SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When members of Onondaga County's Republican Committee cast their ballots on a Congressional candidate, the lion's share of votes are expected to go to the man who once headed the Onondaga County Legislature, Dale Sweetland.
But committee members in Onondaga County, meeting at the OnCenter won't be the only ones speaking out on who should be the endorsed Republican candidate for Congress. Also to be heard from are Republican committees in Wayne, Cayuga and Monroe counties.
Sweetland enters the endorsement phase, armed with new polling that shows him in a dead heat with Democratic contender Dan Maffei. The survey of voters, district wide, shows that neither man has staggering approval or disapproval ratings and that nearly a third of voters don't know who they are. That’s despite a nearly two-and-a-half year campaign by Maffei, who has raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“They don't want someone to buy an election. All we've heard all over is, this candidate is going to be the candidate and eventually be the congressional representative because he has raised all of this money,” said Sweetland.
Sweetland finds himself facing tough opposition from a State Assemblyman from Wayne County, Robert Oaks.
Republicans are ready to launch the process for selecting a candidate for Congress in the 25th District. News 10 Now's Bill Carey says it all begins with a vote by party workers at Syracuse's convention center on Thursday night.
“I've had the opportunity to represent a multi-county district. To deal with people in different counties with different interests. I think I bring that to this race,” said Oaks.
Sweetland will argue that to win the race, the Party needs to look to Onondaga County, where 65 percent of the district's votes are.
“The final candidate is going to have to do well in a general election in Onondaga County in order to win the Congressional seat,” Sweetland said.
It will take weeks to finish the selection process. Neither man will rule out a primary.
“At this point in time I wouldn't venture a guess as to whether there's going to be one or not,” said Sweetland.
“All of us will look at what happens and then reassess at each step along the way. But certainly this convention in Onondaga County is the first step along the way,” Oaks said.
The first step in what could be a long, hard battle.
Republicans were left scrambling for a Congressional candidate after long time incumbent James Walsh announced in January that he would not seek re-election.