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New York State Sen. Tim Kennedy speaks at a church service in Buffalo on May 19, 2022.
CNN
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Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy wins a special election for New York's 26th Congressional District (CNN Project), further narrowing the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, at least in the short term.
Kennedy defeated Republican candidate Gary Dixon for West Seneca Town Supervisor on Tuesday, replacing fellow Democrat Brian Higgins in the Buffalo-based district. Once Kennedy is sworn in at the Capitol, the Republican majority in the House will shrink to just 217-213. That means Speaker Mike Johnson could keep just one Republican on a party-line vote.
But three special elections over the next two months for Republican open seats, including a race to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, should help expand the party's advantage in the chamber. is.
Higgins has represented the Buffalo district in the House of Representatives since 2005 and will run for his 10th term in 2022. He resigned in February to head a local performing arts center. In announcing his departure from Congress, he cited his dissatisfaction with persistent disruption and obstruction in the chamber.
“Congress is not the institution I attended 19 years ago. It's a very different situation today,” Higgins said last fall. And the American people are underserved. ”
Kennedy has represented the area in the state Senate for more than a decade and will serve out the remainder of Higgins' term. He plans to run for the full two-year term, which begins in January, and in the June primary.
New York's congressional maps underwent an often chaotic redistricting process that lasted nearly two years and was followed by multiple battles in the courts and state legislatures. But the 26th Congressional District is expected to remain Democratic-friendly, giving Joe Biden a 25-point lead under the new boundaries used in November.
Total advertising spending for the race amounted to about $1 million, almost all of which came from the Kennedy campaign. His spots include support for working families, support for abortion rights, and speaking out in the state Senate in May 2022 after a white supremacist gunman killed 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket shooting. Efforts to pass “stronger gun laws” were touted.
Kennedy's victory marks the second consecutive special election for the New York Democrat, the first being Tom Suozzi's victory in the race to replace ousted Republican Rep. George Santos in a competitive downstate district earlier this year. It will be a victory. When Kennedy takes office, the state's U.S. House of Representatives will consist of 16 Democrats and 10 Republicans.
CNN’s Ethan Cohen, David Wright and Renee Rigdon contributed to this report.
