1974Flipped from RepublicanFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1974 election for New York Senate District 53
New York State Senate · New York
John D. Perry (D) won with 48.3% of the vote, defeating Thomas Laverne (R) by 12.4 points, flipping a seat Republicans held.
John D. PerryDemocrat · winner
48.3%51,053
Thomas LaverneRepublican
35.8%37,895
Gordon J. DehondConservative · incumbent
14.6%15,429
H. Everest ClementsIndependent
0.6%683
Louis A. CrawfordLibertarian
0.6%652
105,712 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1974
Races before and after
Source: Past results: 99chambers results archive (MEDSL, Klarner, state election offices)
The candidates
John D. Perry (D)Thomas Laverne (R)Gordon J. Dehond (C)
Also on the ballot: H. Everest Clements (Independent), 0.6%; Louis A. Crawford (Libertarian), 0.6%