Sen. John Mannion of the Syracuse region won reelection by just 10 votes so that Democrats will hold their supermajority in the state Senate, an upstate judge declared on Monday.
After a hand recount and a ruling on challenged ballots by state Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte, the incumbent Democrat narrowly defeated Republican challenger Rebecca Shiroff.
Democrats will maintain their 43-seat supermajority in the state Legislature’s upper chamber when lawmakers reconvene in Albany next month, thanks to Mannion’s victory.
After the election, Mannion’s campaign released a statement saying, “With no more votes left to tally, this race is finished, and I’m honored to have been re-elected to represent in the New York State Senate, the place that my family and I have lived in and loved our entire lives.”
According to Syracuse.com, more than 123,000 ballots were cast in the 50th Senate District, which includes parts of Onondaga and Oswego counties.
Out of the 63 Senate seats, Democrats had 43 members as of election day. The party gained majority status in the chamber in 2018 and grew to a supermajority in 2019.
Senator John Mannion was successfully re-elected, according to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers), who indicated as much in a statement.
“Sen. The voters chose to send Mannion back to Albany because they regard him as a senator.
As Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) ran for governor against Democrat Kathy Hochul, Republicans hoped to retake seats in the Senate this year.
GOP candidates incited public outrage over Democrat-sponsored criminal justice reforms, including cashless bail.
Zeldin fell by six percentage points, but the GOP gained ground on Long Island, taking seven of the county’s nine Senate seats.
The party could not unseat enough Democrats across the state to overthrow the supermajority held by the Democrats.
South Brooklyn saw several Assembly seats turn red for the first time in a long time, but Democrats still held onto control of that body.
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