The race for the congressional seat in New York's 25th district has been affected by a number of different factors, experts at Syracuse University said.

 "The presidential race is affecting the congressional race enormously, as presidential politics did in 2006, when Maffei came close," said Grant Reeher, political scientist at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Dan Maffei, the democratic candidate, almost beat Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., in 2006 during a year when a large number of Republican congressmen lost their seats to Democratic rivals. Walsh was able to retain his seat by defeating Maffei with fewer than 4,000 votes.

This year, Maffei faces Dale Sweetland, the republican candidate, a returning figure to local politics. He served in the Onondaga County legislature for seven terms.

Maffei has a monetary advantage over Sweetland, largely due to a successful fundraising campaign and help from the Democratic National Committee.

According to CQpolitics.com, Maffei has a 4-1 monetary advantage over Sweetland, as of September.

The presidential election is just one of many factors that will shape the outcome of this race. Growing dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, name recognition and campaign funding will also determine the election results, said experts at SU.

A Kiley & Company poll released on October 9 showed Dan Maffei ahead of his opponent Dale Sweetland by 18 points. The poll, paid for and released by the Maffei campaign, showed 49 percent of voters support Maffei compared to 31 percent for Sweetland.

The College Democrats at Syracuse University consider the state of New York won for Barack Obama. Instead of campaigning for Obama, the College Democrats are spending more time and resources on the local congressional election. 

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke to a crowd of about 200 people Friday afternoon at the Westcott Theater, a couple of blocks away from Syracuse University's main campus.

The three candidates vying for the congressional seat in New York's 25^th district participated in a forum Wednesday night at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Dan Maffei (D),  Dale Sweetland, (R), and Howie Hawkins, (Green) were given 30 minutes to answer a number of questions from moderators Donna Adamo of WSYR News Channel 5 and Robert McClure, the Chapel Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy at SU.

About 75 students, professors and central New York citizens filled Maxwell auditorium for the event, which was broadcast live on the local CBS affiliate WSYR Channel 5.

The forum aimed to allow conversation with the candidates and to provide an opportunity for them to discuss their plans and policy positions in detail.

The names of the three candidates were placed in a hat and drawn at random to determine the order in which they would speak. Dan Maffei went first, then Dale Sweetland and Howie Hawkins went last.

The three candidates discussed the War in Iraq, the economic crisis, education and job creation in Central New York among other topics.

About half of the audience had left by the time it Hawkins began to answer the moderators' questions.

Alexander Ufen, a political science student at SU who stayed through the entire event, said that based on the performance of the three candidates, he would support Maffei.

"I liked the format," Ufen said. "Having a forum like that was much more effective than a debate. You don't get into the laundry lists, you actually get specifics."

Read more about the event and the issues each candidate discussed.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, spoke to a packed audience Tuesday afternoon at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Students For Barack Obama at Syracuse University hosted a concert last Friday afternoon in Thornden Park to reach out to community members that were either unregistered or undecided. The event featured four local bands, food and information tables. 

Representatives from Dan Maffei's campaign stopped by to chat with concert goers and hand out Maffei yard signs. Mike Short, the Director for SFBO, said about 400 people showed up to the event.

Members of several different organizations at Syracuse University came together last week to promote voter registration amongst students. Rock The Vote, Rock The Cuse hosted forums every evening from Sunday to Thursday where guest speakers explained the issues pertinent to under-represented voters. Tables were set up in the Schine Student Center where students could register to vote or learn more about absentee ballots.

Sarah Ross, assistant director in the office of student life was one of the organizers of the Rock The Cuse event. She explained that they were getting some pretty good feedback from students in the Schine Student Center. "We're doing pretty well," Ross said. "But people aren't beating down the tables." Ross said students are particularly concerned that their votes will not be counted. "They want to go to the poll, where they know they're vote will be counted," she said. "They don't want to rely on an absentee ballot."

The College Republicans at Syracuse University have decided that the best thing they can do for their party is not to campaign for John McCain, but to take to the streets of Dewitt to campaign for Dale Sweetland, the Republican Party's nominee for Congress in New York's 25 District.

With 10-term republican congressman Jim Walsh retiring, the seat is now up for grabs in an area that combines the large urban center of Syracuse with a large rural population in Wayne, Cayuga and Monroe County.

RealClearPolitics.com rates the race between Dale Sweetland (R) and Dan Maffei (D)  as the number four most likely congressional district to slip from republican to democratic control. But for the College Republicans at SU, this race is absolutely winnable.

On Saturday, September 20 the SU College Republicans kicked off their Sweetland campaign, going door-to-door and doing office work at the Sweetland campaign headquarters.