Incumbent Democratic state Sen. Lea Webb has won reelection to New York’s 52nd Senate District, defeating Republican Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler.
Webb will head back to Albany to represent Tompkins and Cortland counties, and part of Broome County. This will be her second term in the office.
With almost all districts reporting early Wednesday, Webb held a lead of more than 14 percentage points.
In her acceptance speech at the Broome County Democrats’ election party, Webb remarked on the significance of being on the same ballot as Vice President Kamala Harris, who, if elected, would have been the first Black woman to become president.
“I'm thinking about the many shoulders of emboldened, unapologetic women, especially my own mother and all of the women in my life, past, present and future,” she said.
Webb also applauded the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, listed on the ballot as Proposition 1.
“I was elected to office in a post Roe vs. Wade world, and today we made history by passing the Equal Rights Amendment,” she told the crowd.
In an interview after her acceptance speech, Webb told reporters her focus for her next term is the same as it was in her first.
“I set out on this journey two years ago for this office for a very specific purpose, and that is to empower the voices and lift up the voices of working families in our community, through policy, through investments, through practices,” she said.
Webb was first elected in 2022, winning by around two points. Since then, she’s served as chair of the Women's Issues committee in the New York State Senate. In previous interviews with WSKG, Webb emphasized her commitment to working towards New York’s climate goals, and local work supporting the non-profit organization, Ithaca CarShare.
Sigler gave his concession speech at the Broome County Republicans’ election party.
He congratulated Webb, although he said he still does not agree with her policies.
“She's still my representative, so I'll be complaining to her early and often about a lot of different issues, and I hope you do too,” Sigler said.