United States Senate election in New York, 2010

For the special election to fill the seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, see United States Senate special election in New York, 2010.

United States Senate election in New York, 2010

2004 ← November 2, 2010 → 2016

Nominee Chuck Schumer Jay Townsend Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,047,775 1,480,337 Percentage 66.4% 33.0%

County results

U.S. Senator before election Chuck Schumer Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer Democratic

The 2010 United States Senate election in New York took place as scheduled on November 2, 2010 along with elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer won re-election to a third term.^[1]

Background

In the 2004 U.S. Senate election, Schumer had defeated Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills by a 71 to 24 percent margin. Schumer is highly popular in New York, so it was believed that any Republican contender would likely not fare well against him in 2010.^[2] Schumer was heavily favored to retain his seat.^[3]

In addition to this regular election, there was also a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who became the United States Secretary of State on January 21, 2009. In addition, there was the New York gubernatorial election. The existence of two other top-level statewide races, one with a vulnerable Democratic incumbent and the other an open race, respectively,^[4] was believed to lead major New York Republicans to gravitate towards them rather than challenge the popular Schumer.^[2][5] As it happened, however, the Republican Party had difficulty in drawing top-tier candidates to any of the three races.

Republican nomination

Convention

Candidates

• Gary Berntsen, retired CIA officer, received the party's endorsement on the second round of balloting^[6]
• Martin Chicon, candidate for New York Senate in 2008^[7] and New York Republican State Committee member from upper Manhattan.
• George Maragos, Nassau County Comptroller ^[8]
• James Staudenraus, Long Island resident and 2008 state assembly candidate^[9]
• Jay Townsend, Republican strategist (finished second and also qualified for the primary)^[6]

Results

Only two candidates, Bernsen and Townsend, obtained at least 25% of the vote at the New York State Republican Convention on June 1, 2010. Bernsen came in first, but still needed to win the primary in order to win the Republican nomination.

Primary

Candidates

• Gary Berntsen
• Jay Townsend

Results

Republican primary results[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Jay Townsend	178,884	56.1%
	Republican	Gary Berntsen	139,877	43.9%
Totals			'	77.1%

General election

Candidates

• Anti-Prohibition Party: Randy Credico
• Conservative Party of New York: Jay Townsend
• Democratic Party: Chuck Schumer
• Green Party: Colia Clark
• Libertarian Party: Randy Credico
• Republican Party: Jay Townsend
• Taxpayers Party: Gary Berntsen

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report	Solid D[11]	October 12, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe D[12]	October 8, 2010
RealClearPolitics	Safe D[13]
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe D[14]	September 30, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe D[15]	October 12, 2010
Election Projection	Solid D hold[16]	October 12, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chuck Schumer (D)	Jay Townsend (R)	Other	Unde- cided
Siena College	October 27–30, 2010	603	± 4.0%	64%	32%	—	2%
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 28–29, 2010	541	± 4.2%	61%	35%	4%	—
Rasmussen Reports	October 19, 2010	500	± 4.5%	59%	31%	5%	5%
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 7, 2010	500	± 4.5%	63%	27%	6%	—
Survey USA	September 20, 2010	1,000	± 4.2%	54%	33%	10%	3%
Rasmussen Reports	September 16, 2010	500	± 4.5%	58%	36%	3%	4%
Siena College	July 12, 2010	808	± 3.4%	63%	26%	—	13%
Rasmussen Reports	June 16, 2010	500	± 4.5%	54%	33%	6%	6%
Siena College	June 7–9, 2010	808	± 3.4%	60%	26%	—	14%
Siena College	May 17–20, 2010	808	± 3.4%	63%	24%	—	13%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand	Debt
Chuck Schumer (D)	$17,302,006	$11,824,587	$16,048,482	$0
Jay Townsend (R)	$197,365	$180,693	$16,671	$105,854
Source: Federal Election Commission[17]

Results

General election results[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chuck Schumer (inc.)	2,710,735	65.4
	Republican	Jay Townsend	1,365,439	33.0
	Green	Colia Clark	39,815	1.0
	Libertarian	Randy Credico	25,975	0.6

References

1. ^ Richberg, Keith B. (2008-12-02). "A Rush for Clinton's Senate Seat". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/01/AR2008120102621.html. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Saltonsall, David (2009-02-01). "Sen. Chuck Schumer unlikely to see competition in 2010 reelection bid". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/31/2009-01-31_sen_chuck_schumer_unlikely_to_see_compet.html. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
3. ^ Silver, Nate (2008-12-08). "2010 Senate Rankings, Revised and Extended". FiveThirtyEight.com. http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/2010-senate-rankings-revised-and.html. Retrieved 2009-01-24. 
4. ^ Lovett, Kenneth (2009-03-23). "New Siena Poll finds Gov. David Paterson's approval rating at just 19%". New York: Nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/03/23/2009-03-23_new_siena_poll_finds_gov_david_patersons.html. Retrieved 2010-06-14. 
5. ^ "Senate Races 2010". VoteFromAbroad.org. http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Senate/senate-2010.html. Retrieved 2008-12-18. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ ^{a b} McKenna, Chris (June 2, 2010). "Townsend trails Berntsen at state GOP convention". Times Herald-Record. http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100602/NEWS/6020356/-1/news04. 
7. ^ "Martin Chicon NY-US Senator 2010 Republican Candidate NYC Sat 10/3/09 - AOL Video". Video.aol.co.uk. http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/martin-chicon-ny-us-senator-2010-republican-candidate-nyc-sat-10309/3694919687. Retrieved 2010-06-14. 
8. ^ "Nassau Comptroller Eyeing Schumer Challenge". Capitaltonight.com. 2010-04-15. http://capitaltonight.com/2010/04/nassau-comptroller-eyeing-schumer-challenge/. Retrieved 2010-06-14. 
9. ^ "Latest count on U.S. Senate candidates: 22 | Politics on the Hudson". Polhudson.lohudblogs.com. 2010-05-12. http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2010/05/12/latest-count-on-u-s-senate-candidates-22/. Retrieved 2010-06-14. 
10. ^ "New York, Class 3 Senate Primary Results". Politico. September 14, 2010. http://www.politico.com/2010/maps/#/Senate/2010/NY. Retrieved September 14, 2010. 
11. ^ "Senate". Cook Political Report. http://cookpolitical.com/senate. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
12. ^ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.com/ratings/senate. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
13. ^ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/2010_elections_senate_map.html. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
14. ^ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2010-senate/. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
15. ^ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
16. ^ "The Battle for Capitol Hill - 2010 Senate". ElectionProjection.com. http://www.electionprojection.com/2010elections/senate10.php. Retrieved October 12, 2010. 
17. ^ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for New York". fec.gov. http://www.fec.gov:80/DisclosureSearch/HSRefreshCandList.do?category=stateS_all&stateName=NY&election_yr=2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010. 
18. ^ "New York Election Results". The New York Times. http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/new-york. 

External links

• New York State Board of Elections
  • Official candidate list
• U.S. Congress candidates for New York at Project Vote Smart
• New York U.S. Senate 2010 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
• New York Polls graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: New York Senate from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 New York Senate Race from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 New York Senate Race from CQ Politics
• Race profile from The New York Times