BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York's 26th Congressional District has been without a representative for more than two months.

When Democrat Brian Higgins stepped down in February to take over as president of Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, he said it was in fact Congress that had become more about dramatics then results. Both candidates who are vying to finish his term agree.

New York Rep. Ritchie Torres is introducing legislation aimed at improving the federal government’s response to public health emergencies, citing shortcomings in how the feds handled an mpox outbreak two years ago.

Torres’s bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a department-wide strategy for after-action reviews of major health events, incorporating analysis from across the department’s various agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The review should include people from outside the department.

Republican U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney is teaming up with North Carolina Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross on a bill that aims to close a loophole in federal bankruptcy laws that impacts survivors of sexual abuse.

Tenney joined Capital Tonight on Thursday from Washington to discuss how the bill works and its chances of getting through the closely divided House of Representatives.

Senate Democrats quickly dismissed impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, voting to rule each of the two impeachment charges unconstitutional on the trial's first day.

All Republicans voted no on the questions of dismissal, bar Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate who voted present on the first charge and voted against the second charge.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Democratic congressional candidate Nate McMurray submitted more than 1,400 designating petitions to the state Board of Elections as he pushes for ballot access in New York's 26th Congressional District primary in June, which would take place after the special election this month.

However, a lawsuit brought by his potential opponent, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, and a voter claimed, at best, 382 of the signatures McMurray submitted are valid. That would put the candidate well below the minimum of 1,250 needed.

The road to control of the U.S. House next year runs in no small part through New York, with competitive congressional contests on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and in the Syracuse area.

New York is also home to a bitter Democratic primary battle, in which the Israel-Hamas War is a defining issue.

After 609 days since he was detained by the Taliban, a resolution calling for Ryan Corbett’s immediate release was passed Thursday after both Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell introduced the bipartisan resolution.

Corbett had a business in Afghanistan and was going there to do some work when he was detained.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Early Voting runs April 20, 2024 – April 28, 2024.

A bill that would designate the Strong Museum as the National Museum of Play is one step closer to becoming law.

U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle says the House of Representatives approved the National Museum of Play Recognition Act on Wednesday. There is no word yet on when it could come up for a vote in the Senate.

The Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC is reserving roughly $21 million worth of TV ad buys across New York ahead of the November elections.

The move comes as the Empire State could be make or break for Democrats in their push to win back control of the U.S. House. Losses in congressional districts across New York in 2022 helped cost the party the majority.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s political operation, Team Elise, raised a record $7.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, the group announced Thursday.

Team Elise said the average donation to the Republican congresswoman’s campaign was $21 with 70,000 unique donors. It beats other previous quarter records.

In New York’s 16th Congressional District, a high-profile Democratic primary is heating up.

On Wednesday, former New York Gov. David Paterson endorsed Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the race.

A federal program helping tens of millions of Americans afford internet service — including roughly 1.8 million households across New York — is scheduled to run out of money later this month.

On Capitol Hill, Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke is leading a bipartisan push aimed at saving the program, warning if it lapses, the digital divide between the haves and have nots stands to grow. Again.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is now pushing to codify President Joe Biden’s income-driven student loan repayment program.

Currently, more than 7.7 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, including nearly 300,000 New Yorkers.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A decades-old law enforcement tool designed to dismantle the mafia may now be used to tackle the retail theft crime rings.

The federal plan will assist local stores that are targets for theft.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has been calling on the House of Representatives to pass the “FEND Off Fentanyl Act.” The legislation would target cartels who are bringing in drugs to the United States and help fight the opioid epidemic.

The chief program officer for ACR Health, Michelle McElroy, says the legislation is great for targeting people at the top of the supply chain but not for those at the local level.

The new federal budget finalized over the weekend — nearly six months late — contains more than $500 million for roughly 450 so-called “community projects” across New York state, according to an analysis by Spectrum News NY1.

The funding, requested by members of the New York delegation, is designated for everything from food banks and community centers to infrastructure and public housing developments.

Former New York Rep. George Santos has announced that he will leave the Republican party — which he said "continues to lie and swindle its voter base" its voter base — and run for Congress as an independent.

Santos, who in December was expelled from the House of Representatives after a House committee reported fraud and misused campaign funds, made his announcement on Friday on X, formerly Twitter.

New York lawmakers are leading a push to overhaul public housing across the country, proposing legislation that would repair units and make them energy efficient, creating jobs in the process.

