Election Day Approaches

By Hinman Straub

November 5, 2024 is Election Day, and early voting in New York State begins on October 26.  Beyond the presidential race, every seat in the State Assembly and Senate are on the ballot, as well as all of New York’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the New York’s two U.S. Senate seats.   

17 current members of the State Senate and Assembly have announced their retirements or are running for other offices. Several very senior leadership and committee chair positions will be open (e.g. Assembly Speaker Pro Tem, Assembly Ways & Means Committee chair), and be filled by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie early in 2025.

The appointment of legislators to chair certain committees will impact NEAFA’s advocacy in Albany. The following state legislators are not running for reelection in November:

State Senate

  • Neil Breslin (D-Albany) – retiring. Senate Insurance Committee chair.

  • Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo) – running for Congress in an April special election. Senate Transportation Committee chair.

  • Kevin Thomas (D-Suffolk) – recently suspended a candidacy for a seat in Congress. Senate Consumer Protection Committee chair

  • John Mannion (D-Syracuse) – running for Congress. Senate Disabilities Committee chair.

State Assembly

  • Jeff Aubry (D-Queens) – retiring.  Speaker Pro Tem.

  • Marjorie Byrnes (R-Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Steuben and Wyoming Counties) – retiring.

  • Taylor Darling (D-Suffolk) – lost June primary for State Senate.

  • Inez Dickens (D-Harlem) – retiring.

  • Patricia Fahy (D-Albany) – running for State Senate. Assembly Higher Education Committee chair.

  • Joseph Giglio (R-Olean) – retiring.

  • Andrew Goodell (R-Jamestown) – retiring.

  • Aileen Gunther (D-Middletown) – retiring.

  • Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Nassau & Suffolk) – retiring.

  • Daniel O'Donnell (D-Manhattan) – retiring. Assembly Tourism, Parks Arts & Sports Committee chair.

  • Fred Thiele (D-Suffolk) – retiring. Assembly Local Governments Committee chair.

  • Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn) – retiring. Assembly Ways & Means Committee chair.

  • Kenneth Zebrowski (D-Rockland County) – retiring. Assembly Government Operations Committee chair.