Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan is poised to defeat GOP nominee Colin Schmitt in the race to represent an upstate New York House district, as the Republican conceded the race.
The New York Democrat defeated Schmitt, a member of the New York Assembly representing portions of Orange and Rockland counties, just over five months after he eked out a 2.4-point victory over Republican nominee Marc Molinaro in a special election to replace former Rep. Antonio Delgado, who resigned on May 25 to become lieutenant governor of New York.
Ryan will earn a full term in Congress after he won a tight special election for the seat earlier this year.
“I am honored to continue serving you in Congress. Thank you, #NY18,” Ryan tweeted after Schmitt conceded defeat, saying he “wish[ed] the best for Pat Ryan and hope[d] he will do great things for our Hudson Valley families.”
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While Delgado and Ryan served as representatives for the 19th District, redistricting after the 2020 census prompted Ryan to seek his first full term in the neighboring 18th District. The incumbent of that district, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), instead decided to seek office in the 17th District this cycle, leaving the more northern district without an incumbent.
Molinaro had been favored to defeat Ryan, a former executive of Ulster County and Army intelligence officer, in the special election, but Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee Tom Emmer (R-MN) dismissed concerns that the Democrat’s May victory was a harbinger of lackluster GOP performance in northern New York.
“Special elections are not very good predictors of general elections,” Emmer said. “Marc Molinaro is going to win. Colin Schmitt is going to win.”
Molinaro, who has served as county executive in Duchess County since 2012, declared in September of last year that he would run for office in New York’s redrawn 19th District, leaving Ryan and Schmitt to face off in the 18th District.
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The NRCC poured $1.2 million into the May contest opposing Ryan, while the DCCC spent half a million dollars on the special election.
The seat was viewed as among the most competitive for both parties this election cycle. President Joe Biden carried the district, which has a partisan voter index of D+3, by 2 percentage points in 2020.
