ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A battle for control of the Republican message may have cost the party a SPECIAL election for a northern New York House seat.

Democrat and retired Air Force Capt. Bill Owens, running in a historically Republican stronghold, capitalized on a split that emerged between Republican moderates and conservatives.

Owens defeated businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, 49 percent to 45 percent, after a boost from unified labor efforts and the withdrawal of the Republican candidate over the weekend.

In thanking his family, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Owens said the race "has been an extraordinary journey." Republicans hadn't lost in the region in more than a century.

Owens will be up for election for a full term next year.

New York state now has only two Republican congressmen in its 29-seat delegation.

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