New York's 20th Congressional District election, 2026

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New York's 20th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: Pending
Primary: Pending General: November 3, 2026
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 DDHQ and The Hill: Pending 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, 2026
See also
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All U.S. House districts, including the 20th Congressional District of New York, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House New York District 20

Incumbent Paul Tonko is running in the general election for U.S. House New York District 20 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Paul Tonko (D)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Paul Tonko

Voting information

See also: Voting in New York

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Paul Tonko

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Paul Tonko	Democratic Party	$479,945	$554,403	$525,044	As of September 30, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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.

General election 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.
• 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.

Race ratings: New York's 20th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	12/16/2025	12/9/2025	12/2/2025	11/25/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in New York in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in New York, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
New York	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	5% of voters from the candidate's same party or 1,250, whichever is less	N/A	TBD	Source
New York	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	1% of votes cast for governor in the last election or 3,500, whichever is less	N/A	TBD	Source

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

• 2024
• 2022
• 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 20

Incumbent Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party) defeated Kevin Waltz (R / Conservative Party) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 20 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party)	61.1	221,997
		Kevin Waltz (R / Conservative Party)	38.8	141,151
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	297

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 363,445
= 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

• Max Micallef (Independent)

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Paul Tonko (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mason Brown (D)
• Emmanuel Jorge-Garcia (D)

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Kevin Waltz (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Alexander Dubois (R)
• Jonathon Locke (R)

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Kevin Waltz (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Working Families Party primary

The Working Families Party primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Paul Tonko (Working Families Party) advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 20

Incumbent Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party) defeated Elizabeth Joy (R / Conservative Party) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 20 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party)	55.0	160,420
		Elizabeth Joy (R / Conservative Party)	44.9	130,869
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	144

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 291,433
= 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

Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 20

Incumbent Paul Tonko (D) defeated Rostislav Rar (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 20 on August 23, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Tonko	88.1	18,251
		Rostislav Rar	11.7	2,422
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3%	54

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,727
= 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

• Justin Chaires (D)
• Jack Fallon-Underwood (D)
• Cole Matthews (D)

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for August 23, 2022, was canceled. Elizabeth Joy (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for August 23, 2022, was canceled. Elizabeth Joy (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Working Families Party primary

The Working Families Party primary scheduled for August 23, 2022, was canceled. Incumbent Paul Tonko (Working Families Party) advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 20

Incumbent Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party / Independence Party) defeated Elizabeth Joy (R / Conservative Party / Serve America Movement Party) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 20 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Tonko (D / Working Families Party / Independence Party)	61.1	219,705
		Elizabeth Joy (R / Conservative Party / Serve America Movement Party)	38.8	139,446
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	191

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 359,342
= 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

The Democratic primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Paul Tonko (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Riley Seaburg (D)

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Elizabeth Joy (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Seney (R)

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Elizabeth Joy (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Serve America Movement Party primary

The Serve America Movement Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Elizabeth Joy (Serve America Movement Party) advanced from the Serve America Movement Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

Working Families Party primary

The Working Families Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Paul Tonko (Working Families Party) advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 20 without appearing on the ballot.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

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

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New York's 20th the 142nd most Democratic district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in New York's 20th Congressional District

Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
56.0%	42.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in New York, 2024

New York presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 19 Democratic wins
• 13 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also: Party control of New York state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of New York's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from New York
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	19	21
Republican	0	7	7
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	26	28

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in New York's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in New York, October 2025

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Kathy Hochul
Lieutenant Governor	Antonio Delgado
Secretary of State	Walter Mosley
Attorney General	Letitia James

State legislature

New York State Senate

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	41
	Republican Party	22
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		63

New York House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	102
	Republican Party	47
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		150

Trifecta control

New York Party Control: 1992-2025
Nine years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Assembly	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also

New York	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
New York congressional delegation Voting in New York New York elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

New York's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Chuck Schumer (D)

Representatives

District 1

Nicholas LaLota (R)

District 2

Andrew Garbarino (R)

District 3

Tom Suozzi (D)

District 4

Laura Gillen (D)

District 5

Gregory Meeks (D)

District 6

Grace Meng (D)

District 7

Nydia Velazquez (D)

District 8

Hakeem Jeffries (D)

District 9

Yvette Clarke (D)

District 10

Daniel Goldman (D)

District 11

Nicole Malliotakis (R)

District 12

Jerrold Nadler (D)

District 13

Adriano Espaillat (D)

District 14

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)

District 15

Ritchie Torres (D)

District 16

George Latimer (D)

District 17

Michael Lawler (R)

District 18

Pat Ryan (D)

District 19

Josh Riley (D)

District 20

Paul Tonko (D)

District 21

Elise Stefanik (R)

District 22

John Mannion (D)

District 23

Nick Langworthy (R)

District 24

Claudia Tenney (R)

District 25

Joseph Morelle (D)

District 26

Tim Kennedy (D)

Democratic Party (21)

Republican Party (7)

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Election information

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates running for election • List of congressional challengers • Retiring senators • Retiring representatives

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Super PACs/Organizations

American Bridge 21st Century • American Crossroads • American Unity PAC • Campaign for Primary Accountability • Club for Growth Action • Congressional Leadership Fund • Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee• Crossroads Generation • Ending Spending Action Fund • Endorse Liberty • Fair Share Action • FreedomWorks for America • Government Integrity Fund • House Majority PAC • Independence USA Fund • League of Conservation Voters • Liberty for All PAC • Majority PAC • National Association of Realtors • NEA Advocacy Fund • Now or Never PAC • Planned Parenthood Votes • Ready for Hillary • Republicans for a Prosperous America • Restore America's Voice PAC • SEIU Pea-Federal • Women Vote!

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