When Rep. John McHugh resigned to become the Secretary of the Army, Republicans in NY-23 hastily prepared a candidate selection process that assigned weighted votes to the county chairpersons of the district’s eleven counties.

As the county chair for Clinton County, where 11% of the district’s Republicans live, Janet Duprey wielded power over 11% of the district’s ballots. Unfortunately for Duprey, Clinton County Republicans were dead set against the Scozzafava nomination.

In the first ballot of the candidate selection process, Scozzafava led the pack of three contenders with 45% of the ballots cast. Initially, Duprey consented to the wishes of her delegation and cast her vote for Paul Maroun, who was viewed as more conservative. In the second ballot, however, Assemblywoman Duprey abruptly changed her vote to Scozzafava, sealing Scozzafava’s nomination.

Duprey has since acknowledged that her delegation had wanted Maroun as their nominee, admitting that “the Clinton County committee members… voted for the candidate they supported. Paul Maroun received the majority of the votes.” Janet Duprey later justified her shift by saying that “it was clear that Dede was the winner… Everyone wants a winner.”