Jeremy Zellner Wins New York Senate Race In Early 2026

Thanks to an early-year special election, the 2026 voting season is on and running for this year. Later in the year, people all over the Empire State will go to the polls to elect people into offices across the local, state, and federal governments. However, before we can get to June and the primaries and November for the general election, the people of New York State have to fill four vacant seats in the state Senate and Assembly.

On January 1, 2026, members of the New York State Legislature Zohran Mamdani, Sean Ryan, Harvey Epstein, and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, all took new jobs. Most notably, Mamdani and Ryan took over as mayors of the state's two largest cities. Because the four seats in the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly were vacant, Governor Hochul called for a special election to fill vacant seats in the 47th and 61st New York Senate Districts and the 36th and 74th New York Assembly Districts.

Today, that election was held in Western New York, and Amherst businessman Dan Gagliardo faced off against the Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, Jeremy Zellner.

The Results Are In For New York's 61st Senate District Special Election

After 10 days of early voting, where nearly 8,000 votes were cast, plus 15 hours of voting on election day, the unofficial vote count totals are in, and Jeremy Zellner has won the election to become the next New York State Senator to represent parts of Buffalo and Amherst, plus Kenmore, Tonawanda, and Grand Island. Unofficial vote totals show that Zellner gained nearly 60% of the vote.

Erie County Board of Elections

According to WIVB, Zellner declared victory over Gagliardo. If the unofficial results stand, this will mark the second electoral loss for Gagliardo in the last 4 months, as he also lost the race for Amherst Town Supervisor in November.

Zellner, who is now the State Senator for Western New York, will only hold this office until the end of the year. The general election in November will determine who will hold the office for a full term.