Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce a special election in the coming days to replace former Republican Rep. Tom Reed (R-Southern Tier) after he made his resignation official with the state on Wednesday.
“Governor Hochul will follow the process set out by law and issue a proclamation declaring a special election that will align with the recently set August 23rd election date,” a Hochul spokesman said in an email.
The upcoming vote in Congressional District 23 will occur on the same day as primary elections for Congress and the state Senate as well as another special election to fill a Hudson Valley seat vacated by newly sworn in Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
Consolidating the different elections will save taxpayers millions of dollars.
State law requires a governor to announce a date for a special election within 10 days after the state officially receives word of a congressional vacancy. An election then must be held 70 to 80 days later.
Reed now works in the private sector after leaving Congress on May 10 following allegations of misconduct that helped scuttle a rumored run for governor.
He expressed frustration Wednesday morning — in an email reported by Spectrum News — about the two-week hold up in announcing a special election in his old district.
“I am at a loss as to why our compliance with the federal and state law regarding my recent resignation from Congress has met such resistance from the applicable powers to be in Albany,” Reed said in the email.
Hochul administration has said that a May 10 letter from Reed — a longtime member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the House — to the governor did not qualify as the official notification to the New York Department of State required by the state Public Officers Law.
“Tom Reed has a little work to do … We have been trying tirelessly and actually the Republican Party has been trying to reach him to get this accomplished legally so it’ll stand up in court,” Hochul said Wednesday when pressed by the Post about the hang-up in announcing a special election.
The Department of State confirmed it had received the proper paperwork hours later.
Democrat Max Della Pia and Republican Joseph Sempolinski have already announced plans to run in the special election for the Republican-leaning district that Reed won by 16 points in 2020.
Sempolinski recently told Spectrum that he will only serve out the remainder of Reed’s term if elected.
Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-Western NY) of the neighboring 27th District has announced plans to campaign this November for a newly drawn district in the Southern Tier.
