Due to its demographic weight, the State of New York claims significantly greater representation than the three other states bordering Quebec in the United States Congress.
Obviously, like each of the other 49 states, New York sends two senators to Washington. They are Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The headquarters of Mme Gillibrand is in play this year. “She is widely favored for re-election, but could be challenged in the Democratic primaries,” indicated the New York Times in early 2023.
This challenge could, for example, come from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the very popular and very left-wing representative from the Bronx, or from Ritchie Torres, representative from the East Bronx. At the end of April, Mme Ocasio-Cortez said she is “not planning” a bid to run for the Senate in 2024.
The other senator, Chuck Schumer, was re-elected in 2020. Since his arrival in the Senate on January 3, 1999, New York has only sent Democratic elected officials to the Upper House.
In the House of Representatives, the question is more nuanced.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats were surprised to see 11 of the 26 districts occupied by Republicans.
In fact, Democrats lost four seats, three of which went to the GOP. The other seat was withdrawn because the demographic weight of the state compared to the rest of the country was slightly reduced.
Things could change in 2024, as Democrats, who control the majority of the state’s top offices, are currently trying to redraw the electoral map.
However, other elements must be considered, indicates The Press Quebecer Antoine Yoshinaka, professor of political science at the State University of New York at Buffalo and researcher associated with the Raoul-Dandurand chair.
“In the 2022 elections, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul was elected, but with a much slimmer margin (53-47) than in the past,” he says. Same thing with the state’s Attorney General (Letitia James), re-elected 54-45, which is relatively close for this state. »
If New York remains blue (Democratic), there is a certain dissatisfaction with the elected officials of this party, including the president, indicates Professor Yoshinaka. “The Republicans managed to capitalize on this unpopularity and on the issue of crime which was more important during the pandemic,” he gives as an example. We hear a lot about it in the suburbs in particular. So, Democrats must be careful and see to it that the vote favorable to them (young people, unions, ethnic minorities) comes out at the Congress level. »
Capital city : Albany
Population : 19.7 million at 1er July 2022
Ethnicity: White (54.2%), Hispanic or Latino (19.7%), Black (17.7%), Asian (9.6%), First Nations (1.1%)*
GDP per capita in 2022 and rank occupied: $79,434 (2e)
Unemployment rate in 2022: 4.3%
Fire arms : 14.5% of households
Governor: Kathy Kochul (D)
Weight in the Electoral College: 28 electors
To Congress: 2 senators and 15 Democratic representatives; 11 Republican representatives
* The total here exceeds 100%. Some respondents identify with more than one category.