Romney in Central New York

Tonight, Mitt Romney will be visiting yet another state, as he travels to Liverpool, New York, just outside of Syracuse where he will be speaking at a banquet for the Central New York Conservative Parties. The banquet, which last year saw Mike Huckabee as its keynote speaker, will honor several long serving conservatives in the region, including James Vargason, William Sanford, and the late Bernard Kraft.

As expected, the arrival has coincided with today’s announcement that Romney will be supporting ten New York candidates for Congress. These include Syracuse’s own Ann Marie Buerkle running against Dan Maffei in NY-25, and Richard Hanna in the neighboring 24th district:

At a time when we need leaders who will enact pro-growth policies that will turn our troubled economy around and put people back to work, too many Washington politicians are instead focused on growing the size of government. New York – and our nation – deserves leaders who will put the interests of the people ahead of the special interests, and work to get our economy back on track.  That is why I am proud to stand with these candidates today.

New York’s 25th is my own district, by the way, so I am particularly pleased to see these endorsements. Although the 25th is still listed as “Likely Democrat,” Buerkle is in striking distance of Maffei in the few polls that have been taken, and can win this with some enthusiasm behind her campaign. I hope the support by Romney will get the ball rolling on that. Meanwhile, Hanna in the 24th only narrowly lost to Arcuri in the Democrat wave that was 2008. NY-24 is a very strong opportunity for a Republican pickup this November.