Politics of New York (state)

Politics of New York have evolved over time. The Democratic Party dominates politics in the state, with the Democrats representing a plurality of voters in New York State, constituting over twice as many registered voters as any other political party affiliation or lack thereof.[2] It is considered one of the "Big Three" Democratic strongholds along with California and Illinois. Historically, New York was a swing state, as from its inaugural election in 1792 until the 1984 election, the state voted for the winning candidate all but seven times (1812, 1856, 1868, 1876, 1916, 1948, and 1968). It voted for the winning candidate 86% of the time; however, since 1988, the state has voted Democratic by large margins and frequently provides them over 60% of the vote.[3] Democrats have also controlled the Assembly since 1971 and the Senate since 2019. New York currently has two Democratic United States senators. New York's Class I Senate seat has been Democratic since 1959 and New York's Class III Senate seat has been Democratic since 1999. In addition, New York's House congressional delegation has had a Democratic majority since 1965.

United States presidential election results for New York[1]
Year Republican / Whig Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 3,251,997 37.67% 5,244,886 60.76% 135,372 1.57%
2016 2,819,557 36.51% 4,556,142 59.00% 346,096 4.48%
2012 2,490,496 35.17% 4,485,877 63.35% 105,163 1.49%
2008 2,752,771 36.03% 4,804,945 62.88% 83,232 1.09%
2004 2,962,567 40.08% 4,314,280 58.36% 115,107 1.56%
2000 2,405,676 35.22% 4,113,791 60.22% 311,711 4.56%
1996 1,933,492 30.61% 3,756,177 59.47% 626,460 9.92%
1992 2,346,649 33.88% 3,444,450 49.73% 1,135,826 16.40%
1988 3,081,871 47.52% 3,347,882 51.62% 55,930 0.86%
1984 3,664,763 53.84% 3,119,609 45.83% 22,438 0.33%
1980 2,893,831 46.66% 2,728,372 43.99% 579,756 9.35%
1976 3,100,791 47.45% 3,389,558 51.87% 44,071 0.67%
1972 4,192,778 58.54% 2,951,084 41.21% 17,968 0.25%
1968 3,007,932 44.30% 3,378,470 49.76% 403,664 5.94%
1964 2,243,559 31.31% 4,913,156 68.56% 9,300 0.13%
1960 3,446,419 47.27% 3,830,085 52.53% 14,575 0.20%
1956 4,340,340 61.19% 2,750,769 38.78% 2,227 0.03%
1952 3,952,815 55.45% 3,104,601 43.55% 70,825 0.99%
1948 2,841,163 45.98% 2,780,204 45.00% 557,135 9.02%
1944 2,987,647 47.30% 3,304,238 52.31% 24,932 0.39%
1940 3,027,478 47.95% 3,251,918 51.50% 34,501 0.55%
1936 2,180,670 38.97% 3,293,222 58.85% 122,506 2.19%
1932 1,937,963 41.33% 2,534,959 54.07% 215,692 4.60%
1928 2,193,344 49.79% 2,089,863 47.44% 122,419 2.78%
1924 1,820,058 55.76% 950,796 29.13% 493,085 15.11%
1920 1,871,167 64.56% 781,238 26.95% 246,108 8.49%
1916 879,238 51.53% 759,426 44.51% 67,641 3.96%
1912 455,487 28.68% 655,573 41.27% 477,255 30.05%
1908 870,070 53.11% 667,468 40.74% 100,812 6.15%
1904 859,533 53.13% 683,981 42.28% 74,256 4.59%
1900 822,013 53.10% 678,462 43.83% 47,567 3.07%
1896 819,838 57.58% 551,369 38.72% 52,669 3.70%
1892 609,350 45.58% 654,868 48.99% 72,575 5.43%
1888 650,338 49.28% 635,965 48.19% 33,445 2.53%
1884 562,005 48.15% 563,154 48.25% 42,010 3.60%
1880 555,544 50.32% 534,511 48.42% 13,890 1.26%
1876 489,207 48.17% 521,949 51.40% 4,347 0.43%
1872 440,738 53.23% 387,282 46.77% 0 0.00%
1868 419,888 49.41% 429,883 50.59% 0 0.00%
1864 368,735 50.46% 361,986 49.54% 0 0.00%
1860 362,646 53.71% 312,510 46.29% 0 0.00%
1856 276,004 46.27% 195,878 32.84% 124,604 20.89%
1852 234,882 44.97% 262,083 50.18% 25,329 4.85%
1848 218,583 47.94% 114,319 25.07% 123,042 26.99%
1844 232,482 47.85% 237,588 48.90% 15,812 3.25%
1840 226,001 51.18% 212,733 48.18% 2,809 0.64%
1836 138,548 45.37% 166,795 54.63% 0 0.00%

