Greetings from Albany, NY  

In this edition we provide an overview of the preliminary general election results, detail recent legislative action, highlight a few Empire State Development Requests for Proposals, and cover other important topics.

General Election Preliminary Results Are In

Following a national trend and in what is being widely described as “the blue tsunami,” Democrats won most of their races on Tuesday, with the New York State Senate flipping a handful of seats to cement a supermajority and the Assembly gaining several more Democratic seats, maintaining their supermajority. Although rarely utilized, this gives Democrats the number of seats they need to override a veto from the Governor without relying on Republican support. Additionally, Cait Conley (D) defeated incumbent Mike Lawler (R) for NY Congressional District 17, helping to secure the Democrats’ majority in the US House of Representatives.

Incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul (D) defeated Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman (R) by almost 20 points. Incumbent Attorney General Letitia James (D), and incumbent Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli D) won their respective races as well.

Although polls closed Tuesday night, County boards of elections have until November 28th to count any remaining mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 3, with final tallies officially set on Dec. 15. Some races are still too close to call, and the finally tally of mail-in ballots may change the results of some races.

In Senate District 43, the race between incumbent Jake Ashby (R) and challenger Devin Lander (D) remains too close to call. Ashby leads by just 103 votes, a margin close enough to qualify for a manual re-count, including any remaining mail-in votes. It is anticipated that all votes are counted and the race will be called next week.

The Assembly District 126 contest between incumbent John Lemondes (R) and challenger Ian Phillips (D) is a close one with Phillips leading by 223 votes. Although the latest reports indicate that there remain 1,400 uncounted votes, Phillips declared victory on election night, but Lemondes did not concede.

In Assembly District 143, 568 votes separate Patrick Chludzinski (R) and Ryan Taughrin (D), with Taughrin in the lead. Latest reports indicate that 800 absentee ballots still need to be tallied before the race can be called.

In Westchester County, thousands of ballots could not be processed due to a programming glitch. However, the Westchester Board of Elections assured voters that their ballots would be counted and arranged for additional ballot counting under a court-approved agreement.

Please see the attached PDF with the full list of results we have to date.

We will continue to update you as additional results are finalized for Senate, Assembly, U.S. House of Representatives, and State Supreme Court races. Please let us know if you have any questions in the interim.

Division of Budget Schedules Quick Start Meeting 

The Quick Start meeting is the first step in New York’s annual budget process and provides the public with an early overview of projected revenues and expenditures before formal budget negotiations begin. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.

Established under the Budget Reform Act of 2007, the process is intended to promote transparency and accountability in state budget planning while encouraging collaboration and an on-time budget.

The Division of Budget, Senate Finance Committee, Assembly Ways and Means Committee, and the Office of the Comptroller are required to convene for a public meeting to discuss their projected revenues and disbursements and publish a report with findings showing core expenditure trends.

The mid-year Assembly Ways and Means Committee  report, and Senate Finance Committee report have also been released.

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