New York's 23rd congressional district is located in Upstate New York, and covers part of Buffalo's Northtowns, all of the Southtowns, and much of the Southern Tier. The district includes the southern part of Keuka Lake and a small portion of the southern end of Seneca Lake, two of the eleven Finger Lakes.
The district comprises five entire counties: Chemung County Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Tioga Counties, along with parts of Schuyler, Steuben, Erie and Niagara Counties. The largest cities in the district are Jamestown, and Elmira.
2018: Democrat Tracy Mitrano challenged Republican incumbent Tom Reed. Reed won reelection with an 8.4% margin, his smallest victory margin since his first election in 2012.
2020: Reed and Mitrano faced off again, with Reed securing a victory with a 16.6% margin.
On March 21, 2021, in light of recent sexual harassment allegations, Reed announced that he would not be seeking reelection in 2022. Reed resigned on May 10, 2022, leaving the seat vacant. A special election was held on August 23, which was won by Republican Joe Sempolinski, who opted not to run for a full term in the regularly scheduled 2022 election. Republican Nick Langworthy won the seat in the general election.
Due to reapportionment, various New York geographical districts have been numbered "23" over the years, including areas in New York City and various parts of upstate New York.
For the 119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following the New York Court of Appeals' December 2023 decision in Hoffman v New York State Ind. Redistricting. Commn.), the district contains all or portions of the following counties, towns, and municipalities.
Allegany County (39)
Cattaraugus County (44)
Chautauqua County (42)
Chemung County (16)
Erie County (33)
Niagara County (3)
Schuyler County (7)
Steuben County (37)
Tioga County (15)
From 1833 to 1843, two seats were apportioned, elected on a general ticket.
In New York, there are numerous minor parties at various points on the political spectrum. Certain parties often endorse either the Republican or Democratic candidate for every office, hence the state electoral results contain both the party votes and the final candidate votes.
Scozzafava dropped out of the race just prior to the election and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens. The results were not certified by the New York State Board of Elections until December 15, 2009.