Fewest open state legislative seats in New York since 2010

Seventeen of New York’s 213 state legislative seats up for election in 2024 are open, meaning no incumbent filed.

This is the fewest for the state since Ballotpedia began tracking these figures in 2010, and newcomers are guaranteed at least eight percent of the legislature next year.

New York has 35 contested state legislative primaries this year, down 44% from 2022.

Of these, there are 31 for Democrats and four for Republicans. For Democrats, this is down from 53 in 2022, a 42% decrease. Contested Republican primaries are down 60% from 10 in 2022.

Eighteen incumbents—17 Democrats and one Republican—face primary challenges, representing nine percent of all incumbents running for re-election. Twenty-four percent of incumbents running for re-election faced primary challenges last cycle.

In total, 398 major party candidates filed to run: 235 Democrats and 163 Republicans. All 150 State Assembly seats and all 63 Senate seats are up for election.

New York has been a Democratic trifecta since the party gained control of the Senate in 2019. Democrats currently have a 102-48 majority in the State Assembly and a 41-21 majority in the Senate.

New York’s state legislative primaries are scheduled for June 25.