You may have heard about the upcoming Special Election, but perhaps you’re not exactly sure what it is, or why it is happening outside of the usual election calendar. Here's a brief explainer designed to get you up to speed on the basics.
There’s a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives because the politician who held that spot, Democrat Brian Higgins, left his position early for another job. So a Special Election is being held on April 30th to elect somebody new.
The seat represents New York’s 26th Congressional District, which spans parts of Niagara and Erie counties, including the city of Niagara Falls, Grand Island, the north towns, Buffalo, and parts of West Seneca among other municipalities.
There are two candidates in the running: Timothy M. Kennedy on Democrat and Working Families Party lines, and Gary Dickson on Republican and Conservative Party lines.
Both are already elected officials in some capacity - Kennedy as a member of the New York State Senate, representing District 63 since 2013, and Dickson as the town supervisor for West Seneca since 2020.
Whoever wins will help to make and pass federal laws. But they’ll barely have time to get started in their new job before theirs and every other seat in the House is open once again in November’s U.S. General Elections.
Early voting for the NY-26 Special Election is open now through April 28th. Special Election Day is April 30th.
