Anthony Palumbo Wins Race To Secure NY Senate District 1 Seat

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — It was a win for incumbent Republican New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo, after the votes came in following a delay in results that left the tallies till the wee hours.

Palumbo (R-New Suffolkc) and Skyler Johnson (D- Mount Sinai),faced off in a race for the NY 1st District Senate seat.

But, just after midnight, results began to come in, with Palumbo taking the lead. According to unofficial results reported by the Suffolk County Board of Elections Wednesday morning, Palumbo had 71,752 votes and Johnson, 55,362, with three districts still not reported.

"I thank the residents of the 1st Senate District and I am truly honored to be re-elected as your state senator," Palumbo said. "I look forward to building upon many of the accomplishments we achieved in my first term, and I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make Long Island safer and more affordable."

As of midnight Wednesday, Suffolk County Board of Elections workers had difficulty loading memory cards needed to tally the vote, and reports have gauged the wait time anywhere from hours to Wednesday night. All the 1,400 memory cards from each voting machine need to brought back to the BOE’s Yaphank headquarters and then uploaded to indicate an accurate count.

Palumbo defeated" Laura Ahearn in 2020to win the Senate seat. Before winning the election for New York State Senate, he served in the New York State Assembly for seven years and was a former Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney.

"I am running for re-election to make Long Island safer and more affordable and to enact policies that will help to protect the environment and our unique quality of life," he told Patch this year.

Johnson, who first ran for Senate in 2020, works for New Hour For Women and Children, a non-profit based out of Brentwood, offering re-entry services to formerly incarcerated women and support for their families.

"There’s a lot at stake in this election," he told Patch, when discussing his candidacy. "I’m running to make sure we can protect reproductive rights, protect our environment, lower the cost of living on Long Island, and protect our roads and critical infrastructure," he said.

Senate District 1 covers the East End towns of East Hampton, Southold, Shelter Island, Southampton, and Riverhead as well as some of eastern Brookhaven Town.