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Lester Chang
Lester Chang (Republican Party) is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing District 49. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Chang (Republican Party, Conservative Party) ran for re-election to the New York State Assembly to represent District 49. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Lester Chang was born in New York, New York, and lives in Brooklyn. Chang graduated from Midwood High School. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 24 years, where he reached the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO3). Chang earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Brooklyn College (CUNY) and a master's degree in international transportation from the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College in the Bronx. His career experience includes working in banking and finance and in global logistics and the shipping industry. Chang volunteers on the executive committee of the local Chinatown American Legion Post 1291.[1]
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.
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.
2023-2024
Chang was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2024
See also: New York State Assembly elections, 2024
General election
General election for New York State Assembly District 49
Incumbent Lester Chang won election in the general election for New York State Assembly District 49 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lester Chang (R / Conservative Party) | 97.3 | 15,093 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.7 | 425 | ||
| Total votes: 15,518 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lester Chang advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 49.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lester Chang advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Assembly District 49.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Chang in this election.
2022
See also: New York State Assembly elections, 2022
General election
General election for New York State Assembly District 49
Lester Chang defeated incumbent Peter Abbate Jr. in the general election for New York State Assembly District 49 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lester Chang (R / Conservative Party) | 52.0 | 7,424 |
 | Peter Abbate Jr. (D) | 47.9 | 6,842 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 21 | ||
| Total votes: 14,287 | |||
| = 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 Peter Abbate Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 49.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Yu Lin (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Lester Chang advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 49.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Lester Chang advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Assembly District 49.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steve Sophocleous (Conservative Party)
2020
See also: New York State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for New York State Senate District 26
Incumbent Brian Kavanagh defeated Lester Chang in the general election for New York State Senate District 26 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brian Kavanagh (D) | 78.9 | 95,552 |
| Lester Chang (R / Conservative Party) | 20.9 | 25,301 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 222 | ||
| Total votes: 121,075 | |||
| = 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 Brian Kavanagh advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 26.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Lester Chang advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 26.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Lester Chang advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 26.
2016
A special election for the position of New York State Assembly District 65 was called for April 19. Candidates were nominated by parties rather than chosen in primaries.[2]
The seat was vacant following Sheldon Silver's (D) conviction on November 30, 2015. He was removed from office after he was found guilty of all seven charges.[3]
Alice Cancel (D) defeated Lester Chang (R), Yuh-Line Niou (WF) and Dennis Levy (G) in the special election.[4][5]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lester Chang did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Lester Chang did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Lester Chang did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 3 to June 8.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the New York State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 21.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate New York State Assembly District 49 |
Officeholder New York State Assembly District 49 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Lester Chang 2022 campaign website, "About," accessed January 23, 2023
- ↑ Governor of New York, "Special election proclamation," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ NY Times, "Sheldon Silver, Ex-New York Assembly Speaker, Is Found Guilty on All Counts," accessed November 30, 2015
- ↑ Associated Press, "New York - Summary Vote Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Sparks Fly Early in Race for Sheldon Silver’s Old Assembly Seat," accessed February 9, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Abbate Jr. (D) |
New York State Assembly District 49 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
