2010 United States Senate election in New York

The 2010 United States Senate election in New York took place on November 2, 2010, along with elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer won re-election to a third term. Schumer won every county except for Wyoming, Tioga, and Hamilton counties.

Background

In the 2004 U.S. Senate election, Schumer had defeated Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills by a 71 to 24 percent margin. Schumer was highly popular in New York, and it was believed that any Republican contender would likely not fare well against him in 2010. Schumer was heavily favored to retain his seat.
In addition to this regular election, there was also a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, who became the United States Secretary of State on January 21, 2009. In addition, there was the New York gubernatorial election. The existence of two other top-level statewide races, one with a Democratic incumbent perceived as vulnerable and the other an open race, respectively, was believed to lead major New York Republicans to gravitate towards them rather than challenge the popular Schumer.

Republican nomination

Convention

Candidates

Gary Berntsen, retired CIA officer, received the party's endorsement on the second round of balloting
Martin Chicon, candidate for New York Senate in 2008 and New York Republican State Committee member from upper Manhattan.
George Maragos, Nassau County Comptroller
James Staudenraus, Long Island resident and 2008 state assembly candidate
Jay Townsend, Republican strategist

Results

Only two candidates, Berntsen and Townsend, obtained at least 25% of the vote at the New York State Republican Convention on June 1, 2010. Berntsen came in first, but still needed to win the primary in order to win the Republican nomination. Berntsen lost the primary to Jay Townsend.

Primary

Candidates

Gary Berntsen
Jay Townsend

General election

Candidates

Anti-Prohibition Party: Randy Credico
Conservative Party of New York: Jay Townsend
Democratic Party: Chuck Schumer
Green Party: Colia Clark
Libertarian Party: Randy Credico
Republican Party: Jay Townsend
Taxpayers Party: Gary Berntsen

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Aftermath

Credico sued the New York State Board of Elections under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, claiming unfair treatment regarding ballot access. Despite being nominated by both the Libertarian Party and the Anti-Prohibition Party, in most jurisdictions, he only appeared on the ballot once. On June 19, 2013, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled in favor of Credico. The New York State Board of Elections did not appeal this decision.