House race in New York seen as Obama referendum

New York Republican State Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco (L) and Democrat Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist, in a combination image.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Voters went to the polls on Tuesday in a special election to fill a congressional seat in New York state in a contest some experts tout as a referendum on President Barack Obama's handling of the U.S. economy.

The contest pits Republican State Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco against Democrat Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist with no background in politics, in a largely rural House of Representatives district in the state's northeastern corner in which registered Republicans out-number Democrats.

It is the first U.S. congressional election since Obama took office on January 20, and political experts see it as a possible early sign of how voters assess Obama's performance.

"This can be viewed as a referendum on how Barack Obama is handling the economy," David King, a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, told Reuters. "It's national issues that are animating voters."

The winner gets the House seat vacated by Democratic Representative Kirsten Gillibrand, named to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate after Clinton became secretary of state.

Such special elections often do not attract large numbers of voters. A high turnout would be between 22 and 24 percent of the congressional district's 654,000 voters, King said.

The results, expected to be known by late on Tuesday, will have little effect on the balance of power in the 435-member House, where Democrats have a 76-seat majority. But experts say it has national importance.

"If the Democratic candidate wins in this Republican district, it should be seen as good news for Obama and the Democrats," said Robert Erikson, a political science professor at Columbia University. "If the Republican wins, the interpretation should probably be 'business as usual.'"

A win by Tedisco would help Republicans prove they can win in northeastern states, where they hold just three of New York's 29 House seats and none of New England's 51 seats.

"If the Republicans win, they begin to build a tiny bit of momentum that they can use toward candidate recruitment for 2010 and for fundraising," said Justin Phillips, also a professor at Columbia University. "If the Democrats win, this race will be perceived as yet another electoral failure for Republicans and will certainly be dispiriting for their base."

A Siena College poll released on March 12 showed Tedisco ahead by 4 percentage points, nearly within its margin of error, down from a lead of 12 percentage points in February.

Shripal Shah, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Murphy, who Obama has endorsed, would "work with President Obama to get our economy back on track."

Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, added, "Democrats are afraid to admit that this is a contest between Main Street and Wall Street."

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington, editing by Will Dunham)