Ryan Apparent Winner In 19th CD Special Election

GARDINER, NY — Voters went to the polls Tuesday and Pat Ryan is the apparent winner of a special election to fill a vacancy in the 19th Congressional District, according to projections by NBC and CBS news.

Ryan will serve in Congress until the end of the year.

According to the state Board of Elections, with all election districts reporting, Ryan leads Marcus Molinaro 51 percent to 49 percent.

Ryan, D-Gardiner, who is the Ulster County executive, appeared on the Democratic and Working Families party lines. He won the Democratic primary for the new 18th Congressional District and will be on the ballot for the November general election.

Molinaro, R-Red Hook, is the Dutchess County executive. He appeared on the Republican and Conservative lines. He unsuccessfully ran in 2018 for governor against Andrew Cuomo.

Molinaro still has a race to run in the fall. He will be running for a full term in the newly redrawn 19th Congressional District in the fall against Josh Riley, who won the Democratic primary Tuesday.

The vacancy in the current 19th Congressional District occurred when Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, was selected by Gov. Kathy Hochul to be lieutenant governor.

The current 19th Congressional District is made up of Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties and parts of Broome, Dutchess, Montgomery and Rensselaer counties.

The new 19th Congressional District takes Dutchess and part of Ulster out and moves the district west to include Binghamton and Ithaca.