Democrats will win the special election in New York, CNN reports, temporarily reducing the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives

Democratic Sen. Tim Kennedy will win the special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District, according to CNN, further narrowing — at least in the short term — Republicans’ slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Kennedy will succeed his fellow Democrat Brian Higgins in the Buffalo district after his victory Tuesday over Republican candidate Gary Dickson, the West Seneca town supervisor. After Kennedy is sworn in at the Capitol, the Republican majority in the House will be reduced to just 217-213, meaning President Mike Johnson will only be able to spare one Republican in a vote along party lines. .

However, three special elections over the next two months for vacant Republican seats – including the race to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California – are expected to help increase the Republican Party’s advantage in the House. Bedroom.

Higgins represented the Buffalo area in the House since 2005, winning a 10th term in 2022. He resigned in February to head a local performing arts center. He cited frustration with continued unrest and obstructionism in the House when he announced his departure from Congress.

“Congress is not the institution I was in 19 years ago. It’s a very different place today,” Higgins said last fall. “We spend more time doing less. And the American people are not being served.

Kennedy, who has represented the area in the state Senate for more than a decade, will serve out the remainder of Higgins’ term. He will also run in the June primary for the full two-year term that begins in January.

New York’s congressional map was the subject of an often chaotic redistricting process that spanned about two years and resulted in multiple court and legislative battles at the state level. But the 26th district is expected to remain favorable to Democrats – Joe Biden would have won by 25 points under the new lines that will be used in November.

Total advertising spending for the race was about $1 million, with almost all of it coming from Kennedy’s campaign. His spots touted his efforts to help working families, his support for abortion rights and his work to pass “stricter gun laws” in the state Senate after a white supremacist killed 10 people in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022.

Kennedy’s victory is New York Democrats’ second straight victory in a special election after Tom Suozzi won the race to succeed expelled Republican Rep. George Santos in a more competitive downstate district earlier this year. Once Kennedy is sworn in, the state’s delegation to the House of Representatives will include 16 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

CNN’s Ethan Cohen, David Wright and Renée Rigdon contributed to this report.

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