X Account @KennedyforNY26
Democrat Tim Kennedy Dominates in N.Y. Special Election
Democrat Tim Kennedy blew past expectations to defeat Republican Gary Dickson in a special election for N.Y. House District 26 on Tuesday. Kennedy, a state senator from Buffalo, won the election by 36 points, more than doubling the vote total of Dickson. The N.Y. 26th is a Democrat +9 district, indicating a massive overperformance by Kennedy.
Kennedy will now replace incumbent Democrat Brian Higgins who resigned from Congress in February citing the "slow and frustrating" pace of getting anything done in Washington.
Kennedy, who ran a campaign based largely on reproductive rights, immigration and gun safety said in his victory speech Tuesday night, “We need to elect pro-democracy, anti-MAGA candidates all around the country this November and it starts here in this room in Buffalo, New York, tonight.”
“We did it as a COMMUNITY. Because that’s what this was all about since Day One. And that’s what it will always be about,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. “I’m honored. I’m humbled. I’m ready to get to Washington and get to work. Thank you, endlessly. Let’s meet this moment together.”
Kennedy significantly out fundraised Dickson, raising $1.7 million as of April 10th, compared with Dickson’s $35,430 haul. Kennedy spent over a million on an ad blitz leading up to the election. Kennedy will now serve out the rest of Higgins' term and will be on the ballot in November for a two-year term of his own.
Kennedy now joins Marilyn Lands in Alabama, and Tom Keen in Florida as Democrats who have surpassed expectations in special elections, continuing a trend of Democratic enthusiasm that began in Kansas in 2022, where voters resoundingly rejected efforts by the GOP to ban abortion in that state.
Democrat Tom Suozzi won in February in the Long Island special election to replace George Santos who was expelled from Congress, flipping the seat and narrowing the GOP majority in the House which is now down to one.
Kennedy's victory ensures that razor thin margin for Republicans will remain leading up to the November general election.
