A pro-life group that backed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman says the Democratic special election victory in New York's 23rd Congressional District is actually a win for motivated conservative activists.

Democrat and retired Air Force Captain Bill Owens, running in a historically Republican stronghold, capitalized on a split that emerged between Republican liberals and conservatives. Owens defeated Hoffman (49 percent to 45 percent) after the withdrawal of liberal Republican candidate DeDe Scozzafava over the weekend, whose name remained on the ballot, drawing 6 percent of the vote.

The race grabbed national attention when a rift developed among Republican Party leaders...