Skoufis Leads Brescia In Senate 39th District

This article was updated at 12:17 a.m. Wednesday

MID-HUDSON VALLEY, NY — As of midnight, incumbent Sen. James Skoufis leads challenger Steve Brescia to represent state Senate District 39.

Incumbent Democrat Skoufis is running for his second term and is facing Republican challenger Brescia.

Scroll down for real-time election results.

Skoufis, 33, of Cornwall, currently serves as chairman of the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. He succeeded retiring Republican William Larkin in the 2018 midterm elections.

Brescia, 52, of Montgomery, is currently serving as both the mayor of the village of Montgomery and Orange County legislator for the 9th District.

The 39th Senate District covers Orange County, part of Ulster County and the northern tip of Rockland County.

According to the state Board of Elections, there are almost 187,000 active registered voters in Senate District 39. Of those, 74,482 are registered as Democrats and 53,690 are registered as Republicans.

Live Results

With 198 out of 249 districts reporting:

• James Skoufis, incumbent, Democratic Party, Working Families Party, Serve America Movement Party —49 percent
• Steve Brescia, Republican Party, Conservative Party — 46 percent

SEE ALSO:

• Meet The Candidate: Skoufis For NY Senate District 39
• Meet The Candidate: Brescia For NY Senate District 39

Regarding the most important issues facing residents of the 39th Senate District, Brescia said he was concerned about public safety and bail reform.

"As Senator, I will fight to repeal the disastrous bail reform law that Senator Skoufis helped pass and build upon my strong record of public safety and support law enforcement," he told Patch.

He went on to say that Skoufis supports the "radical agenda' of Bill De Blasio, defunding the police, higher taxes and publicly funded campaigns.

Skoufis said the most pressing issue facing the community was protecting the public's health while rebuilding the economy during the ongoing pandemic.

"Over the course of my next term as state senator, I'll be laser-focused on making sure our district has the resources to restore our local economy and ensure our community is best protected from a potential second wave of the virus," he told Patch.

Brescia's other campaign issues include taxes and providing support for school districts.

He said that Skoufis has been "abysmal" on those two issues, as well as public safety. Brescia cited that his opponent voted for bail reform, cut state aid to school districts and canceled STAR relief checks.

"My job will be to clean up his mess," Brescia said.

Skoufis said his focus has been on getting results, such as bringing tax dollars back home, championing the Child Victims Act, fighting overdevelopment, ending corporate welfare, rebuilding the infrastructure and holding powerful interests accountable to his constituents.

"People want to see a lot more common sense in their government," he said. "That's the exact attitude I bring to the job both in Albany and locally in our community."