State Sen. Peter Oberacker will win the Republican nomination in the race for New York’s 19th Congressional District, the Associated Press declared.
The three-term state lawmaker defeated political newcomer and entrepreneur Alex Portelli in Tuesday’s primary elections, a step closer to moving his office from Albany to Washington.
As of the latest unofficial results, Oberacker had 77.2% of the vote to Portelli’s 22.4%, with 47% of the estimated vote counted.
Oberacker has spent five years as a state senator, representing the 51st Senate District, and previously served in town and county government. He will face freshman Democratic Rep. Josh Riley in the general election in November.
Riley is running for a second term in the district that has seen very close races in the last few cycles. Riley unseated former Rep. Marc Molinaro in 2024 by 2.3 points after losing to Molinaro in 2022 by 1.6 points. Cook Political Report, the independent nonpartisan index and analysis group, currently rates the district as “lean Democrat” for the general election.
The sprawling district stretches from Rensselaer and Columbia counties in the east to Tompkins County, and includes the cities of Binghamton and Ithaca.
Election Day is Nov. 3.