New York Senate District 61

Erie County. Population 314,060 (2020). Partisan lean D+4.

Open seatUncontestedSpecial election since 2022

2026 candidates

Current senator: Jeremy Zellner (D), first elected 2026. The incumbent is not on the ballot.

Provisional candidate list. It will be replaced by the New York State Board of Elections certified ballot, including all minor-party lines.

Jonathan Rivera

Challenger · provisional

DemocraticWorking Families

New York uses fusion voting: a candidate can appear on several party lines, and votes on every line count toward their total.

Campaign finance

Jonathan Rivera

No campaign finance records matched yet.

Past results in this district

Legislative results are as reported for this district. Statewide races are estimated for the current district lines.

2026 State Senate (special)

Feb 4, 2026 · 32,402 votes

Candidate	Votes	Share
Jeremy Zellner(D)winner	19,341	59.7%
Dan R. Gagliardo(R) By party line Republican: 9,853 Conservative: 3,033	12,886	39.8%
Write-ins	175	0.5%

District margin: D+20.0

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), special election results. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 7:54 PM ET.

2024 State Senate

Nov 5, 2024 · 143,246 votes

Candidate	Votes	Share
Sean M. Ryan(D)winner By party line Democratic: 80,274 Working Families: 8,146	88,420	61.7%
Christine M. Czarnik(R) By party line Republican: 46,343 Conservative: 8,323	54,666	38.2%
Write-ins	160	0.1%

District margin: D+23.6
All contested seats: D+8.1
Relative to chamber: D+15.5

Source: OpenElections New York. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 9:21 PM ET.

2022 State Senate

Nov 8, 2022 · 112,796 votes

Candidate	Votes	Share
Sean M. Ryan(D)winner By party line Democratic: 57,616 Working Families: 6,285	63,901	56.7%
Edward A. Rath III(R) By party line Republican: 39,305 Conservative: 9,500	48,805	43.3%
Write-ins	90	0.1%

District margin: D+13.4
All contested seats: D+0.2
Relative to chamber: D+13.2

Source: OpenElections New York. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 9:19 PM ET.

2024 President

Nov 5, 2024 · 152,296 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Kamala D. Harris(D)winner	91,520	60.1%
Donald J. Trump(R)	58,418	38.4%
Other candidates	2,358	1.5%

District margin: D+22.1
Statewide: D+12.7
Relative to state: D+9.4

Precinct results re-aggregated to current district lines using 2020 census block populations. Source: The New York Times, 2024 Precinct-Level Election Results. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 9:21 PM ET.

2020 President

Nov 3, 2020 · 156,960 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Joseph R. Biden(D)winner	96,590	61.5%
Donald J. Trump(R)	57,326	36.5%
Jo Jorgensen(L)	1,565	1.0%
Howie Hawkins(G)	736	0.5%
Brock Pierce(I)	634	0.4%
Write-ins	108	0.1%

District margin: D+25.5
Statewide: D+23.5
Relative to state: D+2.1

Precinct results re-aggregated to current district lines using 2020 census block populations. Source: Voting and Election Science Team, precinct-level results (Harvard Dataverse, CC BY 4.0). Updated Sep 28, 2026, 7:50 PM ET.

2018 U.S. Senate

Nov 6, 2018 · 112,496 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Kirsten E. Gillibrand(D)winner	73,332	65.2%
Chele Chiavacci Farley(R)	39,164	34.8%
Write-ins	0	0.0%

District margin: D+30.4
Statewide: D+34.0
Relative to state: R+3.6

2018 Governor

Nov 6, 2018 · 113,241 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Andrew M. Cuomo(D)winner	62,986	55.6%
Marcus J. Molinaro(R)	45,142	39.9%
Howie Hawkins(G)	2,399	2.1%
Larry Sharpe(L)	1,628	1.4%
Stephanie A. Miner(SAM)	1,086	1.0%
Write-ins	0	0.0%

