The already slim GOP House majority got smaller after Democrats picked up a victory Tuesday in a New York special election.

Democrat state Sen. Tim Kennedy defeated Republican town supervisor Gary Dickson for the state’s 26th congressional district, which includes Buffalo and some of its surrounding suburbs.

“Democrats will now control 213 seats in the House, compared with 217 for the Republicans. Five seats remain vacant,” NBC News reports.

“We did it. 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. 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 said.

Per NBC News:

Kennedy will serve the rest of Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins’ term. Higgins, who was in his 10th term, resigned in February to run a local performing arts center, and he had some choice words for partisan gridlock in the House. Higgins told The Buffalo News late last year that Congress is “in a very, very bad place” and that “we’re at the beginning phases of a deterioration of the prestige of the institution.”

That did not deter Kennedy from running in the special election or for a full term in November.

“The dysfunction has become an embarrassment across this country and across the global community,” Kennedy said in a phone interview Monday. “And we have to restore honor and civility and functionality back into the halls of the House of Representatives.”

Kennedy’s victory Monday was no surprise — President Joe Biden won the district by 23 percentage points in 2020, according to calculations from Daily Kos Elections, and the district has twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.

WATCH:

POLITICO reports:

Kennedy, a seven-term state senator, said in a recent interview that his front-running campaign is a good indicator of what happens when a Democrat with “a record of delivering results for the community” runs against a Republican “who is supporting a failed former president who’s not only indicted but is on trial.”

“This race is about the future of our country, and I believe every race at the congressional level across America this November is going to be the same,” he said in a recent interview. “This is a prelude to what we should expect to see in November.”

Kennedy’s path to victory was smooth. He was ready to launch a full-fledged campaign from the moment longtime ally Higgins announced his retirement in November, and other high-profile Democrats from Western New York declined to enter the race.

Republicans didn’t pick Dickson to be their nominee until February.

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.