Scozzafava has received few kind words in the press from members of the state GOP, who are still fuming over her decision. Scozzafava: GOP attacks were 'vicious'

Dede Scozzafava, the GOP nominee who dropped out of New York’s special election last week to endorse Democrat Bill Owens, said Wednesday that the attacks against her from fellow Republicans were “vicious.”

In an interview with CNN — her first television appearance since leaving the race — Scozzafava said hearing the criticism of her from within Republican ranks was “difficult to overcome.”


“The attacks were pretty vicious,” she said, “especially since it was coming from people that identified themselves as Republicans.”

Scozzafava has received few kind words in the press from members of the state GOP, who are still fuming over her decision to suspend her campaign and endorse Owens only days before the election.

With Scozzafava out, Owens became the first Democrat to win the upstate congressional district in over 100 years, beating Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, 49 percent to 46 percent. Scozzafava, whose name remained on the ballot, received 5 percent of the vote.

Scozzafava resigned from her spot in the state’s Assembly leadership on Monday after meeting with Assembly Minority Leader Brain Kolb, who had been fielding complaints about Scozzafava from his members.

Asked about what the election’s result means for her party, Scozzafava said that “hopefully a lesson can be learned and we can move forward and make the party stronger and understand that there are many voices that make a party but we can all agree around core principles.”

“I hope that races can revolve around the needs of the district that the people are running to represent,” the Republican assemblywoman said. “You’re never going to have perfect ideology. If you are you're never going to move forward because no one's going to think independently.”