The legislation, dubbed the Green New Deal for Public Housing, has been introduced before — but its rollout this year comes as rising housing prices and rents are helping to drive inflation, which is a central issue in this year’s elections.

Lawmakers at the federal level are taking steps to protect in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

Alabama's Supreme Court ruled last month those embryos are children with rights, leading many providers to stop services over liability concerns. The state's lawmakers quickly passed a law to try and restore protections and allow some clinics to reopen.

Federal funding toward the city’s migrant crisis could soon be flowing again.

Senator Charles Schumer announced on Thursday his office helped the city finally unlock federal funding for thousands of migrants in the city.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday called for the removal of major obstacles to a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, which he said include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, recommended Israel hold new elections.

Although a bill that would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores unless Chinese company ByteDance divests itself from the company passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday with broad bipartisan support, seven of the votes against it came from New York City Democrats.

Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Adriano Espaillat, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez were among the 65 total lawmakers – 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats – who voted against the bill.

George Santos went from a Republican rising star — a congressman-elect for parts of Queens and Long Island — to a punch line on Saturday Night Live skits, as he faces a 23-count federal indictment.

For his next act, Santos is hoping eastern Long Island voters will send him back to Congress.

After hurtling toward a potential fiscal disaster, Amtrak has been spared dramatic cuts that the railroad previously warned could have led to service reductions or suspensions.

New York Republicans were among the most outspoken lawmakers pushing back on the potential spending reductions, which were proposed by their own GOP colleagues.

President Biden delivered his third State of the Union address on Thursday, which served as an unofficial general election kick-off that will likely pit the incumbent with his immediate predecessor.

For analysis of the speech and the state of the race, Capital Tonight spoke with Jack O’Donnell, managing partner of O’Donnell and Associates.

The U.S. House is moving full steam ahead on a bill aimed at forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest the social media app — or face a ban in America.

The full House is expected to vote on the legislation next week, after the measure was unanimously approved by a House committee on Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat representing New York's 15th Congressional District, said Friday he would introduce a resolution to revoke House floor privileges for expelled members of Congress after former Republican Rep. George Santos made an appearance Thursday night at President Biden’s State of the Union address.

“Expelled Congressman George Santos disgraced the United States Congress with his presence at the State of the Union last night,” Torres said in a statement Friday. “Santos was thrown out of the House on a bipartisan basis after a litany of lies, alleged crimes, sideshows, and embarrassments on the national stage. We have to be better than this, and that’s why I will be introducing a rule to bar expelled members from maintaining the high privilege of sitting on the House Floor.”

Former Rep. George Santos on Thursday posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he will challenge incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota in the race for New York’s 1st Congressional District.

“New York hasn’t had a real conservative represent them since I left office arbitrarily, thanks to RINO, empty suits like @nicklalota. He is a willing to risk the future of our majority and the future of this country for his own political gain,” Santos wrote.

Congressman Adriano Espaillat on Friday hailed President Joe Biden's State of the Union address as "electric," expressing optimism about its historical significance.

"I think it will go down in history as one of the best State of the Unions," Espaillat, a Democrat whose district includes Washington Heights and Inwood, said during an appearance on “Mornings On 1.”

President Joe Biden had urged Congress to pass a bipartisan Senate deal on immigration, saying it would give him new emergency authority to “shut down” the border.

But after Donald Trump called the bill “a gift to the Democrats,” and that the Democrats “want this for the presidential election so they can now blame the Republicans for the worst border in history,” the bill failed to move in Congress.

New York's North Country would receive nearly $17 million in funding for local projects in water infrastructure, child care and emergency response times should the biparisan spending package for Fiscal Year 2024 pass the U.S. Senate as expected, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced Thursday.

The package passed the House of Representatives 339-85 on Wednesday evening.

Federal prosecutors say a Texas man tried to defraud former New York Rep. George Santos out of $900,000 by claiming he could get the criminal charges against Santos dropped.

Authorities say 39-year-old Hector Medina, of El Paso, was taken into custody Wednesday morning and charged with wire fraud after an investigation run by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will attend Thursday’s State of the Union address by President Biden as a guest to Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Spectrum News 1 learned Wednesday.

Espaillat represents New York's 13th Congressional District.

The Cayuga County Democratic Committee has endorsed state Sen. John Mannion for the Democratic nomination in the race for New York's 22nd Congressional District.

