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New York state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, four special elections were called to fill a vacant seat in theNew York State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in New York


If there is a vacancy in theNew York Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. A special election can be held as long as the vacancy occurred before April 1 of the last year of the former officeholder's term. If a special session is called in the state legislature after this date, a special election may be called to fill the seat.[1] The person elected to fill the vacant seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[2]

DocumentIcon.jpgSee sources:New York Public Officers Law § 42


About the legislature

TheNew York State Legislature is abicameral body composed of theNew York State Assembly, with 150 members, and theNew York State Senate, with 63 members.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2020. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, seehere (Senate) andhere (House).

New York State Senate
PartyAs of November 6, 2018After November 7, 2018
    Democratic Party3240
    Republican Party3123
Total6363
New York State Assembly
PartyAs of November 6, 2018After November 7, 2018
    Democratic Party104106
    Republican Party4143
    Independent11
    Vacancy40
Total150150

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

April 28, 2020

Editor's note: New York's state legislative special elections were originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. On March 28, 2020, Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) postponed New York’s presidential preference primary, one Congressional special election, and four state legislative special elections to June 23, 2020, amid concerns about thecoronavirus pandemic.[3]

June 23, 2020

New York State Senate District 50 
See also:New York state legislative special elections, 2020

A special primary election forNew York State SenateDistrict 50 was called in 2020. The candidate filing deadline was February 24, 2020, and ballots were scheduled to be certified on March 6, 2020.[4]

This election was originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. On March 28, 2020, Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) postponed New York’s presidential preference primary, one Congressional special election, and four state legislative special elections to June 23, 2020, amid concerns about thecoronavirus pandemic.[5]

On April 24, 2020, Gov. Cuomo canceled the special elections in a proclamation.[6] Because June 23 was also the statewide primary election date, partisan primary elections for New York State Senate District 50 would have also taken place on the same day as the scheduled special election. The seat remained empty until the general election on November 3, 2020.

The seat became vacant afterBob Antonacci (R) resigned on December 31, 2019, to join theNew York Supreme Court 5th Judicial District.[7]

CandidatesJohn Mannion (D, Working Families Party, Serve America Movement Party) andAngi Renna (R, Conservative Party, Independence Party) filed for this race.


New York State Assembly District 12 
See also:New York state legislative special elections, 2020

A special primary election forNew York State AssemblyDistrict 12 was called in 2020. The candidate filing deadline was February 24, 2020, and ballots were scheduled to be certified on March 6, 2020.[4]

This election was originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. On March 28, 2020, Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) postponed New York’s presidential preference primary, one Congressional special election, and four state legislative special elections to June 23, 2020, amid concerns about thecoronavirus pandemic.[8]

On April 24, 2020, Gov. Cuomo canceled the special elections in a proclamation.[6] Because June 23 was also the statewide primary election date, partisan primary elections for New York House District 12 would have also taken place on the same day as the scheduled special election. The seat remained empty until the general election on November 3, 2020.

The seat became vacant afterAndrew Raia (R) resigned on January 6, 2020, to be sworn in as the town clerk of Huntington, New York. He was elected to the town clerk position in 2019.[9][10]

CandidatesMichael Marcantonio (D, Working Families Party) andKeith Brown (R, Conservative Party) filed for this race.


New York State Assembly District 31 
See also:New York state legislative special elections, 2020

A special election forNew York State AssemblyDistrict 31 was called in 2020. The candidate filing deadline was February 24, 2020, and ballots were scheduled to be certified on March 6, 2020.[4]

This election was originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. On March 28, 2020, Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) postponed New York’s presidential preference primary, one Congressional special election, and four state legislative special elections to June 23, 2020, amid concerns about thecoronavirus pandemic.[11]

On April 24, 2020, Gov. Cuomo canceled the special elections in a proclamation.[6] Because June 23 was also the statewide primary election date, partisan primary elections for New York State Senate District 31 would have also taken place on the same day as the scheduled special election. The seat remained empty until the general election on November 3, 2020.

The seat became vacant afterMichele Titus (D) resigned on January 1, 2020, in order to assume her seat on the Civil Court bench.[12]

CandidatesRichard David (D),Joseph Cullina (R),Shea Uzoigwe (Independence Party), andDerrick DeFlorimonte (independent) filed for this race.


New York State Assembly District 136 
See also:New York state legislative special elections, 2020

A special election forNew York State AssemblyDistrict 136 was called in 2020. The candidate filing deadline was February 24, 2020, and ballots were scheduled to be certified on March 6, 2020.[4]

This election was originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. On March 28, 2020, Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) postponed New York’s presidential preference primary, one Congressional special election, and four state legislative special elections to June 23, 2020, amid concerns about thecoronavirus pandemic.[13]

On April 24, 2020, Gov. Cuomo canceled the special elections in a proclamation.[6] Because June 23 was also the statewide primary election date, partisan primary elections for New York State Senate District 136 would have also taken place on the same day as the scheduled special election. The seat remained empty until the general election on November 3, 2020.

The seat became vacant afterJamie Romeo (D) was appointed Monroe County Clerk by Gov.Andrew Cuomo on February 6, 2020.[14]

CandidatesJustin Wilcox (D) andSarah Clark (Serve America Movement Party) filed for this race.



Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. New York held 42 special elections during the same time period; the third-most of any state. About four special elections were held each year on average. The largest number of special elections in New York took place in2018 when 11 special elections were held.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

Special elections throughout the country

See also:State legislative special elections, 2020

In 2020, 55state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Four special elections were canceled inNew York due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2020 special elections

In 2020, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 23 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 5 due to a resignation related to criminal charges[15]
  • 18 due to retirement
  • 13 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2020. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2019, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2018 and 2019, Democrats had a net gain of six seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2020)
PartyAs of Special ElectionAfter Special Election
    Democratic Party2127
    Republican Party3832
    Independent00
Total 59 59

Flipped seats

In 2020, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑FindLaw, "New York Consolidated Laws, Public Officers Law - PBO § 42. Filling vacancies in elective offices," accessed February 11, 2021(Statute § 42 (4))
  2. ↑FindLaw, "New York Consolidated Laws, Public Officers Law - PBO § 38. Terms of officers chosen to fill vacancies," accessed February 11, 2021(Statute § 38)
  3. ↑‘’New York State,’’ “No. 202.12: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” March 28, 2020
  4. ↑4.04.14.24.3New York State Board of Elections, "Official Special Election Political Calendar," accessed February 12, 2020
  5. ↑‘’New York State,’’ “No. 202.12: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” March 28, 2020
  6. ↑6.06.16.26.3City & State New York, "Cuomo cancels most June special elections," April 25, 2020
  7. ↑The Citizen, "Antonacci resigns from NY Senate to become state Supreme Court judge" Dec. 31, 2019
  8. ↑‘’New York State,’’ “No. 202.12: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” March 28, 2020
  9. ↑Huntington Now, "Huntington Leaders Sworn Into Office," January 7, 2020
  10. ↑"Andrew Raia Elected as Huntington Town Clerk," November 5, 2019
  11. ↑‘’New York State,’’ “No. 202.12: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” March 28, 2020
  12. ↑QNS "What you need to know about the race to fill Michele Titus’ Assembly seat" January 10, 2020
  13. ↑‘’New York State,’’ “No. 202.12: Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” March 28, 2020
  14. ↑Rochester City Newspaper, "Romeo appointed Monroe County clerk," February 6, 2020
  15. ↑Arkansas State Rep.Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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