New York Democrats Sink to New Lows with Plan to Delay House Special Election

In a purely partisan and undemocratic maneuver aimed at undermining Speaker Mike Johnson, Governor Hochul and the Democrats in Albany are plotting to keep the House seat of soon-to-be UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik vacant for unnecessary months — potentially until November.

With no unusual circumstances, a Republican is expected to prevail in any fair election within the North Country district; it’s also Trump territory: Stefanik secured 61% of the votes in November.

Given the slim and contentious GOP majority (currently 218 to 215), the Speaker requires all seats to be filled to proceed with the nation’s responsibilities, and, naturally, the residents of the district (across 15 counties!) will suffer without representation in the House.

However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, intent on stalling progress in Washington, has his Democratic allies in Albany working to keep the seat unfilled, which Johnson rightfully labels “an overt display of political corruption.”

State law mandates that Hochul must act within 10 days following Stefanik’s resignation, calling for a special election to be held within 80 days—by mid-May at the latest—but the push is on in the Legislature to delay this until late June.

Reality check: It has been common knowledge for weeks that this seat would become available, especially after Trump appointed Stefanik as his UN representative. The governor should schedule an election date within a month.

The justification for the delay is purportedly to save some funds by avoiding a special election, planning to hold the vote while polls are open for the statewide June 24 primary — and allowing potential challengers a better opportunity to win.

Rubbish: When have New York Democrats, who have inflated state expenditures into the multi-hundred-billion territory, ever cared about saving a few dollars? Or about empowering challengers against established political machines?

Moreover, Democrats didn’t propose such “reforms” last year to “improve” the two special elections (in Buffalo and Nassau) where they had a strategic advantage over the GOP.

Instead of confronting the hypocrisy within her party, Hochul points out that other states have left House seats vacant for even longer — as if that justifies disenfranchising New York voters, who are also her constituents.

The situation is close enough to political racketeering that Hudson Valley GOP Rep. Mike Lawler asserts the Justice Department should initiate a RICO investigation into this scheme.

At a minimum, it serves as further evidence that all the Democrats’ rhetoric about “protecting democracy” is merely about safeguarding their own partisan power.