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New York's 17th Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
New York's 17th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 2, 2020
Primary: June 23, 2020
General: November 3, 2020

Pre-election incumbent:
Nita Lowey (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (general elections); primary times vary by county
Voting in New York
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
New York's 17th Congressional District
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New York elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 17th Congressional District of New York, held elections in 2020.

Mondaire Jones won election in the general election for U.S. House New York District 17.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
April 2, 2020
June 23, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Democrat Nita Lowey, who was first elected in 1988. On October 10, 2019, Lowey announced that she would not seek re-election in 2020.[1]


New York's 17th Congressional District is located in the southeastern portion of the state and includes Rockland County and parts of Westchester County.[2]

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, New York's 17th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 59.6 59.3
Republican candidate Republican Party 39.4 35.2
Difference 20.2 24.1

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

New York modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee voting eligibility in the general election was extended to any voter who was "unable to appear personally at the polling place of the election district in which they are a qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease causing illness to the voter or to other members of the public." The state launched an absentee ballot request portal.
  • Candidate filing procedures: The filing deadline for independent nominating petitions was extended to July 30, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 17

Mondaire Jones defeated Maureen McArdle Schulman, Yehudis Gottesfeld, Joshua Eisen, and Michael Parietti in the general election for U.S. House New York District 17 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mondaire Jones
Mondaire Jones (D / Working Families Party) Candidate Connection
 
59.3
 
197,354
Image of Maureen McArdle Schulman
Maureen McArdle Schulman (R) Candidate Connection
 
35.2
 
117,309
Image of Yehudis Gottesfeld
Yehudis Gottesfeld (Conservative Party)
 
2.7
 
8,887
Image of Joshua Eisen
Joshua Eisen (ECL Party) Candidate Connection
 
1.9
 
6,363
Image of Michael Parietti
Michael Parietti (Serve America Movement Party) Candidate Connection
 
0.8
 
2,745
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
214

Total votes: 332,872
Candidate Connection = 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 U.S. House New York District 17

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 17 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mondaire Jones
Mondaire Jones Candidate Connection
 
41.6
 
32,796
Image of Adam Schleifer
Adam Schleifer
 
16.2
 
12,732
Image of Evelyn Farkas
Evelyn Farkas Candidate Connection
 
15.5
 
12,210
Image of David Carlucci
David Carlucci
 
11.0
 
8,649
Image of David Buchwald
David Buchwald
 
8.5
 
6,673
Image of Asha Castleberry-Hernandez
Asha Castleberry-Hernandez
 
2.6
 
2,062
Image of Allison Fine
Allison Fine Candidate Connection
 
2.0
 
1,588
Image of Catherine Parker
Catherine Parker (Unofficially withdrew)
 
2.0
 
1,539
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
532

Total votes: 78,781
Candidate Connection = 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 17

Maureen McArdle Schulman defeated Yehudis Gottesfeld in the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 17 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Maureen McArdle Schulman
Maureen McArdle Schulman Candidate Connection
 
76.2
 
8,492
Image of Yehudis Gottesfeld
Yehudis Gottesfeld
 
21.0
 
2,338
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.8
 
310

Total votes: 11,140
Candidate Connection = 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Yehudis Gottesfeld advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 17.

Libertarian primary election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Serve America Movement Party primary election

The Serve America Movement Party primary election was canceled. Michael Parietti advanced from the Serve America Movement Party primary for U.S. House New York District 17.

