James Skoufis Gets Reelected to New York State’s 42nd Senate District

Sen. James Skoufis (D-N.Y.) at his district office in Cornwall, N.Y., on June 19, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

Three-term New York state Sen. James Skoufis has been reelected in the 42nd district in a three-way race on Nov. 5, according to unofficial results by the state Board of Elections.

With close to 90 percent of 272 district precincts reported, the Democratic senator got 68,516 votes, compared to 52,081 votes for Republican challenger Dorey Houle and 6,334 votes for Conservative candidate Timothy Mitts.

Skoufis also ran on the Working Families Party line.

“Thank you, Orange County!” Skoufis said in a statement after declaring his victory in the late evening of Nov. 5. “Public service is a privilege I don’t take lightly. This win is for all of us.”

The 42nd Senate District covers most of Orange County except Montgomery and Newburgh.

Skoufis significantly increased his margin of victory from the close election two years earlier, when he narrowly defeated Houle by less than 1 percent. In that tight race, Houle also ran as the Conservative candidate.

Skoufis made new inroads into several pockets in Goshen, Chester, and Warwick, according to the Orange County Board of Elections.

He also carried or tied in a larger number of precincts in the town of Monroe, the home base for his two challengers, Houle and Mitts.

According to the county Board of Elections, Skoufis only lost two out of 21 Monroe precincts. Two years ago, he lost six.

Houle said in a concession statement on Nov. 6: “I joined this race nearly two years ago because of my love for New York and my sincere concern that it is on the wrong track ... but now is not my time, and I respect the will of the people.

“I congratulate Senator Skoufis and his family on a hard-fought victory. I wish him the best in his fourth term.”

Mitts said in a Nov. 6 statement: “I want to thank everybody out there near and far for their support. We took a grassroots campaign and made something out of it.”

Skoufis said in previous interviews with The Epoch Times that he developed an early passion for politics and pursued degrees in political science before running for a town board seat in Woodbury while holding his first job in New York City.

At age 25, he was elected the youngest lawmaker in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly. Six years later, he ran for the state Senate and became part of the blue wave that flipped the upper chamber to Democratic control in the fall of 2018.

During his lawmaker career, Skoufis focused on advocating for local interests in budget negotiations, expanding early childhood education programs at public schools, and cutting what he said were unnecessary corporate tax incentives at taxpayers’ expense.

In the past legislative session, he ranked third among all state senators in the number of sponsored bills passed by the state Legislature.

He said his immediate priorities are advocating for Orange County interests in the upcoming budget negotiations about school aid formula changes and the congestion pricing program.