Reviewing the 2024 election in NYS

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--Tuesday’s Election proved to be a big night for Republicans. The party won not only the White House, but control of the U.S. Senate. The balance of power in the House has yet to be called.

However, New York Democratic Congressional candidates were able to flip some seats blue, including Central New York’s 22nd District.

"I think the New York Democrats have come out of the proverbial doghouse, for what they were accused of— flipping the house to the Republicans two years ago," explained Jeff Wice, an adjunct professor at New York Law School. "But of course, the final outcome nationally of the House is still unclear, but I think it won’t be because of New York."

At the state level, it was a victorious night for Democrats. The party winning a supermajority in the state Assembly with 103 seats. In the state Senate, Democrats were just one seat shy of a supermajority, wining 41 seats. However, it is the third largest majority in state Senate history.

"A supermajority is where out of the 63 members of the Senate and the 150 members of the Assembly, one party had at least two-thirds of the members. That would enable the majority party to override a gubernatorial veto."

Also here in New York, Proposition One known as the Equal Rights Amendment passed. This means the state’s constitution will be changed to include age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy outcomes to the list of discrimination protections, among others.

Supporters of the controversial amendment say it will codify abortion in the state’s constitution, making it harder to be overturned.

"There was a big negative campaign against it, saying it would allow transgender people to play in women’s sports. It would allow non-citizens to vote, but the voters approved that amendment. We’ve seen high dollar efforts like this before— usually help defeat amendments, but this amendment seemed to have gotten though okay rather easily," said Wice.

The amendment does not add, change, or take away any laws here in New York State.