2016 New York State Assembly 65th district special election

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2016 New York State Assembly 65th district special election
Flag of New York.svg
  2014 April 19, 2016 2016  

New York State Assembly 65th district
  3x4.svg Yuh-Line Niou.jpg Lester Chang Navy (cropped) (cropped).jpg
Nominee Alice Cancel Yuh-Line Niou Lester Chang
Party Democratic Working Families Republican
Alliance Independence
Reform
Popular vote7,8736,6543,752
Percentage41.34%34.94%19.70%

NYAD65 State Assembly Special Election 2016.svg
Precinct results
Cancel:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Niou:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%
Chang:     30–40%     >90%
Tie:     30–40%

Member of the New York State Assembly before election

Sheldon Silver
Democratic

Elected Member of the New York State Assembly

Alice Cancel
Democratic

The 2016 New York State Assembly 65th district special election was held on April 19, 2016. Democratic nominee Alice Cancel defeated Working Families nominee Yuh-Line Niou, Republican nominee Lester Chang, and Green nominee Dennis Levy to succeed Representative Sheldon Silver in the New York State Assembly from the 65th district.

Contents

Silver had served in the state assembly since 1976, and as Speaker since 1994, but he resigned and was convicted for a corruption scandal. Cancel won the Democratic nomination although Niou and Jenifer Rajkumar accused the process of being undemocratic. Chang received the nominations of the Republican, Independence, Reform, and Clean Up The Mess parties while Levy received the Green nomination.

Niou ran in the special election with the Working Families nomination, but Cancel won in the election. Niou later defeated Cancel in the 2016 primary and Rajkumar was elected to the state assembly after the 2020 election.

Background

Representative Sheldon Silver was first elected to the New York State Assembly in the 1976 election and was selected to serve as Speaker in 1994. Silver resigned from the speakership and state assembly and was later convicted in a $5 million corruption case. [1] [2] Governor Andrew Cuomo called a special election for the seat alongside special elections for the 59th and 62nd assembly districts and the 9th Senate district. [3]

Campaign

Candidates

Democratic

The candidate was selected by 185 County Committee members using weighed votes. Yuh-Line Niou announced at the end of her five-minute speech at the selection meeting that she was dropping out stating that the nomination process was flawed. Alice Cancel defeated Paul Newell, Jenifer Rajkumar, Niou, and Gigi Li for the Democratic nomination. Rajkumar also stated that the selection process was undemocratic. [4] [5]

2016 New York State Assembly 65th district special Democratic selection [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Alice Cancel 5,772 70.04%
Democratic Paul Newell1,770.521.49%
Democratic Jenifer Rajkumar 6057.34%
Democratic Yuh-Line Niou 931.13%
Democratic Gigi Li00.00%
Total votes8,240.5 100.00%

Other

Newell declined the nomination of the Independence Party of New York. [4] Dennis Levy, the president of the New York State Committee to Legalize Marijuana, ran with the nomination of the Green Party. [6] Lester Chang appeared on the ballot with the nominations of the Republican, Independence, Reform, and Clean Up The Mess parties. [7]

Results and aftermath

The Lo-Down moderated two candidate forums during the campaign which included Cancel, Niou, Chang, and Levy. [8] Cancel defeated Niou, Chang, and Levy in the election. [9] During the 2016 election Niou defeated Cancel for the Democratic nomination and Niou won in the general election after defeating Republican nominee Bryan Jung, Green nominee Manny Cavaco, and Cancel who appeared on the ballot with the Women's Equality Party's nomination. [10] [11] Rajkumar was later elected to the state assembly from the 38th district during the 2020 election. [12] Chang was later elected to the state assembly from the 49th district during the 2022 election. [13]

Results

2016 New York State Assembly 65th district special election [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Alice Cancel 7,873 41.34%
Working Families Yuh-Line Niou 6,65434.94%
Republican Lester Chang2,97215.60%
Independence Lester Chang5032.64%
Clean Up This MessLester Chang1550.81%
Reform Lester Chang1220.64%
Total Lester Chang 3,71219.49%
Green Dennis Levy7143.75%
Independent Write-ins930.49%
Total votes19,046 100.00%
TotalInvalid892

Endorsements

Cancel endorsements
Local officials
Chang endorsements
Local officials
Newspapers
Niou endorsements
State officials
Local officials
Organizations
Newspapers

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References

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  5. "Committee picks Cancel for special election; Niou abruptly bows out before vote". AM New York Metro . February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Campaign for the 65th Assembly District: Endorsement Roundup". The Lo-Down. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021.
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  8. "Recap: Candidates Speak Out Before Next Tuesday's Special Election". The Lo-Down. April 12, 2016. Archived from the original on July 7, 2021.
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  12. "New York elects first South Asian Americans to state Assembly". NBC . November 4, 2020. Archived from the original on July 8, 2021.
  13. Fink, Zack (November 30, 2022). "Assembly prepared to vote against seating Brooklyn Republican". NY1 . Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  14. "Giuliani and G.O.P. going all out for Lester Chang". AM New York Metro . March 24, 2016. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021.
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