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New York, State Assembly, District 79

New York State Assembly District 79
Current incumbentMichael Blake Democratic Party

New York's seventy-ninth state assembly district is represented by Democratic Representative Michael Blake.

New York state assembly members represent an average of 129,187 residents, as of the 2010 Census. After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 126,510 residents.

About the office

Members of the New York State Assembly serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits. New York legislators assume office the first Wednesday in January. When the first Wednesday in January falls on January 1, it shall meet the next Wednesday.

Qualifications

Article 3, Section 7 of the New York Constitution states: "No person shall serve as a member of the legislature unless he or she is a citizen of the United States and has been a resident of the state of New York for five years, and, except as hereinafter otherwise prescribed, of the assembly or senate district for the twelve months immediately preceding his or her election; if elected a senator or member of assembly at the first election next ensuing after a readjustment or alteration of the senate or assembly districts becomes effective, a person, to be eligible to serve as such, must have been a resident of the county in which the senate or assembly district is contained for the twelve months immediately preceding his or her election. No member of the legislature shall, during the time for which he or she was elected, receive any civil appointment from the governor, the governor and the senate, the legislature or from any city government, to an office which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time."

Salaries

State legislators
SalaryPer diem
$110,000/year$174/day (including overnight) or $59/day (no overnight).

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the house, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. An election can be held as long the vacancy happened before April 1st in an election year. The person elected to fill the vacant seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Elections

2020

Elections for the office of New York State Assembly will take place in 2020. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. A primary is scheduled for June 23, 2020. The filing deadline is April 2, 2020.

2018

General election
General election for New York State Assembly District 79

Incumbent Michael Blake (D) defeated Gregory Torres (R) and Margaret Fasano (Conservative Party) in the general election for New York State Assembly District 79 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes

Michael Blake (D)
96.4
24,220

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Gregory Torres (R)
3.0
752

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Margaret Fasano (Conservative Party)
0.6
145
Other/Write-in votes
0.0
6

Total votes: 25,123
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 79

Incumbent Michael Blake advanced from the Democratic primary for New York State Assembly District 79 on September 13, 2018.

Candidate

Michael Blake (D)

Republican primary election
Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 79

Gregory Torres advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Assembly District 79 on September 13, 2018.

Candidate

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Gregory Torres (R)

2016

Elections for the New York State Assembly took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 14, 2016. The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 23, 2016.

Incumbent Michael Blake defeated Selsia Evans in the New York State Assembly District 79 general election.

New York State Assembly, District 79 General Election, 2016

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Michael Blake Incumbent 98.32% 30,038
Conservative Selsia Evans 1.68% 512
Total Votes 30,550
Source: New York Board of Elections

Incumbent Michael Blake ran unopposed in the New York State Assembly District 79 Democratic primary.

New York State Assembly, District 79 Democratic Primary, 2016

Party Candidate
Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Michael Blake Incumbent (unopposed)
Blake also ran on the Working Families Party ticket. Selsia Evans ran unopposed in the New York State Assembly District 79 Conservative primary.

New York State Assembly, District 79 Conservative Primary, 2016

Party Candidate
Conservative Green check mark transparent.png Selsia Evans (unopposed)

2014

Elections for the New York State Assembly took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 10, 2014. Michael Blake defeated George Alvarez, Marsha Michael, Raul Rodriguez, Frederick Ricks and Lanita Jones in the Democratic primary, while Selsia Evans was unopposed in the Republican primary. Michael ran on the Working Families Party ticket and Evans ran on the Conservative Party ticket. Blake defeated Michael (WF) and Evans in the general election.

New York State Assembly, District 79 General Election, 2014

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMichael Blake 91.7% 9,835
Working Families Marsha Michael 4.8% 515
Republican Selsia Evans 3.5% 372
Total Votes 10,722

New York State Assembly, District 79 Democratic Primary, 2014

Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngMichael Blake 37.3% 1,929
Marsha Michael 25.1% 1,300
George Alvarez 22.7% 1,173
Raul Rodriguez 8.8% 454
Lanita Jones 4.9% 251
Frederick Ricks 1.3% 67
Total Votes 5,174

2012

Elections for the office of New York State Assembly consisted of a primary election on September 13, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 12, 2012. Incumbent Eric Stevenson (D) defeated Selsia Evans (C) and Jose A. Padilla, Jr. (I) in the general election. He ran unopposed in the Democratic, Republican, and Working Families Party primaries. Evans was unopposed in the Conservative primary. Padilla ran unopposed in the Independence primary.

New York State Assembly, District 79, General Election, 2012

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngEric Stevenson Incumbent 97% 28,225
Independence Jose A. Padilla, Jr. 2.2% 651
Conservative Selsia Evans 0.8% 228
Total Votes 29,104

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2016, candidates for New York State Assembly District 79 raised a total of $1,031,578. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $32,237 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money.

Campaign contributions, New York State Assembly District 79

Year Amount Candidates Average
2016 $261,104 2 $130,552
2014 $413,102 7 $59,015
2012 $64,550 3 $21,517
2010 $57,816 3 $19,272
2008 $41,684 3 $13,895
2006 $90,014 2 $45,007
2004 $67,808 6 $11,301
2002 $12,075 3 $4,025
2000 $23,425 3 $7,808
Total $1,031,578 32 $32,237