David J. Valesky (b. circa 1966) is an American politician who is a former member of the New York State Senate. A Democrat, Valesky represented the 53rd Senate District and the 49th Senate District in upstate New York.[1]

David Valesky
Member of the New York State Senate
In office
January 1, 2005 – December 31, 2018
Preceded byNancy Larraine Hoffmann
Succeeded byRachel May
Constituency49th district (2005–2012)
53rd district (2013–2018)
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations
Independent Democratic Conference (2011–2018)
EducationState University of New York at Potsdam
University of Connecticut
Website[1]

Career

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Valesky was first elected to the State Senate in 2004[2] when he defeated longtime incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (R-Fabius).[3][4] Hoffman was challenged in a Republican primary by Tom Dadey.[5] While Hoffmann defeated Dadey,[6] Dadey remained in the race on third-party lines. Valesky prevailed in the three-way race.[7][8] He took office as a state senator in January 2005.[9]

In 2011, Valesky joined with Jeffrey D. Klein, Diane Savino, and David Carlucci to form the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).[10] On April 16, 2018, the IDC was dissolved and Valesky returned to the Senate Democratic Conference.[11][12]

In the 2018 Democratic primary, Valesky was defeated by Rachel May.[13] Valesky received 46.66% of the primary vote to May's 50.47%.[14] All eight former members of the IDC faced progressive primary challenges in 2018, and six were defeated.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Parsnow, Luke (20 September 2018). "Valesky concedes; May wins Democratic primary in race for state Senate seat". WSTM.
  2. ^ Willis, Scott (18 January 2018). "Rachel May Mounts Primary Challenge to Sen. Dave Valesky". www.waer.org.
  3. ^ Barron, James (25 October 2010). "Andrew Russo and David Valesky in Upstate N.Y. Senate Race" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ Riede, Paul (17 February 2011). "Onondaga County Republican Party chairman Tom Dadey's mission: Rebuild the GOP". syracuse.com.
  5. ^ Citizen, Louise Hoffman Broach / The. "GOP races turning crazy". Auburn Citizen.
  6. ^ "Valesky successfully challenges Hoffmann". The Daily Orange - The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York. 2 November 2004.
  7. ^ "» for Senate Democrats Thinking of Switching Parties, Cautionary Tales Abound | City & State". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  8. ^ Katz, Celeste (January 24, 2008). "Lining Up in the 25th CD". New York: NY Daily News. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  9. ^ Reeher, Grant (22 December 2018). "Outgoing state Sen. Dave Valesky on the Campbell Conversations". www.wrvo.org.
  10. ^ Confessore, Thomas Kaplan and Nicholas (5 January 2011). "4 Democrats in State Senate Break With Leaders". Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  11. ^ Wang, Vivian (April 16, 2018). "As Session Resumes, a Democratic Truce in Albany Seems Uneasy". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  12. ^ Spector, Joseph (April 16, 2018). "After seven years, it's all over for the Senate Independent Democratic Conference". LoHud.com. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Rachel May". Our Revolution. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Rachel May beats incumbent Sen. Dave Valesky in Democratic primary". Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  15. ^ Lombardo, David (13 September 2018). "Six of eight ex-IDC senators lose primary bids". Times Union.
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New York State Senate
Preceded by New York State Senate, 49th District
2005–2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by New York State Senate, 53rd District
2013–2018
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Vice President Pro Tempore of the Senate
2009–2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging
2011–2013
Succeeded by