WATERTOWN - Matt Doheny wants his Democratic opponent to demand Eric Holder's resignation after the House voted yesterday to hold the U.S. attorney general in contempt of Congress.

"It's obvious that Mr. Holder is dodging legitimate questions about how more than 1,000 guns were put into the hands of Mexican drug kingpins - and how two of those weapons were later used to murder Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry," said Doheny, the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties' candidate in the 21st Congressional District.

"Mr. Holder has lost the confidence of a bipartisan majority and must step down,” said Doheny, a Watertown businessman and lawyer. “Unless Bill Owens' vote today was merely a purely political maneuver, he should to join me in calling on the attorney general to resign."

Owens, from Plattsburgh and representing the 23rd Congressional District and soon to be the 21st district, was one of a handful of Democrats who joined most Republicans in the house in voting for the contempt resolutions.

"The attorney general is not above the law. He should lose his job for overseeing an operation in which illegal guns were 'walked' across the U.S.-Mexican border, lost and then used in a senseless murder. The president's use of executive privilege to cover up Mr. Holder's grave mistakes is shameful and a blatant abuse of executive power. Nothing less than resignation is appropriate at this time. My only question is: Does Bill Owens agree?"