Tuesday, November 7 was Election Day in New York. Since it is an odd-numbered year, most races on the ballot were for local elections. There were also two proposed amendments to the New York State Constitution that appeared on the ballot as statewide voter referendums. Voters approved both Constitutional Amendments on Tuesday.
The first Constitutional Amendment related to debt limitations on small city school districts. Currently, small city school districts may only borrow up to 5% of their total property wealth. Other school districts may borrow up to 10% of their property wealth. This small school amendment will allow small city school districts to match their rural and suburban counterparts and borrow up to 10% of their property wealth.
The second Constitutional Amendment will allow municipalities to exclude from their debt limits indebtedness for the construction or reconstruction of sewage facilities until 2034. Under the New York State Constitution, municipalities have a debt limit set as a percentage of the five-year average full valuation of taxable property within a municipality.
In addition to the Constitutional Amendments, there were a number of local elections that occurred. In Suffolk County, Republican Ed Romaine and Democrat David Calone ran to replace county executive Steve Bellone, a Democrat, who reached his term limit. Romaine beat Calone, garnering 56% of the roughly 26,000 votes. Another closely watched county executive race took place on the other side of the State in Erie County. Democrat Mark Poloncarz, the three-term incumbent, beat Republican challenger Chrissy Casilio, becoming the first Erie County Executive to be elected to a fourth term. In Monroe County, Adam Bello, Democrat, was reelected to a second term in office, beating his Republican challenger, Mark Assini. Bello received 61% of the vote.
The end of this election officially marks the countdown to the 2024 elections, which will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Not only is it a Presidential election year, but all 213 seats in the New York State Senate and Assembly and all 26 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be on the ballot. Additionally, New York’s U.S. Senate seat, currently held by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, will be up for election.
Contact a member of the HSE Government Affairs team with questions.