

 

“I had neglected to review the poll in much detail, but I suspect that Scozzafava’s withdrawal (or suspension, more accurately, since her name will stay on the ballot) hurts Bob Owens tremendously.  According to the poll, Hoffman had attracted 50% of the Republican vote, while Owens had 2/3rds of the Democrats.  Hoffman leads Owens among independents, 40%-35%, and the remaining 15% supporting Scozzafava will almost certainly break more towards Hoffman than Owens. 

 

“Owens will likely get more of Scozzafava’s Democratic supporters, but she only had 11%, while 14% have already gone to Hoffman.  Hoffman and Owens had a near-even split of the opposition in Scozzafava’s regional stronghold of Jefferson/Lewis/St. Lawrence counties, but I’d be surprised if Hoffman didn’t pick up more in those areas of disaffected Scozzafava voters, too.”

 

Erick Erickson, RedState.com: “On this our hill to die on, we made the other poor schmucks die on it!”

 

Michelle Malkin: “Hey GOP elites, can you hear conservatives now?”

 

Adam Bitely, New Media activist: “This is a big day for the tea party movement. Not only did the tea party and conservative activists in New York and across the country take down the GOP establishment, they are changing the status quo of all elections to come. Now, we will have the upper hand when it comes to dealing with the inside politics of the GOP.”

 

Dan Riehl,Riehl World View: “I don’t know how Dede Scozzafava ends up in all this. But I don’t mind going on record to say I don’t begrudge her anything at all. She looks to have been recruited for this slot, then gotten caught up in a maelstrom. She’s still a human being. But with the Albany Times Union pointing out that the NRCC slashed it’s funding a week ago. And reports on the ground now confirming a pull-out. Well, it is what it is. Politics is hardball. And there are fast ones flying everywhere in this one.”

 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, Susan B. Anthony List: “Dede Scozzafava’s courage and strength allowed her to make the choice to let the strongest candidate in her party move forward, and to serve the voters of the 23rd District.