Following new congressional maps drafted by and passed by the state Legislature last week, the 22nd District now includes southern Cayuga County, including the city of Auburn.

The U.S. House of Representatives select subcommittee investigating the COVID-19 pandemic subpoenaed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to provide testimony related to his administration’s handling of nursing homes during the outbreak, according to a letter obtained by Spectrum News 1.

The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic specifically wants to question Cuomo’s controversial March 25, 2020, state order that required nursing homes to take in COVID-19 positive patients if they were able to. The Associated Press reported a year later that, as a result, more than 9,000 COVID-19 patients were transferred into nursing homes between March and May 2020.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union Address this Thursday. When he does, U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney will be watching with the family of a Western New York man, Ryan Corbett, who's been held captive by the Taliban for 19 months.

Tenney invited Anna Corbett and her children as her honorary guests, hoping to place more pressure on the government to advocate for his safe return home to his family.

The map is finalized. And the race to take on Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in Suffolk County is coming into focus.

Democrats are vying to flip New York’s 1st Congressional District, which has been in GOP hands for nearly a decade. The two leading Democrats - Nancy Goroff and John Avlon - insist that although the map has gotten slightly redder after redistricting, it is still a swing seat.

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. -- Standing at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport before heading back to Washington, Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy said most Americans are familiar with the strict security procedures to fly major airlines.

However, he said those protocols are not always as stringent when taking charter flights. Langworthy sent a letter last week to the Transportation Security Administration outlining his concerns.

New legislation is introduced by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is aiming to end food deserts across the state.

Fifty million dollars in federal funding would work to incentivize grocery stores to build new locations in underserved communities. It also helps those in food deserts better serve the public.

New York Congressman Tom Suozzi has now come full circle.

After giving up his seat to run for governor, the Democrat is now back on Capitol Hill, taking over the office of the man who briefly replaced him —scandal-scarred Republican George Santos.

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump made dueling trips Thursday to the U.S.-Mexico border, looking to gain an edge on immigration ahead of their likely rematch in the race for president.

Biden met with border officials and called out Republicans in Congress for sinking a deal that would have bolstered border security.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law a new set of congressional maps approved Wednesday by the state Legislature after Democratic lawmakers on Monday rejected the newest proposed boundaries drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission.

Legislation introduced earlier this week that would make some changes to the maps the commission approved last week passed the state Senate and Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. Tom Suozzi was sworn in Wednesday evening on Capitol Hill, filling the seat once occupied by George Santos and further reducing the House GOP’s already razor-thin majority.

"Speaker, I never thought I'd be back here, but the Lord works in mysterious ways and God made a way when there was no way," he said.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged he and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, had their political differences but is proud they came together at crucial moments. McConnell announced Wednesday he would step down as the Senate Republican leader in November after nearly two decades running his conference in the Capitol’s upper chamber.

“During my years in the Senate, Mitch McConnell and I rarely saw eye to eye when it came to our politics or our policy preferences,” Schumer said in a statement. “But I am very proud that we both came together in the last few years to lead the Senate forward at critical moments when our country needed us, like passing the CARES Act in the early days of the COVID pandemic, finishing our work to certify the election on January 6th, and more recently working together to fund the fight for Ukraine.”

New York’s redistricting saga continues.

Democratic state lawmakers introduced legislation Monday night creating their own congressional map after they voted down a map created by the Independent Redistricting Commission. The question remains when the Legislature will vote on it.

The New York state Legislature’s newly introduced congressional maps don’t appear to be the blatant power grab that Republicans have been fearing, but they could serve to put an additional Democratic seat in the win column for New York.

According to redistricting expert Jeff Wice, an adjunct professor of law and senior fellow at the New York Census and Redistricting Institute, the new lines may put first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, of the 19th District, in jeopardy.

New York Democrats are wasting no time presenting a new set of congressional maps after the state Legislature on Monday rejected the newest proposed boundaries drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission.

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski have introduced legislation in their respective chambers that would make some changes to the maps the commission approved last week.

After a Democrat-controlled state legislature rejected the new Congressional maps that were approved in a 9-1 vote earlier this month by an independent redistricting commission, the stage is set for a new political fight.

Candidates are set to begin collecting petition signatures Feb. 27, but without approved maps that process is muddy at best. Democrats now need to come up with their own map and then vote on it, but with a June primary looming, the clock is ticking.

