New York’s 27th congressional district will have a special election scheduled for April 28th, 2020. This comes after incumbent Representative Chris Collins resigned after pleading guilty to charges of insider trading. Chris Collins would later be sentenced to a prison term of 26th months after being elected to four terms in Congress.
In the 2016 Presidential Election, Donald Trump won the 27th congressional district by 24.5 percentage points. In 2018, Chris Collins was re-elected by 0.3 percentage points which was a major decrease from his 34.4 percent margin of victory in 2016.
The 27th district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+11. A Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+11 means that the district is significantly Republican. The district includes the eastern and southern parts of Erie County as well as parts or entireties of seven other counties in Western New York and the Finger Lakes region.
Democrats have chosen to endorse former Grand Island supervisor Nate McMurray for the election. McMurray narrowly lost to Chris Collins in 2018. Republicans have chosen to endorse state senator and former Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs for the election.
The race is not viewed to be as competitive as it was in 2018 due to the resignation of Chris Collins. Several major election forecasters have rated the seat as “Safe Republican”, which would mean that Republicans should be able to win the seat. The winner of the special election will hold office until January 3rd, 2021.
