One of the first things Carolyn McCarthy pledged to do after winning her bid to unseat her local Congressman, Daniel Frisa, was to give up cigarettes — as a public figure she didn’t want to be responsible for setting a bad example.

After Republican leaders in her home county of Nassau, New York, declined McCarthy’s offer to run in a primary against Frisa, she decided to run as a Democrat, with a strong position in favor of gun control and the federal repeal on assault weapons. McCarthy has good reason to be concerned since the tragic death of her husband, Dennis, in 1993, a victim of a deranged gunman who opened fire on commuters aboard a Long Island Rail Road train. McCarthy’s 25-year-old son, Kevin, was also seriously hurt in the incident, but has since made wonderful progress on his road to recovery.

In hindsight, it seems the biggest mistake McCarthy’s Republican challenger made was not taking her seriously. He dismissed her campaign as a “one-issue candidacy” and described her as “a Republican who’s a little bit misinformed.” No prizes for guessing who turned out to be even more misinformed, and who else laughed all the way to Congress.