For the second time in three years, Albany Democrats are poised to draw new Congressional maps, having once again rejected those drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission — the latest twist in a drawn-out political saga.

“This is just unprecedented, unscripted, unpredictable,” said Jeffrey Wice, a professor at New York Law School and an expert on the state’s redistricting process.

New York's Democratic-controlled state Legislature rejected new congressional maps drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission.

The proposal slightly altered the maps drawn by a special master for the 2022 elections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday led a delegation of lawmakers to Ukraine to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The New York Democratic leader’s visit comes as the U.S. levied a massive tranche of new sanctions on Russia to mark the anniversary of its incursion into Ukraine and in the wake of the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny — and as a Senate-passed bill providing billions in aid to Ukraine is stalled in the Republican-controlled House.

A bipartisan priority for New Yorkers in Congress — increasing the federal deduction for state and local tax payments, or SALT — has once again reached a dead-end on Capitol Hill.

The latest effort was led by House Republicans from competitive districts in New York. Increasing the deduction would have given them a big victory on a pocketbook issue to campaign on this fall.

State Republicans have spoken.

New York Republicans on Thursday designated former NYPD detective and business owner Mike Sapraicone as their preferred candidate to run against U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand this fall. Gillibrand is running her fourth campaign and seeking her third full six-year term.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson's visit to Binghamton Thursday in support of Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro drew protests.

Johnson was in town for the statewide Republican convention earlier in the day, later making a quick stop at the Broome County Sheriff’s Office.

Democratic U.S. Representatives from 12 states sent a letter to President Joe Biden Thursday calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and the immediate return of 134 hostages that have been held by Hamas militants since their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The letter comes hours after Israeli strikes killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza, adding to more than 29,400 civilian casualties since the war began. It also comes amid pressure from within the president's own party to take a harder line against Israel as the death toll continues to rise.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will take a hands-off approach to the state’s newly proposed congressional maps whose fate currently sits with the state Legislature.

The Independent Redistricting Commission last week approved new boundaries for the state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which now would have to be approved by state lawmakers in Albany before taking effect.

Former CNN political commentator John Avlon is running for Congress.

Avlon on Wednesday launched his bid to represent New York 1st Congressional District, where he will be among several Democrats seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Nick LaLota.

Democrat Tom Suozzi will be sworn into Congress on Wednesday, Feb. 28, the first day that lawmakers return from Presidents Day recess, according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office.

When Suozzi is sworn in to replace ousted Republican Rep. George Santos, the makeup of the chamber will shrink to 219-213, meaning Republicans in the majority can only lose two votes on major legislation.

The Republican committees of Erie and Niagara counties have designated West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson as their candidate for the special election in New York's 26th Congressional District to replace former Rep. Brian Higgins.

“The residents of the 26th Congressional District deserve a leader with a proven record of service to their country, and their community. Supervisor Gary Dickson is a veteran, a retired law enforcement official, and a Town Supervisor who has lowered taxes and kept his promises to his constituents," Erie County GOP Chairman Michael Kracker said in a statement Wednesday. "Democrats feel entitled to this seat. But residents don't need another career politician, whose greatest political accomplishment is the size of his campaign war chest." They need someone who understands the challenges our communities are facing. Gary Dickson has a record of working across party lines to deliver solutions for residents, and I know he will do the same in Washington."

Viewers of a certain age may remember the movie the "Never Ending Story."

Well, all New Yorkers are familiar with the state's own never-ending story — redistricting. For reaction to the latest addition to this saga, Capital Tonight was joined Tuesday by Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's favorability rating has remained steady over the last few months as she mounts another reelection campaign this year, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.

The poll found the Democratic New York junior senator had a 40-32% favorability rating among registered voters. About 38% of respondents had no opinion or didn't know.

After a busy week in Washington and Albany, Hudson Valley Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler joined Capital Tonight to discuss the latest developments on congressional redistricting, addressing the migrant influx, and potential changes to state and local tax deduction limits.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer paid a visit to Syracuse on Monday alongside local leaders to call on Congress to reauthorize the Undetectable Firearms Act.

It is expected to expire in less than a month.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will travel to Binghamton Thursday for an event with Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro focused on law enforcement funding and public safety.

The Thursday meeting will be at the Broome County Sheriff's Office and is said to feature sheriff's deputies, neighboring law enforcement, other first responders and families.

