REPORT ON SPECIAL ELECTIONS AND OPEN SEATS

New York State suffers from having a high number of legislative seats filled through special election. A special election is an election that is held at an irregular time for that particular office, in order to fill a vacancy caused by the unexpected departure of the sitting office holder. Candidates for the vacant legislative seat are first chosen by the leadership of their respective political parties in a committee meeting, rather than by the voters registered in that political party during a primary election. The winners of almost all special election contests are determined prior to the special election because the legislative districts are drawn to favor one major political party over another. This means that in almost all special elections, the candidate chosen by the leaders of the dominant party wins, rendering useless the ballots of the voters since they are simply approving the predetermined candidate choices. The result is that voters do not have a meaningful say in who represents them in the state legislature until they stand for re-election as incumbents. Special elections are not really elections but coronations.

In New York City, 23 out of 65 NYS Assembly seats (35%) are held by incumbents who were first elected to office in special elections. Of the state Senate seats in New York City, 7 out of 26 seats (27%) are held by incumbents first elected in special elections. Keeping in mind that incumbency is the strongest factor in a New York City election, this means that approximately 33% of New York City’s state lawmakers were first elected in a special election where they were essentially chosen by the party leaders and not by the party’s primary voters.

OPEN AND VACANT SEATS IN NEW YORK CITY

In this primary election cycle in New York City, there are 3 open seats in which incumbents are not seeking re-election. There are an additional 2 seats that are vacant with no official currently representing the district. Without incumbents running for re-election, these seats have the potential to be far more competitive in the primary. However, sometimes they are not, as in the case of Assembly District 48, where the Democratic incumbent who has represented the district for 35 years is not standing for re-election. In that race, there is only one candidate running, with the incumbent’s endorsement.

BRONX

Assembly District 87 – Vacant

BROOKLYN

Assembly District 46 – Vacant

Assembly District 48 – Currently held by Dov Hikind (D)

STATEN ISLAND

Assembly District 61 Currently held by Matthew Titone (D)

Assembly District 62 Currently held by Ron Castorina, Jr. (R)