KINDERHOOK, N.Y. (AP) - Republican Rep. John Faso is facing a political firestorm in his own upstate New York backyard that threatens to consume his first term in Congress just as it begins.
Faso was one of the 217 Republicans who voted last week for the GOP health care bill that analysts say would push 24 million off the insurance rolls over the next decades. That includes tens of thousands of people in his rural district two hours north of New York City.
The patrons at the cafe next door want him out. A rival congressman has "adopted" his district, staging a town hall without Faso. And more than a half dozen Democrats are preparing to run against him.
Faso is defending his vote.