Why the NY-23 Special Election Matters

Tioga County Republican voters will go to the polls on June 28th to vote in the Republican primaries, and will go to the polls in November to defeat Joe Biden’s radical agenda. The less talked about election on August 23rd could be very important in determining the direction of America going into November. That is the special election for New York’s 23rd Congressional district. With Tom Reed’s resignation, we need a congressman to fill the seat for the remainder of 2022, and as members of the district until the 2023 redistricting we will vote in this race.

This special election will pit Steuben County GOP chairman Joe Sempolinski against Democrat Max Della Pia, to serve in Congress until the end of the 2022 congressional term. Some may wonder why it matters to vote in an election where the victor will only serve for four months. This is a fair question, but there are several good answers which highlight just how important this special election is to the future of Tioga County.

The August 23rd election will give the GOP a chance to send a strong message about the oncoming red wave. We have created a lot of momentum with the June 14th special election in Texas, which saw the first Mexican born member of Congress elected as a Republican in a deeply Democrat district. If we win NY-23 by a big margin, it will signal that there is a red wave coming. If we absolutely crush Max Della Pia, it will demoralize Democrats nationwide.

The special election for the current NY-23 includes Tompkins County within its borders, who will be joining Tioga in the new NY-19 for the November election. If the Democrats win the special election, that will energize the radical voter base of Ithaca to vote in November, which could mean Tioga County is stuck with a Democrat long term. If we have a resounding victory in August, that will depress the extreme Ithaca left and help propel Marc Molinaro to victory in November.

Max Della Pia will be running in both the August election for the current NY-23, as well as the November election for the new NY-23. By resoundingly defeating him in August we can show people in his district that Max has no chance to win in November. This will increase the chances of Republicans winning the seat next door to us, helping Republicans win a majority in the House of Representatives. We want to weaken Max Della Pia as much as we can.

Most of us are very upset about the state of the nation. This provides us with one of the best things we can do to fight back against the people making us feel that way. Punishing bad policies is the only way to force politicians to change their behavior. A blowout on August 23rd sends the strongest possible message in favor of a change in policy, and will help propel us to an unprecedented victory in November.