Democratic congressional candidate Pat Ryan won a special election to represent a hotly contested upstate New York swing district seen by many as a bellwether.
Democratic congressional candidate Pat Ryan has won a special election to represent a hotly contested upstate New York swing district seen by many as a bellwether for the Supreme Court’s abortion decision ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
In a battle of two Hudson Valley county administrators, Ryan—the sitting Ulster County executive—defeated neighboring Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro Tuesday night to hold control of the seat recently vacated by Democrat Antonio Delgado, who resigned his post to serve as lieutenant governor under current Governor Kathy Hochul.
With 95 percent of the count complete, Ryan had 51.9 percent of votes to Molinaro’s 48.1, the race had been called by the Associated Press.
Though voters in Kansas resoundingly rejected a measure earlier this year to remove abortion protections enshrined in the state’s constitution, the New York vote was the first match-up of a Republican and a Democrat in the wake of that decision, with the contest taking place in a highly competitive district in a state where abortion is currently legal.
Prior to redistricting, New York’s 19th Congressional District—which encompasses parts of New York’s Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountains—was traditionally considered to be a swing district in the state’s congressional map.
