Republican Joe Sempolinski Defeats Democrat Max Della Pia in NY23 Special Election

Republican Joe Sempolinski has been heralded as the projected winner in the special election for New York’s 23rd congressional district.

With 97 percent reporting as of this writing, Sempolinski currently leads Democrat Max Della Pia by nearly 5,000 votes — 53.2 percent versus 46.7 percent. Though the district has been deemed a solid red one, election watcher Dave Wasserman said that the final margins will determine if the Republican Party had made gains or losses in the district.

The NY-23 district, which includes Tompkins, Tioga, Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler, and Allegany Counties, fell subject to a special election this past May when Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) resigned from office after being accused of sexual misconduct. Joe Sempolinski will serve out the remainder of Reed’s term until the midterm election in November.

Also in the 23rd congressional district, Republican Nick Langworthy successfully beat his primary opponent, Carl Paladino, on Tuesday by a margin of nearly 2,000 votes — 51.8 percent versus 47.6 percent.

Sempolinski touted his experience and knowledge of the district prior to the election on Tuesday.

“This is a district that I know like the back of my hand, this is a district where I’ve spent literally years in the car driving around going from the shore of Lake Erie to Owego, up through Ithaca up into the Finger Lakes,” he told WSKG. “There’s no corner of this district that I haven’t campaigned in since I’ve been running.”

“That’s not something you can just pick up from a briefing book on the fly,” he added. “That’s years of knowledge. That’s years of relationships, where if I walk into a room in Dunkirk, I’m going to know people and the issues that they’re dealing with, the same as if I walk into a room and Ithaca or walk into a room and Corning or Geneva or, or Owego.”