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Mondaire Jones advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 17.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Eighteen of 62 New York counties—29 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Broome County, New York 2.01% 5.31% 8.02%
Cayuga County, New York 11.64% 11.40% 8.48%
Cortland County, New York 5.58% 9.11% 9.96%
Essex County, New York 1.14% 18.77% 13.32%
Franklin County, New York 5.45% 26.07% 22.23%
Madison County, New York 14.20% 0.89% 0.87%
Niagara County, New York 17.75% 0.84% 1.00%
Orange County, New York 5.50% 5.65% 4.13%
Oswego County, New York 21.99% 7.93% 2.44%
Otsego County, New York 11.13% 2.72% 5.91%
Rensselaer County, New York 1.41% 12.19% 9.34%
St. Lawrence County, New York 8.82% 16.71% 16.33%
Saratoga County, New York 3.21% 2.44% 3.40%
Seneca County, New York 11.01% 9.08% 2.60%
Suffolk County, New York 6.84% 3.69% 5.99%
Sullivan County, New York 11.23% 9.02% 9.46%
Warren County, New York 8.47% 2.32% 2.64%
Washington County, New York 18.40% 1.90% 0.81%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won New York with 59 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 36.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, New York voted Democratic 45.6 percent of the time and Republican 35 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, New York voted Democratic all five times.[3]

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in New York. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[4][5]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 114 out of 150 state Assembly districts in New York with an average margin of victory of 46.5 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 99 out of 150 state Assembly districts in New York with an average margin of victory of 50.3 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 36 out of 150 state Assembly districts in New York with an average margin of victory of 10.5 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 51 out of 150 state Assembly districts in New York with an average margin of victory of 17.6 points. Trump won 13 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+7, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 7 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New York's 17th Congressional District the 142nd most Democratic nationally.[7]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.83. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.83 points toward that party.[8]

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[9] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[10] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Mondaire Jones Working Families Party, Democratic Party $3,005,460 $2,207,871 $797,588 As of December 31, 2020
Maureen McArdle Schulman Republican Party $54,732 $60,084 $-5,327 As of December 31, 2020
Yehudis Gottesfeld Conservative Party $36,928 $36,928 $0 As of August 31, 2020
Joshua Eisen ECL Party $1,615,336 $1,613,920 $1,416 As of December 31, 2020
Michael Parietti Serve America Movement Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[11]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[12][13][14]

Race ratings: New York's 17th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 17th Congressional District candidates in New York in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in New York, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
New York 17th Congressional District Qualified party 375 Reduced by executive action in response to the coronavirus pandemic N/A N/A 4/2/2020 Source
New York 17th Congressional District Unaffiliated 3,500 5% of the total number of votes cast for governor in the district in the last election, or 3,500, whichever is less N/A N/A 5/26/2020 Source

District election history

2018

See also: New York's 17th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 17

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Nita Lowey
Nita Lowey (D)
 
88.0
 
170,168
Image of Joseph Ciardullo
Joseph Ciardullo (Reform Party) Candidate Connection
 
12.0
 
23,150

Total votes: 193,318
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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 election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 17

Candidate
Image of Nita Lowey
Nita Lowey

Candidate Connection = 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

2016

See also: New York's 17th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Nita Lowey (D) ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.[15][16]

U.S. House, New York District 17 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngNita Lowey Incumbent 100% 214,530
Total Votes 214,530
Source: New York Board of Elections

2014

See also: New York's 17th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 17th Congressional District of New York held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Nita Lowey (D) defeated Chris Day (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, New York District 17 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngNita Lowey Incumbent 56.4% 98,150
     Republican Chris Day 43.5% 75,781
     N/A Write-in votes 0.1% 123
Total Votes 174,054
Source: New York State Board of Elections, NYS Board of Elections Rep. in Congress Election Returns November 4, 2014," accessed August 30, 2021

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Twitter, "Nita Lowey on October 10, 2019," accessed October 10, 2019
  2. New York Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed September 25, 2012
  3. 270towin.com, "New York," accessed June 1, 2017
  4. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  5. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  6. Democrats won Assembly District 9 in a special election on May 23, 2017. The seat was previously held by a Republican.
  7. Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  8. FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  9. Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  10. Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  11. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  12. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  13. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  14. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  15. New York State Board of Elections, "Filings received for the 2016 Primary Election," accessed May 15, 2016
  16. Politico, "New York House Races Results," June 28, 2016


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