A Democrat has won the race for a long-held Republican congressional seat in northern New York state.

In a race that shone a spotlight on the deep and growing rift in the Republican party between moderates and conservatives, Democrat Bill Owens beat conservative third-party businessman Doug Hoffman.

With 92% of the precincts reporting, Owens, a lawyer and retired air force captain defeated businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative party candidate, 49% to 45%.

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Bill Owens won a vacant U.S.House seat in New York in a race that divided the RepublicanParty and attracted national attention.

With more than 90 percent of the vote counted early today,Owens led Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman 49 percentto 45 percent, according to the Associated Press. Hoffmanconceded in a statement on his Web site.

Owens, 60, succeeds Republican John McHugh, who was namedsecretary of the Army by President Barack Obama. Owens’s victorygives the Democrats 27 of New York’s 29 House seats. Republicanslost three New York seats in 2008.

Washington (CNN) -- If Democrats suffer a loss in an upstate New York congressional race Tuesday, it could well spark an uneasy celebration among Republican leaders.

The party establishment, still in rebuilding mode heading into next year's midterm elections, watched helplessly this weekend as Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava was driven from the race by grass-roots activists in favor of a more conservative candidate.

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Former Republican candidate DedeScozzafava endorsed the Democratic contender for a vacant NewYork congressional seat over a Conservative backed by Republicanleaders one day after she withdrew from the race.

Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman, yesterday announced sheis supporting Democrat Bill Owens in his race against DougHoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, in a Nov. 3 specialelection in New York’s traditionally Republican 23rdcongressional district.

WASHINGTON — House Republican leader John Boehner said Sunday that the GOP wants moderates in the party and that the special election for a New York congressional seat in which the party's candidate dropped out - and threw her support behind the Democrat- is an unusual situation.

Dierdre Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in the Upstate New York district, stopped campaigning Saturday, days ahead of the Tuesday election. On Sunday, she endorsed the Democrat in the race, not the Conservative Party candidate favored by fellow Republicans.

WASHINGTON | Under fire from within her party, the Republican candidate for an open U.S. House seat in New York abruptly withdrew from the race Saturday, days before the election.

State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava said she was trailing in polls, unable to raise money and unlikely to win. She told supporters that while her name would be on the ballot Tuesday, she released all of them from their pledges and said they could vote for anyone.

Grassroots conservatives fired up by Sarah Palin and right-wing broadcasters hounded a moderate Republican out of an upstate House race on Saturday.

Dede Scozzafava - a pro-choice, pro-gay rights assemblywoman - quit just three days before the election to fill a vacant seat in the 23rd Congressional District, a mostly rural, rugged area along the Canadian border.

Scozzafava said a lack of cash left her "unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made" about her record.

WASHINGTON -- Under fire from prominent members of her own party who said she wasn't conservative enough, the Republican candidate for an open U.S. House seat in New York abruptly withdrew from the race Saturday just days before the election.

State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava said she was trailing in polls, unable to raise money and unlikely to win. She told supporters that while her name would still be on the ballot Tuesday, she released all of them from their pledges and said they could vote for anyone.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty waded into the politics of a New York special election for the U.S. House Monday by endorsing a Conservative Party candidate over the Republican candidate.

In a statement endorsing Conservatives' Doug Hoffman over GOP Assemblywoman DeDe Scozzafava, Pawlenty said, "We cannot send more politicians to Washington who wear the Republican jersey on the campaign trail, but then vote like Democrats in Congress."

Sarah Palin's decision late last week to endorse the Conservative Party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special U.S. House election in Upstate New York is the latest example that the former Alaska governor's allegiance is to her conservative principles rather than the party's edicts.

"Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual," Palin wrote on her Facebook page.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has endorsed a third-party candidate over the GOP-backed contender in New York's congressional special election, saying her own party has abandoned its core values.

The former Alaska governor, who was Arizona Sen. John McCain's running-mate last year, said Thursday she was backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava in the 23rd Congressional District race.

Now Sarah Palin has really gone rogue.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee has turned her back on the GOP nominee in the race for New York's hard-fought 23rd Congressional District, which includes upstate Watertown and Plattsburgh. She's choosing instead to endorse long-shot Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

"The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches!