Politics | Dede Scozzafava NY GOP Dropout Backs Dem Over Palin Fave Hoffman calls Scozzafava a 'turncoat' By Nick McMaster Posted Nov 2, 2009 1:19 AM CST Copied This combination of Oct. 2009, file photos shows Congressional candidates in New York's 23rd district, from left, Democrat Bill Owens, Conservative Party Dan Hoffman, and Republican Dede Scozzafava. (AP Photo/FILES) Sarah Palin-backed conservative upstart Doug Hoffman called Dede Scozzafava a “turncoat” after the New York Republican state assemblywoman endorsed Hoffman’s Democratic opponent, Bill Owens. Scozzafava issued her surprise endorsement a day after pulling out of the upstate congressional race. With prominent conservatives backing Hoffman, an independent, Scozzafava had been running a distant third in the polls. “This afternoon Dede Scozzafava betrayed the GOP,” a spokesman for Hoffman said in a statement. “She endorsed a Pelosi Democrat who will spend more, tax more, and push the liberal agenda that is dragging down this nation." Scozzafava, coaxed to back Owens by the White House, characterized the Democrat as “the only candidate” who was a suitable replacement for now-Secretary of the Army John McHugh, the Watertown Daily Times reports. Owens exhibits a "sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship,” she said. Read These Next New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. A man has been deported for kicking an airport customs beagle. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Actor Sam Rockwell gets residuals from movie he wasn't in. Report an error