New York: Senate Election

If You Have An Election Lasting Longer Than Four Hours...

2016 New York U.S. Senate Election

CANDIDATE		PARTY	VOTES	PCT.
	Chuck Schumer*	Dem.	5,221,949	70.6%
	Wendy Long	Rep.	2,009,353	27.2
	Robin Wilson	Green	113,413	1.5
	Alex Merced	Lib.	48,121	0.7

In the 2016 U.S. Senate Election of New York, Chuck Schumer's most significant challenger was Wendy Long. This was Longs second attempt at taking a Senate seat away from an incumbent Democrat -- Kristen Gillibrand in 2012 and Schumer in 2016. Long is an attorney by practice, spending time clerking for Justice Clarence Thomas and acting as a legal advisor during Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Wendy Long's candidacy, in a highly Democratic State, was something of a longshot. Especially considering her various extreme, far-right beliefs. In many ways, she echoed sentiments made by Trump, including building a wall to stop immigration, engaging in anti-Muslim rhetoric, and taking an isolationist stance on trade. 

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

Wendy Long holding a "Women for Trump" rally.

GOP Senate Candidate Wendy Long links rising crime with Syracuse Mosque 

"Wendy Long, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in New York, has unleashed a series of tweets criticizing the conversion of a Catholic church in Syracuse into a mosque, saying that crime soon followed." 

 Soon To Be Longest-Serving Senator In New York History? 

Chuck Schumer, the incumbent four-term Senator, will be running for a fifth term in 2022. If he is re-elected, he will become the longest-serving U.S. Senator in the state's history. New York is a reliably Democratic state -- no incumbent Democratic Senator has lost a reelection since the establishment of direct elections in 1913. However, Schumer might face a threat in the primary if progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decides to run. Ocasio-Cortez, at the age of 28, beat former Representative Joseph Crowley, a member of the House Democratic leadership, in 2018 even though Crowley was much better financed. On the other side, Schumer already has three Republican challengers who have declared their candidacy -- Mark Szuszkiewicz, Aleksander Mici, and Joe Pinion -- all of which have previously run unsuccessfully for seats on the state government. 

Senator Chuck Schumer already has endorsements from twenty-nine unions and labor groups who represent more than 1.9 million workers in New York state. The endorsements aren't surprising, since Schumer is among the most powerful Democrats in the country and carries significant influence at the state level. This allows him to claim credit for huge amounts of federal funding to the state -- most recently $6.2 billion to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Stacks on Stacks on Stacks 

Total Campaign Finances: $36,266,151

Top Industries 

Securities & Investment: $3,373,444 

Lawyers/Law Firms: $2,566,465 

Retired: $2,038,069

Real Estate: $1,827,403

Average Funds Raised by Senate Members (2022): $3.67 million

Chuck's 2022 Campaign Platform (full details here)

Covid-19 Relief: Schumer delivered with the American Rescue Plan which brought $100 billion in aid to New York in the form of direct checks, funding for vaccines, expanding Child Tax Credits, school funding, among other things. 

Education and Student Debt: Schumer is working with Elizabeth Warren and progressives in the House to pressure President Biden into canceling up to $50,000 of student debt per person. Additionally, Schumer has helped extend the Perkins loan program and created tax credits for students.

Heath Care: The Affordable Care Act has already help millions of Americans gain access to health care, but Schumer would like to build upon the progress made by the ACA to ensure everyone is covered, the cost of prescriptions are lowered, and that inequalities in the health care system are eliminated. 

What Does All This Mean for Chuck Schumer?

There could not be better conditions for a reelection. New York is as deeply blue as it gets. Democratic incumbent Senators don't lose reelection in New York. There are no strong candidates in either the primary or the general. Even if there was, Schumer has a long list of credentials, extensive name recognition, and campaign finances which are ten times the national average for U.S. Senators. At this point, Schumer's reelection is essentially guaranteed and he will likely win up to eighty percent of the votes.