2020 New York's 27th congressional district special election

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2020 New York's 27th congressional district special election
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  2018 June 23, 2020 November 2020  

New York's 27th congressional district
  Chris Jacobs (NY-27).jpg McMurray Speaking to NYS Council of Machinists CROPPED.png
Nominee Chris Jacobs Nate McMurray
Party Republican Democratic
Alliance Independence Working Families
Popular vote81,08572,998
Percentage51.8%46.6%

New York Special Election 27.svg
County results
Jacobs:     50–60%     60–70%
McMurray:     50–60%

U.S. Representative before election

Chris Collins
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Chris Jacobs
Republican

A special election was held to fill the remainder of the term in the United States House of Representatives for New York's 27th congressional district in the 116th United States Congress. Incumbent Republican Representative Chris Collins resigned from the House effective October 1, 2019, following his guilty plea to federal insider trading charges. [1] The election was originally scheduled for April 28, 2020, but was postponed until June 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2]

Contents

Candidates

Former Grand Island town supervisor and 2018 Democratic congressional nominee Nathan D. McMurray was expected to be the nominee after being endorsed by the Erie County Democratic Party. [3] Fellow Democrat Melodie Baker announced her interest in seeking the nomination, but quickly withdrew when her campaign failed to gain interest. [4] McMurray was formally nominated on February 13, 2020. [5]

On January 25, 2020, the Republican chairs of the eight counties that make up the 27th congressional district met in Wyoming County and voted to endorse state senator Chris Jacobs for the special election. [6]

On February 1, 2020, the Conservative Party of New York State announced that it would not endorse a candidate in the anticipated special election and would instead leave its party line blank. The Party's preferred candidate was Beth Parlato. [7]

Accountant Duane Whitmer was endorsed by the Libertarian Party. [8] [9]

Republican Party

Endorsee

Withdrawn

Declined to run

Endorsements

Chris Jacobs

Democratic Party

Endorsee

  • Nate McMurray, former Grand Island supervisor and nominee for New York's 27th congressional district in 2018 [16] [5]

Withdrawn

  • Melodie Baker, former director of education for the United Way of Buffalo and small business owner [17]

Declined to run

Libertarian Party

Endorsee

Green Party

Endorsee

Per a Facebook Messenger comment from Erie County Greens: "We did endorse him, but the endorsement was withdrawn after he made several posts on social media that many felt were problematic. He is still on the ballot as a Green because there is no way to remove him, but the State Party has stopped assisting/promoting his campaign."

General election

Debate

McMurray and Jacobs participated in a debate on June 9, in which McMurray criticized Jacobs for not standing up to Trump's actions, in particular, Trump's claim that a 75-year-old man injured by police in Buffalo could be an "ANTIFA provocateur". McMurray also accused Jacobs of trying to buy the position, lying, and not supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. He emphasized his continued positive impact on communities in the area, positioning himself as an alternative to former Republican representatives Chris Collins and Chris Lee, both of whom resigned due to scandals. Jacobs criticized McMurray for supporting big government and abortion, which he saw as a poor fit for the conservative values of the district. [23]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [24] Safe RApril 24, 2020
Inside Elections [25] Safe RApril 23, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball [26] Likely RApril 23, 2020
Politico [27] Likely RApril 19, 2020

Results

2020 New York's 27th congressional district special election [28]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Chris Jacobs74,94447.85%+7.65%
Independence Chris Jacobs6,1413.92%+3.22%
Total Chris Jacobs 81,08551.77%+2.67%
Democratic Nathan McMurray68,68443.85%-1.15%
Working Families Nathan McMurray4,3142.75%-0.05%
TotalNathan McMurray72,99846.60%-2.20%
Libertarian Duane Whitmer1,5000.96%N/A
Green Michael Gammariello1,0450.67%N/A
Total votes156,628 100.0% N/A
Subtotal Results
Part of Erie County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs34,48945.67
Independence Chris Jacobs3,4214.53
Total Chris Jacobs 37,91050.20
Democratic Nathan McMurray34,40445.56
Working Families Nathan McMurray2,0882.76
TotalNathan McMurray36,49248.32
Libertarian Duane Whitmer6300.83
Green Michael Gammariello4880.65
Total votes75,520 100
Genesee County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs5,78456.67
Independence Chris Jacobs3443.37
Total Chris Jacobs 6,12860.04
Democratic Nathan McMurray3,60035.27
Working Families Nathan McMurray2492.44
TotalNathan McMurray3,84937.71
Libertarian Duane Whitmer1591.56
Green Michael Gammariello710.70
Total votes10,207 100
Livingston County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs5,15748.61
Independence Chris Jacobs3743.52
Total Chris Jacobs 5,53152.13
Democratic Nathan McMurray4,52942.69
Working Families Nathan McMurray3483.28
TotalNathan McMurray4,87745.97
Libertarian Duane Whitmer1331.25
Green Michael Gammariello69.65
Total votes10,610 100
Part of Monroe County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs2,13442.10
Independence Chris Jacobs1262.49
Total Chris Jacobs 2,26044.58
Democratic Nathan McMurray2,59651.21
Working Families Nathan McMurray1322.60
TotalNathan McMurray2,72853.82
Libertarian Duane Whitmer541.07
Green Michael Gammariello27.53
Total votes5,069 100
Part of Niagara County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs13,23049.62
Independence Chris Jacobs9093.41
Total Chris Jacobs 14,13953.02
Democratic Nathan McMurray11,48243.06
Working Families Nathan McMurray6442.42
TotalNathan McMurray12,12645.48
Libertarian Duane Whitmer2280.86
Green Michael Gammariello1720.65
Total votes26,665 100
Part of Ontario County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs5,68439.86
Independence Chris Jacobs2801.96
Total Chris Jacobs 5,96441.82
Democratic Nathan McMurray7,74354.30
Working Families Nathan McMurray3182.23
TotalNathan McMurray8,06156.53
Libertarian Duane Whitmer1300.91
Green Michael Gammariello1050.74
Total votes14,260 100
Orleans County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs3,92962.01
Independence Chris Jacobs1622.56
Total Chris Jacobs 4,09164.57
Democratic Nathan McMurray2,00431.63
Working Families Nathan McMurray1302.05
TotalNathan McMurray2,13433.68
Libertarian Duane Whitmer731.15
Green Michael Gammariello38.60
Total votes6,336 100
Wyoming County Subtotal
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Jacobs4,53756.99
Independence Chris Jacobs5256.59
Total Chris Jacobs 5,06263.58
Democratic Nathan McMurray2,32629.22
Working Families Nathan McMurray4055.09
TotalNathan McMurray2,73134.30
Libertarian Duane Whitmer931.17
Green Michael Gammariello750.94
Total votes7,961 100


See also

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