2020 New York State Senate election

By 2018, the State Senate was the last Republican-controlled body in New York government.[5] In the 2018 elections, Democrats gained eight Senate seats, taking control of the chamber from the Republicans.[6] Previously, Republicans had controlled the Senate for all but three years since World War II,[7] and the Democrats' largest share of New York State Senate seats since 1912.[8] At the beginning of the 2019-2020 legislative session, the Senate Democratic Conference held 39 of the chamber's 63 seats.[9] In July 2019, Simcha Felder — who had caucused with the Republicans during their time in the majority — was accepted into the Senate Democratic Conference; this action gave the Conference a total of 40 members.[10][11]

During the 2019-2020 session, Republican Bob Antonacci resigned his seat to become a trial court judge; also, eight other members of the Senate Republican Conference announced that they would not seek re-election in 2020.[12] In June, one of those eight Senate Republicans--Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan--announced that he would resign from the Senate to take another position.[13][14] On July 20, 2020, Republican Sen. Chris Jacobs stepped down after being elected to the United States House of Representatives.[15]

Before the 2020 elections, Democrats held 40 seats in the State Senate. Republicans held 20 seats, and three other seats were vacant.[1]

Following the 2020 elections, the New York State Board of Elections noted that county boards of elections "received a historically high number of absentee ballots for the November 3rd 2020 General Election due to the coronavirus pandemic", and added that "unofficial election night results do not include the results of absentee ballot voting".[16] On Election Day, City & State New York reported that "in many of the state’s most competitive Senate races, Republicans have managed to preliminarily come out on top"; however, City & State cautioned that "outstanding absentee ballots meant that the status of many races remained uncertain and could very well turn around for candidates on both sides of the aisle who found themselves behind on election night. Those mail-in ballots were obviously the major caveat in every race, which will likely drag out many results for a week or more".[17]

On November 23, 2020, Spectrum News reported that Senate Democrats had won at least 41 seats, and added that races in Senate Districts 40, 42, and 50 had not yet been called.[18] Those races were eventually called in favor of Democrat Pete Harckham (District 40),[19] Republican Mike Martucci (District 42),[20][21] and Democrat John Mannion (District 50),[22] respectively.

Also on November 23, 2020, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins asserted that Senate Democrats would enter 2021 with "a supermajority of at least 42 members", giving the party an "unprecedented share" of power in the state Legislature. According to Politico, "the numbers mean that Democratic legislators now have the two-thirds needed in each house to override any vetoes from Gov. Andrew Cuomo without relying on Republican support".[23]

The results of the 2020 Senate elections were certified on December 3, 2020. Democrats won a total of 43 seats, while Republicans won 20.[24] The Democrats lost one seat on Long Island and one Upstate seat, but picked up five Upstate seats for a net gain of three. They already held a majority on the strength of holding all but one seat in New York City.

2020 New York State Senate Election Results[24]
Party		Votes	%	% +/–	Seats	Seats +/–
	Democratic Party of New York				43	3
	Republican Party of New York				20	0
	Conservative Party of New York
	Working Families Party of New York
	Independence Party of New York
	Libertarian Party of New York
	Serve America Movement
	Green Party of New York
Total Votes			100.0%
Registered voters/Turnout		13,555,547[25]		TBA

Results by district. BOLD represents a flip and ITALICS represent a new Senator of the same party.

• 2020 New York state elections

• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "New York", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "New York: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of New York". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• New York at Ballotpedia