Why Weiner’s seat in NY went to Republican Bob Turner

Story by The Takeaway. Listen to audio for full report.

In a surprising turn of events, GOP candidate Bob Turner won the seat for New York’s 9th congressional district. The seat was previously held by disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, an adamant liberal, and the district is largely Democratic. So why the big change?

“The motivated voters wanted a change,” said Anna Sale, writer for WNYC’s political blog It’s a Free Country. Sale pointed out that the turnout was low for this special election — but the voters who wanted to make a change voted Republican.

One of Turner’s main platforms was cutting the national budget by a third over 10 years. But unlike other popular Republicans in the media, Turner still advocates for entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. He wants to keep policies the same for Baby Boomers, while slowly reforming the system for younger generations.

“Bob Turner’s position sounds a lot like what President Barack Obama said about Medicare in his jobs speech last week,” Sale said.

Many pundits question what this Republican upset means for Obama’s chances of winning the presidency in 2012. With a deadlocked Congress and heated political moves made on both sides of the party line, change is the biggest wish for most voters.

“It’s certainly a sign of discontent with the status quo,” Sale said of the election.

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