District margin: D+16.5
Statewide: D+24.4
Relative to state: R+7.9

2018 Comptroller

Nov 6, 2018 · 111,844 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Thomas P. DiNapoli(D)winner	73,251	65.5%
Jonathan Trichter(R)	36,456	32.6%
Mark Dunlea(G)	1,346	1.2%
Cruger Gallaudet(L)	791	0.7%
Write-ins	0	0.0%

District margin: D+33.5
Statewide: D+36.3
Relative to state: R+2.7

2018 Attorney General

Nov 6, 2018 · 110,982 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Letitia James(D)winner	60,719	54.7%
Keith Wofford(R)	47,455	42.8%
Michael Sussman(G)	1,307	1.2%
Christopher Garvey(L)	950	0.9%
Other candidate (O)	551	0.5%
Write-ins	0	0.0%

District margin: D+12.3
Statewide: D+27.9
Relative to state: R+15.6

2016 U.S. Senate

Nov 8, 2016 · 136,992 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Charles E. Schumer(D)winner	97,049	70.8%
Wendy Long(R)	36,771	26.8%
Robin Laverne Wilson(G)	2,064	1.5%
Alex Merced(L)	1,106	0.8%
Write-ins	0	0.0%

District margin: D+45.0
Statewide: D+44.4
Relative to state: D+0.6

2016 President

Nov 8, 2016 · 140,349 votes (estimated for current lines)

Candidate	Votes	Share
Hillary Clinton(D)winner	76,127	54.2%
Donald J. Trump(R)	56,991	40.6%
Gary Johnson(L)	4,601	3.3%
Jill Stein(G)	2,347	1.7%
Write-ins	283	0.2%

District margin: D+14.4
Statewide: D+23.5
Relative to state: R+9.2

Special elections since 2022

2026 State Senate (special)

Feb 4, 2026 · 32,402 votes

Candidate	Votes	Share
Jeremy Zellner(D)winner	19,341	59.7%
Dan R. Gagliardo(R) By party line Republican: 9,853 Conservative: 3,033	12,886	39.8%
Write-ins	175	0.5%

District margin: D+20.0

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), special election results. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 7:54 PM ET.

Map

Senate District 61 (outlined, shaded by partisan lean). Select a neighboring district to open it.

Neighboring districts

Senate District 60 · Patrick M. Gallivan (R)
Senate District 62 · Rob Ortt (R)
Senate District 63 · April Baskin (D)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, TIGER/Line state legislative districts. Updated Sep 28, 2026, 6:43 PM ET.

Partisan lean

Blended partisan lean: D+4.0relative to New York as a whole

Race	District	Statewide	Relative
2024 President	D+22.1	D+12.7	D+9.4
2020 President	D+25.5	D+23.5	D+2.1
2024 State Senate (not in blend)	D+23.6	D+8.1	D+15.5
2022 State Senate (not in blend)	D+13.4	D+0.2	D+13.2
2018 Governor	D+16.5	D+24.4	R+7.9

Blend weights and formula: methodology. Legislative races are shown for context but excluded from the blend (incumbency and uncontested races distort them).

Forecast

Forecast coming soon. Ratings, projected margins, and win probabilities will appear here once the model is published.

Voter registration

Voter registration by party for this district will appear after the next NYSBOE enrollment import.

Who lives here

$79,092Median household income

48%Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)

38.6Median age

99%Urban population (2020)

Race and ethnicity

White 74.4%
Black 7.7%
Hispanic/Latino 7.1%
Asian 6.2%
Other/multiracial 4.6%

Population (ACS): 315,511
Under 18 / 65 and over: 19% / 19%
High school graduate or higher: 94%
Owner-occupied homes: 64%

ACS 5-year 2020–2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (Block-group estimates apportioned to the district by 2020 block population; urban share from 2020 census blocks.). Updated Sep 28, 2026, 7:49 PM ET.

Page data updated Sep 28, 2026, 9:22 PM ET. How we compute these numbers.