FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 21, 2009
CONTACT: ELIZABETH RAY, X.130 or MARY BETH HUTCHINS, X.105 703.683.5004

National Organization for Marriage Takes Aim at Dede Scozzafava, Endorses Doug Hoffman in New York-23

WASHINGTON - Today the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) formally endorsed Doug Hoffman for Congress in New York’s 23rd Congressional District’s hotly contested special election.

“GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava is not only theoretically in favor of gay marriage, she actually voted for it, twice,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s executive director. “Voters in New York’s 23rd deserve a candidate who has the courage to stand up for their values, not the values of party bosses in New York or Washington.”

“The National Organization for Marriage will spend at least $150,000 in independent expenditures to make sure New York voters understand how strangely extreme and out of touch Dede Scozzafava’s views are,” Brown added.

Scozzafava’s extreme liberal views has attracted a revolutionary coalition of social and economic conservatives who are working together to defeat Scozzafava and elect Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman. The Susan B. Anthony List, Gary Bauer’s The Campaign for Working Families, Citizens United Political Victory Fund, and NOM have joined the Club for Growth, the American Conservative Union, Dick Armey, Fred Thompson, Michelle Malkin and other high profile conservatives in supporting Doug Hoffman.

“As Michelle Malkin put it so well, this is not a fight for the heart and soul of the GOP, it’s a fight for its brain. Why party bosses thought it was a good idea to hand pick an extreme social liberal to run for a GOP district like New York’s 23rd is one of those mysteries a rational person cannot easily unravel,” said NOM president Maggie Gallagher.

“A candidate like Dede who feels the need call the police away from fighting real crime to deal with a respectable magazine reporter really calls into question her fitness for this office,” added Brown. “Clearly she's rattled and not responding well.”

The National Organization for Marriage was recently described by The Washington Post as “the preeminent organization dedicated to preventing the legalization of same-sex marriage." NOM is the largest single donor on the pro-marriage side in both California's Prop 8 battle and to Maine's current gay marriage referendum, contributing more than $3 million to these two states.(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704139.html.)

To schedule an interview with Maggie Gallagher, President, or Brian Brown, Executive Director, for the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray, eray@crcpublicrelations.com, (x130) or Mary Beth Hutchins, mhutchins@crcpublicrelations.com, (x105) at 703-683-5004.
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