The Oneida County Democratic Committee chose not to endorse a candidate for the 22nd Congressional District due to the state's ongoing redistricting process, the organization decided Friday.

"As it stands, the redistricting situation is very fluid, and the committee wants more information before making an endorsement," the committee said in a statement. "There are several great candidates vying for this crucial congressional seat. What matters most to the committee is ensuring that Democrats reclaim these seats and that we regain strong majorities in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives. The Oneida County Democratic Committee will work as hard as possible to win these seats."

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will announce on Monday a proposed $1.5 billion grant to a semiconductor manufacturer for facilities in New York and Vermont.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Schumer said that the projects the grant will help fund are expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, raising constitutional issues with proposed New York congressional maps approved Thursday by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission, said they “should be meticulously scrutinized” by the state Legislature who still has to approve them.

A spokesperson for Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives who represents New York's 8th Congressional District, in Brooklyn, said there is reason to be concerned with the “failure of the IRC to address many of the flaws” in the current map drawn by a special master after the state Legislature’s maps were rejected by the state’s top court in 2022.

It’s been a consequential week for New York’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives: Wins, losses and potential race-altering changes — all with another national election looming on the horizon.

For New York Democrats, they finally got some good news. Following congressional election losses in 2020 and 2022, former Rep. Tom Suozzi cruised to victory in a special election Tuesday to replace former Rep. George Santos, who was ousted from Congress in December.

A group of moderate House lawmakers in both parties on Friday unveiled their proposal to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, a narrower counter-proposal to the $95 billion Senate-passed foreign assistance bill passed earlier this week.

The bill, known as the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, would provide $66 billion in military aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan while also implementing some border security provisions sought by House Republicans, including reviving the “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy for one year and requiring the Homeland Security secretary to “suspend the entry of inadmissible aliens” if they determine that it’s necessary to regain operational control of the border.

The New York Independent Redistricting Commission voted 9-1 Thursday on submitting new congressional maps to the state Legislature that would make substantial changes to some upstate House district boundaries while leaving most of the current lines in other parts of the state largely in place.

It’s the latest move in a battle over redistricting that began shortly after the 2020 Census was completed, and could be decisive in the elections this fall for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A longshot bid to temporarily double a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions for most married couples went down to defeat Wednesday in the House.

The limit was put in place as part of the sweeping tax cuts that a Republican-led Congress passed during then-President Donald Trump's administration. The so-called SALT cap has led to bigger tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is an important campaign issue in those states.

Democrat Tom Suozzi came out on top in Tuesday’s special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

On the Long Island Railroad, voters told Spectrum News NY1 they’re relieved by the results in the wake of George Santos.

At a press conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sought to downplay Democrat Tom Suozzi flipping the New York district once held by ousted Republican lawmaker George Santos.

Democrats, Johnson said, “spent about $15 million to win a seat President Biden won by 8 points, they won it by less than 8 points."

The New York state Democratic Committee on Wednesday officially designated U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand as their candidate for another term representing the state in Capitol Hill's upper chamber.

The nomination puts Gillibrand's name on the ballot as the official Democratic candidate.

Democrat Tom Suozzi has won the special election in the 3rd Congressional District in New York, the Associated Press projects, flipping the seat held by the ousted Republican Rep. George Santos and further narrowing the House GOP's already razor-thin margins.

The race was widely viewed as an early barometer for November's likely rematch between President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and was expected to be a close race, according to recent polling. But 93% of the vote in as of Wednesday morning, Suozzi had nearly 54% of the vote, leading Republican Mazi Pilip (46.1%), a relative newcomer to politics, by more than 13,000 votes.

The Madison County Democratic Committee voted Monday to endorse DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood in the race for New York's 22nd Congressional District.

This is the first time in more than a decade that the committee has voted on a congressional designation.

An unusual special election in New York City’s suburbs on Tuesday could be a bellwether in the fight for control of Congress.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, faces off with Republican Mazi Pilip, a county lawmaker, in a race for a House seat that became vacant when George Santos was expelled from Congress.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Light a candle or curse the darkness.

Those are the choices U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said family members had after losing loved ones on Feb. 12, 2009 to the Flight 3407 crash.

