The momentous 2016 election had a huge number of tightly contested races for seats in State Legislatures, both houses of the United States Congress, and the highest office in the land, the Presidency. Since New York’s Senate and Presidential races were in no way competitive, these elections, along with those of the New York Congressional Delegation, were largely overshadowed in advertising and in media coverage. Here are the results of the equally consequential elections that took place in our state and nation.
The presidential race in New York had more drama than anticipated for two reasons: both major party candidates hailed from New York (only the third time that two presidential nominees from the same state had to compete for the presidency) and the appeal of Donald Trump in upstate New York was expected to be a large factor in the outcome of the race. Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton won the state handily, defeating Trump by 21 points and by a healthy margin of around 1.5 million votes, thus garnering all of the state’s 29 Electoral College votes. The race in Tompkins County was even more lopsided for Clinton. Voters favored Clinton in an overwhelming 68 to 26 percent rout of the Republican nominee, the biggest margin of victory for Clinton in any Upstate New York county. This result was unsurprising, however, as Tompkins County has cast the majority of its votes for Democratic presidential nominees every year since 1984.
Another key race in New York State was the vote to elect one of the two United States Senators. Chuck Schumer, the longtime Democratic incumbent, was expected to replace Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) as the minority leader of the Democratic Party if he won reelection. Thus, the New York Senate race was well-publicized, as Schumer was expected to win and occupy the esteemed position of the highest-ranking elected senate Democrat in the nation. Under this premise, he outspent his opposition by over 37 times, and the results were telling of his well-fought campaign. Schumer defeated Republican candidate Wendy Long 70 percent to 27 percent statewide, and by an even more substantial 73 percent to 23 percent margin in Tompkins County—also his largest margin of victory in Upstate New York. Schumer laid out a unifying victory message in front of an anxious audience awaiting the hotly contested U.S. Presidential results following the projection of his victory minutes after the first New York precincts began to report: “As New Yorkers, we’re proud that we come from every corner of the globe […] every one of these families is trying to do what my family did for me; to provide a better life for their kids. This is what motivates me in politics and that is my beacon.”
The last major nationally relevant race that Tompkins County residents voted on was for the U.S. Representative for New York’s 23rd Congressional District. Democrats have long had trouble capturing this somewhat competitive seat due to its geography. It is by far the largest congressional district in New York at over 13,000 square miles, encompassing an area all the way from the border with Pennsylvania along Lake Erie to suburbs of Binghamton. The numerous rural communities and the somewhat right-leaning population center of Greater Elmira was enough to counteract left-leaning voters in Tompkins County and western New York. Former naval submarine captain John Plumb was the Democratic nominee for this house seat, a moderate and safe pick largely positively regarded considering a series of further left Democratic Party picks in previous years. The Republicans fielded Tom Reed, the former Mayor of Corning and two-term incumbent, who incited significant national outcry for his early endorsement of Trump but was always seen as having the upper hand in the race. Indeed, the outcomes of the presidential race in all counties in the congressional district except for Tompkins favored Trump, so Reed’s decision to side by Trump despite the turmoil of the campaign is seen as having paid off. Reed won the election 58 percent to 42 percent, a somewhat surprising outcome for many who had been following the results of early precincts, which showed John Plumb with a steady five-point lead that crumbled in the final hour before the race was called. Reed spoke of what he intends to do in the fifth and sixth years of his congressional tenure in a press conference following the projections of his victory: “[My fellow members of Congress and I] are going to focus on creating a U.S. Manufacturing base here in America, and as you hear the Presidential results coming in, it’s apparent that there’s a change coming to Washington. I want to be part of that, and we’re going to bring our three cents into [this discussion] on behalf of the people of the 23rd Congressional District.”
Lastly, Tompkins County voted in several significant races for state legislature and district officials, with surprising outcomes. All three State Senate regions that comprise Ithaca, the 58th, 51st and 54th districts, all overwhelmingly elected Republican nominees to represent them in New York’s legislature. This is the result of several rural districts converging in Tompkins County, and Republicans across the ballot were lifted to victory by rural Upstate New York’s majority support for Trump. The 58th district’s Senator will be Tom O’Mara (R), the 51st’s Senator will be James Seward (R), and the 54th’s Senator will be Pam Helming (R).
One last interesting race fought in Ithaca was for the position of the District Attorney of Tompkins County. The District Attorney’s role is to prosecute those who commit crimes against state or local ordinances, a fairly large role due to Tompkins County’s sizable population and influence. Former District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson (D-Ithaca) resigned the day after the primary announcement deadline, leading the Ithaca Democratic Party to select Matthew Van Houten over Edward Kopko in a controversial special nomination. Van Houten, the eventual Democratic nominee and Kopko, who after the nomination ran an independent campaign, faced off in a Democratic Primary debate along with Andrew Bonavia, the interim District Attorney. It was regarded as the most hotly contested and policy-scrutinizing debate in the Tompkins Democratic Party over the past few election cycles. Van Houten won the nomination, but Kopko mounted a campaign to beat him, comparing Van Houten’s selection to that of the “rigged system” that resulted in Clinton’s nomination over Bernie Sanders. Despite this obstacle, Van Houten won a safe 21,624 to 7,124 victory.
This is a year that we won’t forget. The upset that Donald Trump and the GOP were able to orchestrate was both a complete shock to most observers and a decision that will prove highly influential in determining the domestic and foreign policy that our nation will adopt in the coming decade. Ithaca and Tompkins County stuck to their traditions of choosing Democrats and left-leaning candidates, and it remains to be seen what impact these selections will play in the evolving politics of our state and country.