Bill Introduced to Alter New York State Special Election Process
By: Joseph T. Burns
On February 7, 2025, a bill was introduced by New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to dramatically alter the special election process in New York State. Specifically, the proposal from Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins would allow the Governor to set the date of special elections to fill vacancies in Congress on the day of the General Election.
The state legislature changed the process for conducting special elections as recently as 2021. Currently, for special elections to fill vacancies in Congress, the governor is required to call a special election within ten days of the vacancy being created, and the date set for the special election must be between seventy and eighty days from the governor’s proclamation of a special election.
Because the bill to alter the special election process was introduced on February 7, it could be voted on by each house of the state legislature as early as February 10, 2025.
We will continue to monitor this and other proposals under consideration by the New York State Legislature and provide updates when appropriate.
