Result
Democrat Vanessa Aronson won the open New York Assembly District 73 seat on Nov. 3 without an opponent, receiving 35,902 votes, or 98% of the total, in unofficial results. She succeeds Assembly Member Alex Bores (D-Manhattan), who gave up the seat to run for Congress and lost the June Democratic primary in New York’s 12th District.
Aronson was also the only candidate in the Democratic primary, and her two-year term begins Jan. 1, 2027. The win comes on her third run for office: she finished second with 47% of the vote in a 2025 City Council race, according to Citizens Union, which backed her in both races.
Candidates and Platforms
Aronson is a former U.S. Foreign Service officer and New York City public school teacher who later worked as director of strategy at the ASPCA. She has served on Community Board 8 and as president of the Lexington Democratic Club, and Run for Something endorsed her this year.
She told Citizens Union that campaign finance reform is her top legislative priority. In a Murray Hill Neighborhood Association questionnaire, she backed more investment in mental health treatment, supportive housing and the mental health workforce.
District and Chamber
District 73 covers Manhattan’s East Side, including Murray Hill, Turtle Bay, Sutton Place, Midtown East and part of the Upper East Side. Bores had held the seat since 2023.
Democrats flipped at least seven Republican-held Assembly seats on Nov. 3, adding to the supermajority they held going in, New York Focus reported. They also won back a two-thirds supermajority in the state Senate.
---
AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.
---
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article