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James Gaughran
James Gaughran (Democratic Party) was a member of the New York State Senate, representing District 5. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. He left office on January 1, 2023.
Gaughran (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 1st Congressional District. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 25, 2024.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Gaughran was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee
- Energy and Telecommunications Committee
- Senate Higher Education Committee
- Investigations and Government Operations Committee
- Local Government Committee, Chair
- Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee
2019-2020
Gaughran was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee
- Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee
- Local Government Committee, Chair
- Senate Higher Education Committee
- Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee
- Women's Issues Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)
New York's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House New York District 1
Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota defeated John Avlon in the general election for U.S. House New York District 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nicholas J. LaLota (R / Conservative Party)  | 55.2 | 226,285 |
 | John Avlon (D) | 44.8 | 183,540 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 275 | ||
| Total votes: 410,100 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Patrick Denman (Independent)
- Jarrett Matthews Adorno (Independent)
- George Devolder-Santos (Independent)
- Ryan Kalata (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 1
John Avlon defeated Nancy Goroff in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 1 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Avlon | 70.1 | 19,383 |
 | Nancy Goroff | 29.9 | 8,253 | |
| Total votes: 27,636 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kyle Hill (D)
- James Gaughran (D)
- Andy DeCecco (D)
- Craig Herskowitz (D)
- Saint Jermaine Endeley (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 1.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 1.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daniel Foti (Conservative Party)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gaughran in this election.
2022
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2022
James Gaughran did not file to run for re-election.
2020
See also: New York State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for New York State Senate District 5
Incumbent James Gaughran defeated Edmund Smyth and Barbara Wagner in the general election for New York State Senate District 5 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | James Gaughran (D / Serve America Movement Party) | 50.4 | 84,374 |
| Edmund Smyth (R / Conservative Party / Independence Party / L) | 48.5 | 81,239 | ||
 | Barbara Wagner (G) | 1.1 | 1,828 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 37 | ||
| Total votes: 167,478 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent James Gaughran advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Edmund Smyth advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Edmund Smyth advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Green primary election
The Green primary election was canceled. Barbara Wagner advanced from the Green primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Independence Party primary election
The Independence Party primary election was canceled. Edmund Smyth advanced from the Independence Party primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Edmund Smyth advanced from the Libertarian primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Serve America Movement Party primary election
The Serve America Movement Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent James Gaughran advanced from the Serve America Movement Party primary for New York State Senate District 5.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Edmund Smyth (Serve America Movement Party)
Working Families Party primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Gaughran (Working Families Party)
2018
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2018
Gaughran also ran in the 2018 election as a Working Families Party and Women's Equality Party candidate.
General election
General election for New York State Senate District 5
James Gaughran defeated incumbent Carl Marcellino in the general election for New York State Senate District 5 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Gaughran (D / Women's Equality Party / Working Families Party) | 54.9 | 68,027 |
 | Carl Marcellino (R) | 45.1 | 55,825 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 29 | ||
| Total votes: 123,881 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 5
James Gaughran advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 5 on September 13, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | James Gaughran |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New York State Senate District 5
Incumbent Carl Marcellino advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 5 on September 13, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Carl Marcellino |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2016
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 14, 2016. The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 23, 2016.
Incumbent Carl Marcellino defeated James Gaughran in the New York State Senate District 5 general election.[1][2]
| New York State Senate, District 5 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Carl Marcellino Incumbent |
50.60% | 74,024 | |
| Democratic | James Gaughran | 49.40% | 72,265 | |
| Total Votes | 146,289 | |||
| Source: New York Board of Elections | ||||
James Gaughran ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 5 Democratic primary.[3][4]
| New York State Senate, District 5 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | James Gaughran (unopposed) | |
Gaughran also ran on the Working Families and Women's Equality party tickets.
Incumbent Carl Marcellino ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 5 Republican primary.[3][4]
| New York State Senate, District 5 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Carl Marcellino Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Marcellino also ran on the Conservative, Independence, and Reform party tickets.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Gaughran did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
James Gaughran did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
| Obama endorsement |
|---|
|
| During the 2016 election cycle Gaughran was one of the candidates endorsed by President Barack Obama |
Full list of Obama's 2016 endorsements |
Gaughran's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Fighting Corrupt Politicians As your state senator, I will vote for every single piece of legislation that punishes corrupt politicians and makes it harder for them to abuse their power. In the instances of Skelos and Silver, simple remedies could have prevented, or at least hindered, their crimes, measures that the State Senate refused to move on, including:
Fighting for Our Fair Share Taxes
Fighting For Our Schools Adequate funding for public schools
|
” |
| —James Gaughran[6] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New York scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 5 to June 4.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to the fire service.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their support of bills related to the environment, environmental justice, public health, and transportation.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 6 to June 10.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 9 through January 8, 2020.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 202nd New York State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 3 through June 20.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Election results, 2016," accessed December 23, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New York State Board of Elections, "Filings received for the 2016 State/Local Primary," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New York State Board of Elections, "Election returns September 13, 2016," accessed November 6, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Gaughran for State Senate, "Issues," accessed October 12, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Carl Marcellino (R) |
New York State Senate District 5 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by Steven Rhoads (R) |
