Democrat wins special election for NY House seat --Race seen as referendum on Republican plan to transform eliminate popular Medicare program 24 May 2011 Democrats have picked off a heavily Republican upstate New York congressional seat in a special election that became a referendum on Medicare. Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul edged past Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin on Tuesday to win the seat in the 26th Congressional District. The rural-suburban district between Buffalo and Rochester is one of the state's most conservative. But Corwin saw her early lead dissolve after coming out in favor of a Republican budget plan that would cut billions from Medicare, the government health plan for seniors.