In the August 23rd Special Election between Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro and Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, the vote in Pine Plains did not mirror the overall vote in the 19th Congressional District.
In Election Day voting in Pine Plains, Molinaro received 250 votes to 134 for Ryan. These numbers do not include Pine Plains voters who voted early. In Dutchess County as a whole, Molinaro won 52% of the vote while in Ulster County Ryan led with 62% of votes cast. In the entire 19th District Ryan received 51.1% (65,943 votes) versus 48.9% (62,952 votes) for Molinaro. (Results as posted by the NYS Board of Elections on 8/25/22)
Several election watchers speculated that the Democratic primary being held on the same day may have given Ryan a boost.
The Special Election was required when Congressman Antonio Delgado resigned to take the post of New York’s Lieutenant Governor.
As a result of the election, Molinaro will remain in his job as Dutchess County Executive while Ryan must resign his County Executive post prior to taking his oath of office as a U.S. Representative for New York’s 19th District, a position he will hold only until the first day of 2023 when the winner of the November election for a newly redrawn District 19 is sworn in.
That election will pit Molinaro against Democratic candidate Josh Riley who defeated Jamie Cheney in their 8/23 Primary.
Ryan was also involved in a Primary on 8/23. He handily won the nomination to be the Democratic candidate in the newly redrawn 18th Congressional District, defeating two challengers and receiving nearly 83% (28,881) of the votes cast.
Ryan will be up against Republican Colin Schmitt in November in the new 18th District that now includes most of Dutchess County, much of Ulster County and all of Orange County to the New Jersey border.
Molinaro, who lives in Red Hook, will not be in the ballot in Pine Plains in November. He is running in the 19th Congressional District that no longer includes any of Dutchess County. The 19th is large. It includes all of Columbia County and extends from the Massachusetts border west to Ithaca in Tompkins County.
Pine Plains will remain in the 18th Congressional District at least until the next national census and possible redistricting a decade from now.