New York State Senate District 29

New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent

Jose M. Serrano

Assumed office: 2013

New York State Senate District 29 is represented by Jose M. Serrano (D).

As of the 2020 Census, New York state senators represented an average of 320,885 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 308,271 residents.

About the office

Members of the New York State Senate serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits. New York legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 3, Section 7 of the New York Constitution states:

“

No person shall serve as a member of the legislature unless he or she is a citizen of the United States and has been a resident of the state of New York for five years, and, except as hereinafter otherwise prescribed, of the assembly or senate district for the twelve months immediately preceding his or her election; if elected a senator or member of assembly at the first election next ensuing after a readjustment or alteration of the senate or assembly districts becomes effective, a person, to be eligible to serve as such, must have been a resident of the county in which the senate or assembly district is contained for the twelve months immediately preceding his or her election.

”

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2023
Salary	Per diem
$142,000/year	The exact amount members receive for per diem is unknown.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the New York Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. A special election can be held as long as the vacancy occurred before April 1 of the last year of the former officeholder's term. If a special session is called in the state legislature after this date, a special election may be called to fill the seat. The person elected to fill the vacant seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.

See sources: New York Public Officers Law § 42

District map

The map below shows this district's current boundaries, not those adopted for the 2024 election cycle. To compare the map before redistricting with the one used for the 2024 elections, click here.

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in New York

On March 14, 2012, the state legislature approved a constitutional amendment to establish new redistricting procedures beginning in 2020. The New York Constitution requires that two successive legislatures approve an amendment in order to qualify it for final approval by popular vote. The legislature approved the amendment a second time in 2013. On November 4, 2014, voters approved the amendment, the provisions of which were set to take effect during the 2020 redistricting cycle.

The 10-member commission comprises the following members:

1. Two members must be appointed by the temporary president of the New York State Senate.
2. Two members must be appointed by the speaker of the New York State Assembly.
3. Two members must be appointed by the minority leader of the New York State Senate.
4. Two members must be appointed by the minority leader of the New York State Assembly.
5. Two members must appointed by the aforementioned eight commissioners. These two appointees cannot have been enrolled in the top two major political parties in the state.

The legislature must approve the commission's plans by a simple up/down vote. The legislature must reject two separate sets of redistricting plans before it will be able to amend the commission's proposals. All districts will be required "to preserve minority rights, be equally populated, and consist of compact and contiguous territory." Further, state law will require that districts "not be drawn to discourage competition or to favor/disfavor candidates or parties." In prior redistricting cycles, authority for both congressional and state legislative redistricting was vested with the state legislature. An advisory commission participated in the process.

State law requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and compact. State legislative districts must also take into account the "historic and traditional significance of counties."

2020-2023

See also: Redistricting in New York after the 2020 census

State Assembly districts
New York enacted new State Assembly district boundaries on April 24, 2023, when Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation establishing them for use starting with the 2024 elections. The bill adopting the districts passed earlier that day in the State Assembly by a vote of 132-13, and it passed the state Senate by a vote of 59-1. The original districts that were used for the 2022 elections remain in use until the next elections and the new districts adopted in 2023 will be used for state Assembly elections starting in 2024 until the state conducts redistricting after the 2030 census. The legislation's language states that "Vacancies in the Assembly will be filled using existing boundaries until January 1, 2025, at which time vacancies will be filled using the new boundaries."

The state redrew its Assembly district boundaries in response to a June 10, 2022, decision by the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court in Nichols v. Hochul. That court upheld a lower court ruling that declared the state's Assembly district boundaries invalid but determined that they should still be used for the 2022 legislative elections since the lawsuit challenging them was filed too close to those elections for the courts to intervene. The appellate division ruling determined that the Assembly district map was enacted in violation of the state's constitutional redistricting process and ordered a New York City-based state trial court to oversee the redrawing of boundaries for the 2024 elections. On September 29, 2022, that trial court directed the IRC to "initiate the constitutional process for amending the assembly district map based on the 2020 census data by formulating a proposed assembly map" and submit such a plan to the legislature by April 28, 2023.

The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) had voted 9-1 on April 20, 2023, to advance this plan and submit it to the legislature with the Commission stating in its cover letter that the plan "garnered the highest number of votes in support" at its meeting on that date.

