Republicans broke Democrats’ New York State Senate supermajority on election night, but Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) helped hold the line, keeping the GOP from flipping one vacant seat on Long Island.
Byone won 55% of the vote to defeat attorney Thomas Philip Montefinise, who got 36%, according to unofficial early returns tallied by the Nassau County Board of Elections. Her victory makes her the first Black woman to represent Long Island in the state Senate and keeps the 6th State Senate District in South-Central Nassau in Democratic hands after outgoing state Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Hicksville) leaves office at the end of the year.
“This campaign started as a people power campaign, pressing the issues that matter to people most,” Byone told supporters during the Nassau Democratic watch party at the Garden City Hotel on Tuesday night.
Her win came as Republicans unseated a Democratic state senator in Brooklyn on Tuesday, which makes Democrats one vote short of the 42-seat supermajority it has held since 2020 in the 63-seat chamber, although it has not used that power to overturn any vetoes in that time. Another seat upstate is too close to call for now, but if Democrats also lose that seat the party still retains state Senate majority control.
“Here in New York, voters rejected the Senate Supermajority that has pushed extreme policies that have made New York less affordable and less safe,” said State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Niagara County). “Along with our newly elected member and returning incumbents, the New York State Senate Republican Conference stands ready to continue our work to make New York affordable and safe, and we will not rest until it’s done.”
Thomas’ seat was the only vacancy out of the nine state Senate districts on Long Island. The other eight incumbents — seven Republicans and one Democrat — all sailed to re-election.
In the 1st State Senate District on the East End, State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) won a fourth term with 53% of the vote over former Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), who got 46%, returns show.
In the 2nd State Senate District in northwest Suffolk, state Sen. Mario Mattera (R-Smithtown) won his third term with 58% of the vote over Democratic challenger and former FBI agent Craig Herskowitz, who got 41%, according to the board of elections.
In the 3rd State Senate District in south-central Suffolk, state Sen. Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) won his third term with 61% of the vote to beat Democratic challenger Michael Conroy, who got 38%, results show.
In the 4th State Senate District in central Suffolk, state Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood) won 56% of the vote over Republican challenger Teresa Bryant, who got 43%, returns show.
In the 5th State Senate District 5, freshman state Sen. Steven Rhoads (R-Merrick) defeated Democratic challenger Lisa Lin 57%-35%, returns show.
In the 7th State Senate District, state State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) — currently serving his second stint as senator — defeated Democratic challenger Kim Keiserman 52%-41%, according to the board of elections.
In the 8th State Senate District in southwestern Suffolk and southeastern Nassau, state Sen. Alexis Weik (R-Bohemia) cruised to re-election to a third term with a 63%-30% victory over Democratic challenger Francis Dolan, tallies show.
And in the 9th State Senate District, freshman state Sen. Patricia M. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R-Malvern) defeated Democratic challenger James Lynch 50%-42%, according to the board of elections.
With additional reported by Luke Feeney and Liam Hibbert
