Doug Hoffman will likely make a decision "over the weekend" about whether or not he will challenge the results of the New York 23rd district special election, the Conservative Party candidate's spokesman said.

Hoffman conceded to Bill Owens (D) after election night returns on Nov. 4 showed a comfortable margin for the latter. Owens has since been sworn in to Congress.

But amid absentee ballot counting and allegations of voting machine glitches, Hoffman decided to un-concede earlier this week. His Web site home page now declares "Election Day is NOT over" and encourages supporters to donate. Hoffman's campaign plans to "take a close look" at the count once the last batch of absentee and overseas ballots have been tallied, "hopefully today," said spokesman Rob Ryan.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent more than it raised in the month of October, according to fundraising numbers due to be reported to the Federal Election Commission today.

The NRCC raised $3.4 million in October, but spent $3.6 million. That's only slightly more than what the committee brought in during the month September. The committee will report having $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt at the end of the month.

Much of those expended funds came from the NRCC's independent expenditure in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. The committee spent almost $900,000 on the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race the weekend before the election and now-Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) went on to win the seat.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is expected to release their fundraising totals later today.

Political operatives from New York to Washington, D.C., are buzzing about whether former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) is getting ready to launch a campaign against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) next year.

New York media outlets reported Thursday afternoon that Giuliani has decided not to run for governor in 2010 but that he is still mulling a Senate bid. A report in the New York Daily News, citing unnamed sources, said Giuliani had decided to run for Senate.

But a Giuliani spokeswoman said in a statement that no decision has been made.

"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it," spokeswoman Maria Comella said. "When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own."

If he runs, this would be the second time Giuliani has sought this Senate seat. He mounted a brief campaign for what was then an open seat in 2000 but ended his campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding Rep. Bill Owens, the newly elected congressman from New York's traditionally Republican 23rd District, to its Frontline Program for vulnerable incumbents.

Owens is the 43rd Democratic member added to the program, which is designed to bolster fundraising and outreach and force incumbents to prepare early on for competitive contests.

The longtime attorney and first-time candidate won a tempestuous special election in the upstate district Nov. 4 to succeed Republican Rep. John M. McHugh, and has had a target on his back ever since. Hours after he was sworn in, the National Republican Congressional Committee pounced on his decision to vote for the Democrats' health care overhaul legislation.

New York's 25th District seat, held by freshman Democrat Dan Maffei, is beginning to attract a crowd of Republican hopefuls.

Businessman Mark Bitz, a former turkey farm owner, has filed the paperwork for a run and told the Syracuse Post-Standard he intends to give his campaign "a substantial amount" of his own money. Former Syracuse Councilor Ann Marie Buerkle is also seriously looking at the race, and strategists say at least one and perhaps more unnamed candidates have expressed interest. They join conservative activists Paul Bertan and David Gay in the GOP field.

Of those publicly expressing interest, Bitz looks to have the early momentum. "Bitz has a good amount of excitement behind his campaign ... both in D.C. and in the district," one Republican strategist said.

They voted for the health care bill. With enough money behind the opposition, could they be voted out of office next year?

Republicans aim to find out with a new effort to raise campaign funds for challengers to two dozen House Democrats who voted for the health care bill earlier this month.

Reverse The Vote Victory Committee was established this week with the Federal Election Commission as a joint fundraising committee that will collect contributions to distribute among 24 GOP challengers.

It's still months until the first nominees will be formally selected in primary elections, so the committee for the time being will give campaign funds to 24 separate "congressional victory committees" that in turn will deliver the funds to party nominees once they are determined.

Construction executive and 2008 Republican congressional candidate Richard Hanna dipped his toe into 2010 politics Tuesday with a press release condemning Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-N.Y., for backing the House's health care bill (HR 3962).

Hanna lost to Arcuri, 48 percent to 52 percent, in 2008 and is continuing to mull another run, but until now has stayed out of the public eye. Spokeswoman Renee Gamela said Hanna "felt compelled" to issue the release, the only one he has sent out so far this cycle, "because it's such an important issue," but she noted that it does not indicate any imminent announcement about his 2010 plans. Gamela, who worked on Hanna's 2008 campaign, added that she was not currently on his staff and simply stepped in to help distribute the release.

In the statement, Hanna calls the bill, which passed the House Nov. 7, "well intentioned but ill-conceived."

Dozens of House Democrats bucked their party on Saturday's health care vote. But how about those who might have taken a political risk by siding with their party?

Let's look at the Democrats from Republican-leaning districts who voted for the bill and Republicans from Democratic-friendly districts who opposed it.

Of the 49 House Democrats that represent districts that John McCain won in 2008, 18 of them voted for the bill.

Rep. Bill Owens was sworn in as the newest member of Congress just hours ago but already he's drawing heat from Republicans for his policy stances.

Owens announced Friday afternoon that he will vote in favor of the Democrats' health care overhaul proposal, which is expected to come to a vote on Saturday. "This legislation will reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable healthcare without taxing healthcare benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class, and that is exactly the direction we need to go," the New York Congressman said in a statement.

Not so fast, said the National Republican Congressional Committee, which was quick to point out that an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that the plan does cut Medicare benefits, specifically Medicare Advantage. In the words of the CBO, the plan would "reduce direct spending" in Medicare, Medicaid and other programs "by about $426 billion in the 2010-19 period." Democrats say that those cuts will in fact be savings created by weeding out inefficiencies.

New York Gov. David A. Paterson is going for broke -- literally -- to bolster his floundering re-election hopes. On Friday he launched a pair of television spots Friday that will cost his campaign $626,000 to air for the next week, according to advertising data obtained by CQ Politics.

The two ads, which the campaign hopes will jolt his approval ratings out of their year-long slump, are airing in the Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse media markets.

Both ads take a contrite tone while seeking to drive home the message that Paterson is fighting for the people of New York rather than special interests or his own political career. In the first, Paterson acknowledges that some people think he "shouldn't be running for governor," before listing a series of actions he's taken that may not be politically strategic but helped the state cope with its budget crisis. In the second, he says he has learned from his mistakes.