N.Y. Congressional Seat Goes Republican for First Time Since 1923

In a stunning repudiation of Barack Obama and his party, a rock-solid Democratic district in New York City elected Republican Bob Turner to Congress on Tuesday.

The CD 9 seat formerly held by disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner went Republican for the first time since 1923. Obama carried the district by 11 percentage points just three years ago.

But a slumping economy, Obama's plummeting popularity and Weiner's antics involving the telephonic display of his private parts -- prompting the New York Post to dub him "A-Wad" -- were too much for the Democratic candidate, state Assemblyman David Weprin, to overcome.

Turner, a businessman who has never held political office, will fill out Weiner's term. Building on the shellacking the Democrats suffered in 2010, Republicans will hold at least a 241-191 advantage in the U.S. House, pending another special election in Nevada.

New York Democrats, who still call the shots in Albany, figure to make Turner a short-timer. The shrinking Empire State is losing two congressional seats in 2012, and A-Wad's old district is ripe to be gerrymandered out of existence.

In perhaps the most absurd partisan spin of Tuesday night, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fort Lauderdale, called CD 9 "a difficult district for Democrats." Is she making excuses in advance for her district, which is also heavily Jewish?