Now that the field for the 23rd Congressional District race is decided, voters have a clear choice, incumbent Congressman Bill Owens says.

“With the general election ballot now set, Upstate New York voters face a clear choice this November. I have fought hard for tax breaks for rural businesses that create jobs here at home, support strengthening Social Security for current and future generations, and want to move our economy forward,” Owens, of Plattsburgh, said in a statement.

The three-candidate field emerged Thursday with the completion of absentee-ballot counting. Incumbent Democrat Owens is to run against Republican Matt Doheny of Watertown, and Doug Hoffman, who lost the GOP primary to Doheny, but who is pledging to stay on and run as the Conservative Party candidate.

“I have spent much of the past 12 months traveling throughout Upstate New York listening to the thoughts and hearing the concerns of my constituents,” Owens said. “Consistently they have told me that the issues they care about most are job creation and economic development. I have heard their message loud and clear and have made job creation my top priority in Washington.

“Both of my opponents take a different approach that doesn’t serve as a plan to move our communities forward,” the incumbent asserted. “They both support tax breaks for companies that outsource American jobs overseas, support privatizing Social Security which will put the benefits guaranteed to our seniors at risk, and want a return to the failed economic policies of the past that got us into this mess in the first place. This is a change working families can't afford.”

As the campaign now begins in earnest, Owens said “Despite our current economic troubles, and the many challenges facing Upstate and Central New York communities, I remain optimistic about our future, and I am confident that together we will be able to keep the American Dream alive for future generations.”