As the nation waits for officials to count thousands of votes in a handful of states to decide the next President of the United States, Capital District incumbents had a good day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Despite a spirited and well-funded campaign by Republican Liz Joy, incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, was elected to a seventh term in the 20th Congressional District with 56 percent of the vote, unofficially. With 99 percent of the districts reporting, Tonko had 164,664 and Joy had 127,394, according to a number of reports.
The 20th Congressional District includes all or portions of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Saratoga and Montgomery counties.
Two other Congressional incumbents also won contested races.
In one of the most contentious elections, Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik handily won an fourth term over Democrat challenger Tedra Cobb for the second consecutive election cycle.
With all districts reporting, Stefanik won by an overwhelming majority, 167,935 to 92,596, or 64 to 35 percent, in a race that featured Stefanik’s support of President Donald Trump.
The 21st Congressional District is a huge chunk of the North Country that runs from Saratoga County to the Canadian border and from the Vermont border west to Watertown.
The race for the 22nd Congressional District is still to close but Democrat incumbent Antonio Delgado has a lead in his bid for a second term against challenger Republican Kyle Van De Water.
Unofficially, Delgado had a 51 to 47 percent lead, 131,634 to 120,096 by the machine count. The race has not yet been called pending a count of absentee ballots.
The 22nd District runs from Albany south to Poughkeepsie and from the Massachusetts border west to nearly Binghamton.
Statewide, incumbents across the board coasted to victory.
Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Democrat, easily defeated Republican Dave Feiden in the 110th District. Steck, seeking his fifth term, won by a 58.4 to 41.6 percent margin, or 32,774 to 20,777. The district includes Colonie and portions of Schenectady County.
In the 109th Assembly District, incumbent Democrat Pat Fahy beat Republican challenger Robert Porter 66.6 to 33.4 percent, or 35,423 to 17,746, for a fifth term in Albany.
The district includes the Albany County towns of Bethlehem, Guilderland and New Scotland and the City of Albany.
In the open 46th Senate District, Republican Richard Amedure defeated Democrat Michelle Hinchey by an unofficial count of 52.8 to 46.4 percent, or 66,784 to 58,613.
It became an open seat with incumbent George Amdore’s decision to not seek another term. The district stretches from Poughkeepsie to Montgomery County and includes Guilderland, Altamont and the hill towns of Albany County.
Sen. Neil Breslin, a Democrat, coated to victory for the seat he has held since 1996 over Democrat challenger David Yule 69.5 to 30.5 percent, or 68,629 to 30,101.
The district includes the Albany County towns of Delmar and Colonie and the Rensselaer County cities of Troy and Rensselaer.
