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New York's 21st Congressional District election, 2026

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2024
New York's 21st Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 6, 2026
Primary: June 23, 2026
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 Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
New York's 21st Congressional District
1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th21st22nd23rd24th25th26th
New York elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

All U.S. House districts, including the 21st Congressional District of New York, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary is June 23, 2026. The filing deadline is April 6, 2026. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

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

General election

The primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for U.S. House New York District 21

Michael Metzgier and Christopher Schmidt are running in the general election for U.S. House New York District 21 on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Michael Metzgier (American Independent Party)
Image of Christopher Schmidt
Christopher Schmidt (Independent) Candidate Connection

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 21

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 21 on June 23, 2026.


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 21

Allen Caruso, Anthony Constantino, and Robert Smullen are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 21 on June 23, 2026.


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

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Image of Christopher Schmidt

WebsiteFacebookX

Party: Independent

Incumbent: No


Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.


Focus on local issues: Highlights the importance of addressing housing, healthcare access, and employment challenges in the region.


Independent approach: Maintains an independent perspective on legislation and policy decisions.


Community engagement: Emphasizes listening to residents and incorporating their feedback into decision-making.

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. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Christopher_Schmidt_New_York.png

Christopher Schmidt (Independent)

Focus on local issues: Highlights the importance of addressing housing, healthcare access, and employment challenges in the region.

Independent approach: Maintains an independent perspective on legislation and policy decisions.

Community engagement: Emphasizes listening to residents and incorporating their feedback into decision-making.
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Christopher_Schmidt_New_York.png

Christopher Schmidt (Independent)

I am particularly interested in the following areas of public policy:

• Government accountability and transparency: Emphasizing oversight, ethics, and public trust in institutions.

• Housing and infrastructure: Including housing affordability, home maintenance, water systems, and rural infrastructure needs.

• Energy and utilities: Including energy costs, grid reliability, and consumer protections.

• Economic and workforce issues: Focusing on job creation, support for small businesses, and the economic challenges facing rural and post‑industrial communities.

• Healthcare access: Especially access to affordable care, rural healthcare services, and mental health and addiction resources.


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Stuart Amoriell Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Paula Collins Democratic Party $13,513 $14,268 $94,658 As of May 20, 2025
Blake Gendebien Democratic Party $4,051,857 $2,089,110 $2,215,088 As of December 31, 2025
Maylon Haller Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Andrew Henson Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Dylan Hewitt Democratic Party $303,712 $183,775 $119,936 As of December 31, 2025
Allen Caruso Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Anthony Constantino Republican Party $7,605,073 $2,549,840 $5,055,234 As of December 31, 2025
Robert Smullen Republican Party $513,122 $18,467 $494,655 As of December 31, 2025
Michael Metzgier American Independent Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Christopher Schmidt Independent $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

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.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

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.[1]
  • 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.[2][3][4]

Race ratings: New York's 21st Congressional District election, 2026
Race trackerRace ratings
2/10/20262/3/20261/27/20261/20/2026
The Cook Political Report with Amy WalterSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The HillPendingPendingPendingPending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe Republican
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 4/6/2026 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 5/26/2026 Source


District history

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

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 21

Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party) defeated Paula Collins (D / Working Families Party) and Scott Phillip Lewis (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 21 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elise Stefanik
Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party)
 
62.0
 
215,996
Image of Paula Collins
Paula Collins (D / Working Families Party)  Candidate Connection
 
38.0
 
132,447
Image of Scott Phillip Lewis
Scott Phillip Lewis (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
0
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
197

Total votes: 348,640
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

The Democratic primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Paula Collins (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Working Families Party primary

The Working Families Party primary scheduled for June 25, 2024, was canceled. Paula Collins (Working Families Party) advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 21

Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party) defeated Matt Castelli (D / Moderate Party) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 21 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elise Stefanik
Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party)
 
59.1
 
168,579
Image of Matt Castelli
Matt Castelli (D / Moderate Party)  Candidate Connection
 
40.8
 
116,421
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0%
 
95

Total votes: 285,095
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

Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 21

Matt Castelli (D) defeated Matthew Putorti (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 21 on August 23, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Matt Castelli
Matt Castelli  Candidate Connection
 
80.8
 
19,319
Image of Matthew Putorti
Matthew Putorti
 
18.9
 
4,528
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2%
 
52

Total votes: 23,899
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

The Republican primary scheduled for August 23, 2022, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for August 23, 2022, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 21

Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party / Independence Party) defeated Tedra Cobb (D / Working Families Party) in the general election for U.S. House New York District 21 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elise Stefanik
Elise Stefanik (R / Conservative Party / Independence Party)
 
58.8
 
188,655
Image of Tedra Cobb
Tedra Cobb (D / Working Families Party)
 
41.1
 
131,995
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0%
 
138

Total votes: 320,788
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

The Democratic primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Tedra Cobb (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Conservative Party primary

The Conservative Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (Conservative Party) advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Independence Party primary

The Independence Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Elise Stefanik (Independence Party) advanced from the Independence Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 without appearing on the ballot.

Serve America Movement Party primary

The Serve America Movement Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Working Families Party primary

The Working Families Party primary scheduled for June 23, 2020, was canceled. Tedra Cobb (Working Families Party) advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 21 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.


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

2025_01_03_ny_congressional_district_021.jpg
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 R+10. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 10 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made New York's 21st the 133rd most Republican district nationally.[5]

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 21st Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
39.0%60.0%

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
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Kathy Hochul
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Antonio Delgado
Secretary of StateDemocratic Party Walter Mosley
Attorney GeneralDemocratic Party Letitia James

State legislature

New York State Senate

Party As of January 2026
     Democratic Party 39
     Republican Party 22
     Other 0
     Vacancies 2
Total 63

New York House of Representatives

Party As of January 2026
     Democratic Party 101
     Republican Party 47
     Other 0
     Vacancies 2
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
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New York congressional delegation
Voting in New York
New York elections:
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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

Footnotes

  1. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  2. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  3. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  4. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  5. Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025


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