Current issues

For a long time, same-sex marriages were not allowed in New York, but those marriages from other jurisdictions were recognized. In May 2008, Governor David Paterson issued an affirmation that the state would recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. In December 2009, the senate declined to pass a same-sex marriage bill, though polling earlier that year had indicated that a majority of New Yorkers supported same-sex marriages.[4][5] Since 2004, the public pension systems of both the state and New York City allocate benefits in recognition of same-sex marriages performed outside New York. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer stated he would introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. On April 27, 2007, then-Governor Spitzer unveiled such a bill. Same-sex marriage was legalized in June 2011.[6]

From 1984 through 2004, no budget was passed on time. The state has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal government. New York State receives 82 cents in services for every $1 it sends to Washington in taxes. The state ranks near the bottom, in 42nd place, in federal spending per tax dollar. For decades, it has been the established practice for the state to pass legislation for some meritorious project, but then mandate county and municipal government to actually pay for it. New York State has its counties pay a higher percentage of welfare costs than any other state, and New York State is the only state which requires counties to pay a portion of Medicaid.

Gubernatorial election results[7]
Year Democratic Republican
1950 42.3% 2,246,855 53.1% 2,819,523
1954 49.6% 2,560,738 49.4% 2,549,613
1958 44.7% 2,553,895 54.7% 3,126,929
1962 44.0% 2,552,418 53.1% 3,081,587
1966 38.1% 2,298,363 44.6% 2,690,626
1970 40.3% 2,421,426 52.4% 3,151,432
1974 57.2% 3,028,503 41.9% 2,219,667
1978 51.0% 2,429,272 45.2% 2,156,404
1982 50.9% 2,675,213 47.5% 2,494,827
1986 64.6% 2,775,045 31.8% 1,363,968
1990 53.2% 2,157,087 21.4% 865,948
1994 45.5% 2,364,906 48.8% 2,538,702
1998 33.2% 1,570,317 54.3% 2,571,991
2002 33.5% 1,534,064 49.4% 2,262,255
2006 69.6% 3,086,709 28.7% 1,274,335
2010 62.5% 2,910,876 33.2% 1,547,857
2014 54.2% 2,069,480 40.2% 1,537,077
2018 59.6% 3,635,340 36.2% 2,207,602
2022 52.4% 3,031,801 46.7% 2,705,908

Voter registration
Voter registration as of February 21, 2023[8]
Party % Total voters Total
Active Inactive
Democratic 49.52 5,878,129 586,518 6,464,647
Republican 22.04 2,683,544 193,548 2,877,092
Conservative[lower-alpha 1] 1.25 153,526 9,541 163,067
Working Families[lower-alpha 2] 0.39 47,493 4,086 51,579
Minor parties 3.30 389,581 41,628 431,209
Unaffiliated 23.49 2,799,052 268,230 3,067,282
Total 100% 11,951,325 1,103,551 13,054,876

Federal representation
Main article: New York's congressional districts

Following each decennial census, the New York Redistricting Commission forms to realign the state's congressional districts. New York currently has 26 House districts. In the 118th Congress, 15 of New York's seats are held by Democrats and 11 are held by Republicans. There are as follows:

New York's two United States Senators are Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, serving since 1999 and 2009, respectively.

New York is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States District Court for the Western District of New York in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the New York City-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

See also

Topics

References
  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Presidential General Election Results Comparison - New York". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  2. NYSVoter Enrollment by County, Party Affiliation and Status Archived July 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Accessed April 30, 2016.
  3. "New York Presidential Election Voting History - 270toWin".
  4. Bases, Daniel (June 23, 2009). "New Yorkers supportive of gay marriage: poll". Reuters.
  5. "New York State (NY) Poll * June 23, 2009 * New York State Voters Support - Quinnipiac University – Hamden, Connecticut". www.quinnipiac.edu. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  6. Wiessner, Dan (June 25, 2011). "New York governor signs law approving gay marriage". Reuters.
  7. Leip, David. "General Election Results – New York". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  8. "Enrollment by County | New York State Board of Elections". Elections.ny.gov. Retrieved September 19, 2023.

Notes
  1. The Conservative party usually gives out nominations in support of a Republican Party Primary candidate of their choice
  2. The Working Families party usually gives out nominations in support of a Democratic party Primary candidate of their choice

Further reading
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