Politics in New York

New York state consistently supports Democratic candidates in federal elections. Presidential candidate John Kerry won New York State by 18 percentage points in 2004, while Al Gore had an even bigger margin of a win in New York State in 2000. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state’s other urban areas, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica are also Democratic.

However, upstate New York, especially in rural areas, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to vote Republican. Heavily populated suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island usually hold the power in determining state elections and have tended to favor Republicans at the state level and Democrats at the federal level but that trend seems to be changing since the past few elections, with Democrats picking up some more power statewide in both regions.

Because New York state consistently votes Democratic in national elections, many observers argue the state is insignificant in presidential contests. New York City, however, is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George Bush and Al Gore.

Republican Presidential candidates will often skip campaigning in the state, taking it as a loss and focusing on vital swing states. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, a Republican, was quoted as saying in 2004 before the presidential elections, there was no point in backing a candidate as he already knew who was going to win before the elections occurred.