According to Giulia Heyward and Jon Campbell at Gothamist, the new districts replaced "a nearly identical set of districts that were just put into place for last year’s races before a court threw them out." Heyward and Campbell also wrote that "The commission had originally put forward a draft that would have made considerable changes before settling on a revised proposal last week mirroring the lines already in place."

Click here to view more information about Assembly districts enacted in 2023, including zoomable maps and links to detailed demographic statistics for each district.'

State Senate districts
On May 20, 2022, Justice Patrick McAllister ordered the adoption of a new state senate map drawn by redistricting special master Jonathan Cervas which took effect for New York's 2022 legislative elections. On April 27, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, overturned a decision by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court which overturned a lower court's ruling invalidating the legislature's state Senate boundaries.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) had signed new state legislative district boundaries into law on February 3, 2022. The New York State Senate voted 43-20 to approve them, and the New York State Assembly approved them 120-27 on the same day.

Reactions to 2023 state Assembly maps

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie supported the new districts, saying, "I think the [commission] listened to the testimony that was given to them throughout all of the hearings across the state, and I think they came back with a fair map." Betsy Gotbaum, executive director of Citizens Union, criticized the new boundaries as too similar to the ones already in place: "The new Assembly districts approved by the Independent Redistricting Commission are strikingly similar to the districts drawn by the legislature last year...This similarity suggests that the Commission drew the Assembly maps to please lawmakers." Citizens Union describes itself on its website as a group "committed to reforming New York City and State government by fostering transparency, accountability, accessibility, honesty and the highest ethical standards."

Reactions to 2022 state Senate maps

Following the passage of the map, Hochul said: "These bills are necessary to reapportion districts and to provide certainty and clarity regarding such districts in a timely manner, allowing for efficient administration of the electoral process." State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy said: "There is a wild, partisan gerrymandering that took place here. It violates the state Constitution, and we’re going to try to get justice."

Below are the maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for New York’s 2024 state legislative elections.

New York State Senate District 29
until December 31, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

New York State Senate District 29
starting January 1, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2024

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano and Tanya Carmichael are running in the general election for New York State Senate District 29 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Jose M. Serrano (D / Working Families Party)
		Tanya Carmichael (R / Conservative Party)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Tanya Carmichael advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Tanya Carmichael advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Senate District 29.

2022

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano won election in the general election for New York State Senate District 29 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jose M. Serrano (D / Working Families Party)	99.5	40,546
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	203

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,749
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Yuh-Line Niou (D)

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Senate District 29.

2020

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano defeated Jose A. Colon in the general election for New York State Senate District 29 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jose M. Serrano (D)	87.8	88,643
		Jose A. Colon (R)	12.1	12,175
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	124

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 100,942
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Israel Martinez (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Jose A. Colon advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 29.

Working Families Party primary election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jose M. Serrano (Working Families Party)

2018

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano defeated Jose A. Colon in the general election for New York State Senate District 29 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jose M. Serrano (D)	92.8	68,681
		Jose A. Colon (R)	7.1	5,237
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	78

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 73,996 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 29

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 29 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Jose M. Serrano

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New York State Senate District 29

Jose A. Colon advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 29 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Jose A. Colon

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 14, 2016. The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 23, 2016.

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano defeated Jose A. Colon and Linda Ortiz in the New York State Senate District 29 general election.

New York State Senate, District 29 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jose M. Serrano Incumbent	87.66%	56,194
	Republican	Jose A. Colon	9.61%	6,158
	Conservative	Linda Ortiz	2.73%	1,752
Total Votes				64,104
Source: New York Board of Elections

Incumbent Jose M. Serrano ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 29 Democratic primary.

New York State Senate, District 29 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Jose M. Serrano Incumbent (unopposed)

Jose A. Colon ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 29 Republican primary.

New York State Senate, District 29 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Jose A. Colon  (unopposed)

Linda Ortiz ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 29 Conservative primary.

New York State Senate, District 29 Conservative Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Conservative	Linda Ortiz  (unopposed)

2014

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election took place November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 10, 2014. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Kevin Barrett was unopposed in the Republican primary. Serrano ran on the Working Families Party ticket and Barrett ran on the Conservative Party ticket. Serrano defeated Barrett in the general election.

New York State Senate District 29, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jose M. Serrano Incumbent	83.1%	30,502
	Republican	Kevin Barrett	9.8%	3,589
	None	Blank	7%	2,572
	None	Scattering	0.1%	39
Total Votes				36,702

2012

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of New York State Senate consisted of a primary election on September 13, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 12, 2012. Incumbent Jose M. Serrano (D) defeated Robert Goodman (C) and Thomas Siracuse (G) in the general election. Serrano -- who also ran on the Working Families Party ticket -- was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Goodman and Siracuse were both unopposed in the September 13 primary elections.

New York State Senate, District 29, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jose M. Serrano Incumbent	94%	72,637
	Conservative	Robert Goodman	4.4%	3,381
	Green	Thomas Siracuse	1.6%	1,245
Total Votes				77,263

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2024, candidates for New York State Senate District 29 raised a total of $1,682,697. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $62,322 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, New York State Senate District 29
Year	Amount	Candidates	Average
2024	$0	1	$0
2022	$4,700	1	$4,700
2020	$28,550	1	$28,550
2018	$29,500	2	$14,750
2016	$34,000	3	$11,333
2014	$46,650	2	$23,325
2012	$22,900	3	$7,633
2010	$458,298	2	$229,149
2008	$391,374	2	$195,687
2006	$129,005	2	$64,503
2004	$164,659	3	$54,886
2002	$244,085	3	$81,362
2000	$128,976	2	$64,488
Total	$1,682,697	27	$62,322

See also

Suggest a link

• New York State Legislature
• New York State Senate
• New York State Assembly
• New York state legislative districts

External links

• The New York State Legislature

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New York State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Minority Leader:Robert Ortt

Senators

District 1

Anthony Palumbo (R)

District 2

Mario Mattera (R)

District 3

Dean Murray (R)

District 4

Monica Martinez (D)

District 5

Steven Rhoads (R)

District 6

Kevin Thomas (D)

District 7

Jack Martins (R)

District 8

Alexis Weik (R)

District 9

Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R)

District 10

James Sanders (D)

District 11

Toby Stavisky (D)

District 12

Michael Gianaris (D)

District 13

Jessica Ramos (D)

District 14

Leroy Comrie (D)

District 15

Joseph Addabbo (D)

District 16

John Liu (D)

District 17

Iwen Chu (D)

District 18

Julia Salazar (D)

District 19

Roxanne Persaud (D)

District 20

Zellnor Myrie (D)

District 21

Kevin Parker (D)

District 22

Simcha Felder (D)

District 23

Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D)

District 24

Andrew Lanza (R)

District 25

Jabari Brisport (D)

District 26

Andrew Gounardes (D)

District 27

Brian Kavanagh (D)

District 28

Liz Krueger (D)

District 29

Jose Serrano (D)

District 30

Cordell Cleare (D)

District 31

Robert Jackson (D)

District 32

Luis Sepúlveda (D)

District 33

J. Rivera (D)

District 34

Nathalia Fernandez (D)

District 35

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D)

District 36

Jamaal Bailey (D)

District 37

Shelley Mayer (D)

District 38

William Weber (R)

District 39

Robert Rolison (R)

District 40

Peter Harckham (D)

District 41

Michelle Hinchey (D)

District 42

James Skoufis (D)

District 43

Jacob Ashby (R)

District 44

James Tedisco (R)

District 45

Daniel Stec (R)

District 46

Neil Breslin (D)

District 47

Brad Hoylman (D)

District 48

Rachel May (D)

District 49

Mark Walczyk (R)

District 50

John Mannion (D)

District 51

Peter Oberacker (R)

District 52

Lea Webb (D)

District 53

Joseph Griffo (R)

District 54

Pamela Helming (R)

District 55

Samra Brouk (D)

District 56

Jeremy Cooney (D)

District 57

George Borrello (R)

District 58

Thomas O'Mara (R)

District 59

Kristen Gonzalez (D)

District 60

Patrick Gallivan (R)

District 61

Sean Ryan (D)

District 62

Robert Ortt (R)

District 63

Vacant

Democratic Party (41)

Republican Party (21)

Vacancies (1)