David Valesky

David J. Valesky is an American politician who is a former member of the New York State Senate. A Democrat, Valesky represented the New York's 53rd [State Senate district|53rd Senate District] and the New York's [49th State Senate district|49th Senate District] in upstate New York.

Career

Valesky was first elected to the State Senate in 2004 when he defeated longtime incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann. Hoffman was challenged in a Republican primary by Tom Dadey. While Hoffmann defeated Dadey, Dadey remained in the race on third-party lines. Valesky prevailed in the three-way race. He took office as a state senator in January 2005.
In 2011, Valesky joined with Jeffrey D. Klein, Diane Savino, and David Carlucci to form the Independent [Democratic Conference]. On April 16, 2018, the IDC was dissolved and Valesky returned to the Senate Democratic Conference.
In the 2018 Democratic primary, Valesky was defeated by Rachel May. Valesky received 46.66% of the primary vote to May's 50.47%. All eight former members of the IDC faced progressive primary challenges in 2018, and six were defeated.