The New York Independent Redistricting Commission will hold a public meeting in Albany on Thursday to vote on a new set of the state's congressional maps, the panel announced Monday, a significant step forward in the state’s years-long battle over redistricting that could be decisive in the elections this fall for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The panel will also have to vote on sending their new version of maps to the Legislature, which will have to approve them.

The special election to replace U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins in New York's 26th Congressional District will take place on Tuesday, April 30, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday in a proclamation.

NEW: Special election for #NY26 will take place on Tuesday, April 30, Gov. Hochul says. pic.twitter.com/riU0f44Tms

It’s a February final stretch in New York’s 3rd congressional district – where voters are deciding whether Democrat Tom Suozzi or Republican Mazi Pilip will represent them In the wake of George Santos.

The district, which includes parts of Queens and Long Island, is attracting national attention, in part, because of the ethical scandals and indictment of Santos that led to his removal by his colleagues.

The NFL’s selection of Las Vegas to host this year’s Super Bowl is shining a spotlight on the explosion of legal sports betting, especially on mobile apps.

New York Rep. Paul Tonko worries the ease of access the apps provide is opening the floodgates to addiction – particularly among young people – and says lawmakers should step in.

The Onondaga County Democratic Committee endorsed state Sen. John Mannion in the race for New York's 22nd Congressional District.

The two-term state legislator earned the backing of the local party establishment on Thursday over DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood, who ran for the same seat in 2022, and Utica University professor Clemmie Harris.

A special election in the suburbs of New York to replace disgraced former Rep. George Santos could offer clues about the mindset of suburban voters everywhere as 2024 election contests ramp up across the country.

The Tuesday contest for the House seat held by Santos until his recent expulsion is shaping up to be a bellwether in the fight for control of Congress, as candidates test political messages their parties hope will appeal to suburban voters in the fall. It not only could subtract one more vote from Republicans' narrow majority in the short run but will be monitored carefully for any signals it sends about what suburban voters elsewhere may be thinking entering the highly volatile 2024 election year.

The president of the union representing border patrol agents on Wednesday gave his support to Mazi Pilip, a Republican lawmaker from Nassau County running in the Congressional special election against former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.

“I am very confident Mazi will do what is necessary to secure our border,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and members of the Great Lakes Task Force introduced legislation that would extend a program that cleans up toxins, combats invasive species and protects watersheds of the Great Lakes, her office announced Wednesday.

A bipartisan bill would extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for another five years, through 2031, and increase annual funding levels from $475 million in 2026 to $500 million from 2027 to 2031.

The New York Conservative Party Political Action Committee met in Albany Sunday and Monday.

Topics included opposition to the New York Equal Rights Amendment, the Medical Aid in Dying bill and Good Cause Eviction.

Over the first two days of early voting this weekend, more than 21,000 New Yorkers cast their ballots in the special election for the state’s Third Congressional District.

Early voting began on Saturday in the race replace the ousted former Rep. George Santos between Democratic former Rep. Tom Suozzi is and Republican Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip.

The House is expected to vote this week on a rule for legislation that would raise the cap for state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, for many married couples.

The 2017 tax cut bill passed by Republicans and signed by then-President Donald Trump created a cap of $10,000, leading to higher taxes on some residents in states such as New York, New Jersey and California.

This week, candidates in New York’s critical congressional races filed their latest finance reports, detailing the size of their campaign coffers at the start of 2024.

The filings include fundraising and spending totals from the fourth quarter of 2023, which stretched from October to December. Here’s a breakdown of the data.

The House Rules Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that could provide some added relief on state and local tax deductions, or SALT.

"The cap itself sunsets in [2025] and so I think the feeling at the moment is, we're going to advocate for what we think we can achieve to make a meaningful step toward providing relief as relates to state and local taxation," Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro said.

Spend time with U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins and you could mistake him for Buffalo’s official ambassador rather than a congressman.

In his nearly two-decade career in the House of Representatives, the New York Democrat prioritized restoring his beloved hometown to its former standing.

New York Republicans will meet in Binghamton in mid-February to hold the party’s statewide nominating convention, the Broome County GOP announced Wednesday.

Republican county chairs, state committee members, party activists and local supporters will meet at the Doubletree by Hilton in downtown Binghamton Feb. 21-22 to conduct official party business.

A bill authored by U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro that aims to compel Amtrak to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act will advance to a full vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, the New York congressman announced Wednesday.

The "Think DIFFERENTLY Transportation Act" was voted out of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and has bipartisan co-sponsors.