How Do New York Democrats Select Their Candidates in Special Elections?

On June 24th, New Yorkers went to the polls to determine the Democratic nominee for all municipal offices in the city, from Mayor to City Council. While all of the nominees still need to win a general election in November, given enrollment numbers and electoral history, the Democratic nominees in Manhattan are very likely to win. This means that, come January, it is all but certain State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein will have to vacate their current offices in order to serve as Manhattan Borough President and City Council Member, respectively.

So some people may be wondering, “how do their seats in the state legislature get filled?” According to state law, the governor must call a special election within 10 days of a vacancy, and that special election must take place between 40 and 50 days after such a proclamation. So, if a vacancy were to occur on January 1st, then the special election would have to happen no later than March 2nd.

How are the Republican and Democratic nominees for such special elections decided? Rather than holding a primary, the respective political parties select their nominees in accordance with their party’s rules. In the case of the Democratic Party, nominees are selected by a body known as the County Committee. So now you may be asking, “wait, what is the county committee and why do they get to decide?”

Each Election District in Manhattan (about 2–3 city blocks) elects two to four County Committee members. These are unpaid, political party posts, and have no official government role. They are expected to attend one meeting every two years to elect the County Party Chair and other leadership positions. Beyond this one biennial meeting, county committee members are generally only called upon when there is a vacancy.

Over the past decade, several Manhattan Democratic clubs have worked to recruit local Democrats to run for New York (Manhattan) County Committee. They reach out to community activists, neighbors, and longtime Democratic club members. Any County Committee member who lives in one of the election districts currently represented by State Senator Hoylman-Sigal or Assembly Member Epstein, will now likely be called upon to vote on who will replace them. That means that the Democratic nominee for each of these seats could be determined by fewer than 500 people.

Anyone who is a registered Democrat in Manhattan can run for New York County Committee in their Assembly District. To get on the ballot you simply need to collect signatures: five percent of the active registered Democrats in that particular election district, or anywhere from about 25 to 60 signatures. This year, in Manhattan alone, there were 30 contested county committee races in June’s primary

Many current elected officials in Manhattan were originally elected via this County Committee process, including Assembly Member Epstein himself, who was elected in a special election after Brian Kavanagh was elected to the State Senate in 2017.

Adding to the confusion over County Committee is that each county committee seat does not hold equal weight. The value of a county committee seat is determined by a formula based on how well the Democratic candidate for Governor performed in that particular election district.

There is no question that this process can seem a bit confusing. It certainly benefits party insiders and elected officials who have built relationships with local Democratic clubs and County Committee members. There are those who believe it’s time to do away with county committee votes for party nominees for state level seats, perhaps by shifting to the New York City system, which requires non-partisan special elections to fill vacancies. While that system may seem preferable in theory, these types of special elections have absurdly low turnout. This year there have been two City Council special elections in New York City and in each of these elections, less than 9 percent of eligible voters participated.

In the meantime, we must continue to contend with the current system, and that means working to ensure that we are electing good people to the County Committee. I encourage anyone who is interested in this process to get involved in your local Democratic club. You can find more information about the Manhattan County Committee on the Manhattan Democrats’ website.

And as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions!