On November 6th, Pete Harckham became the first Democrat elected State Senator in NY SD40 since 1914. According to his campaign, he won by a 3,000 vote margin, a little better than 51% of the vote in a 60% turnout (one of the largest vote counts of any state Senate race) or about 118,000 voters. Murphy conceded after serving the district for two terms. From his campaign: a letter Harckham sent to his supporters…

“Thank you to everyone who made this possible! This is your win! I am honored to have earned the support of voters throughout this district with an overwhelming turnout. Thank you to all the Volunteers, Democratic committees, Indivisibles, Independents, my family, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Robert Kesten and many others.

I want to thank Sen. Murphy for his graciousness yesterday and for his service to our district. I wish him and his family all the best. In Albany, I will work hard to represent everybody, not just those who voted for me. I will be accountable for the words I say, the tone I set and the tenor of the work our office does in the community. We have an ambitious legislative agenda to pass in the first 30 days of 2019, including the Reproductive Health Act, Child Victims Act and Red Flag Bill…

“Our nation is dangerously divided… I believe our diversity is our greatest strength and appreciate the support of African American, Hispanic American, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans our LGBTQ Brothers and sisters–and all Americans throughout the Hudson Valley…”