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CLARENCE, NY (WNY News Now) – The GOP primary and special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District is over. We’re break down who won and lost following Tuesday night’s contest.
As part of a special election, Democrat Max Della Pia and Republican Joe Sempolinski faced off to complete the rest of the term of now retired Congressman Tom Reed. Sempolinski pulled ahead narrowly winning 51 percent of the vote over Della Pia’s 48 percent.
Once sworn into office, Sempolinski will finish out the final four months of Reed’s term.
In a one-on-one interview with WNY News Now, Sempolinski says he is honored to finish out the term.
“It’s all sort of sinking in at this point, but I’m just excited to serve,“ explained Sempolinski. “Somebody has got to finish this term, and this is the area of the world and people that mean the most to me, and I am profoundly honored to be chosen to be their voice over the course of this year.”
As for Della Pia, he says he is not out of the race yet.
“Whoever the republicans put out there we are going to go at it,” stated Della Pia. “And we are going to decide who the electors want. And I feel like they are looking for someone who’s not divisive hyper-partisan or someone that doesn’t want to reach across the aisle and make things happen for the good of our country and our constituents.”
As for the GOP primary, New York State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy faced off against Buffalo businessman Carl Paledino in a tight election.
The duo were neck and neck for a majority of the night, with Paledino starting the night off strong showing favor in Erie County, however the six other southern tier counties favored Langworthy, ultimately giving him the win.
“Wow,“ exclaimed Langworthy. “Tonight the southern tier made me the comeback kid. This is an overwhelming victory. The hours and the miles on the road in what was a very short campaign, but it was a campaign about ideals and the brand of leadership that we need for Western New York and the southern tier.”
Specifically in Chautauqua County, voters favored Langworthy over Paladino, with the chairman winning 63 percent of the vote to Paladino’s 34 percent. Which Langworthy touts towards his victory.
“Our strategy was heavily geared towards our turnout in the southern tier,“ explained Langworthy. “We knew we would come out of Erie (County New York) Down, didn’t know I would come quite that far down, but the victory’s in the southern tier were far greater than we could have ever anticipated. The support that poured out of the six counties in the southern tier were overwhelmingly in our favor, very heartwarming that some of them just met me have had the opportunity to come out and support.”
So what’s next for Langworthy? He will face off against Democrat Max Della Pia in the general election this fall. The two are both running for the newly redistricted 23rd District, which now includes a majority of the southern tier.
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