[1] The seat had been vacated due to the February 2011 resignation of married Rep. Chris Lee, who left office amid a scandal involving flirtatious emails and a shirtless picture he sent to a woman he met on Craigslist.

[1] In March 2011, at the initiative of Governor Cuomo and with the approval of the state legislature, the campaigning period was more than doubled, with the reason given that U.S. military serving overseas needed the extra time to receive and send back their ballots.

[1] The Capitol Confidential noted that the federal government had sued for the extension for the military and predicted that the change might also "shift... political tactics during the [special election] campaigns, which because of their short duration favor wealthy candidates and 'air wars'.

The local leaders of the Tea Party movement had divided their support between Republican nominee Jane Corwin, independent petitioner Jack Davis, and potential candidate David Bellavia.

Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul was unanimously selected by local Democratic Chairs to be their special election candidate on March 19, 2011.

[19][20] Other candidates interviewing for the party nomination included[21] David Bellavia, author and Iraq war soldier; Jack Davis, Amherst businessman and three-time Democratic candidate for the same seat;[22] Brian Napoli, Ridgeway town supervisor; Peter O'Brien, U.S. Navy veteran; Barry Weinstein, Amherst town supervisor and former county legislator; Kathy Weppner, talk show host on WBEN; and Gary Wheat, former Avon council member.

[26][27] On March 21, Jack Davis, who had also been rejected in his bid for the Republican, Conservative and Democratic endorsements, filed approximately 12,000 petition signatures, more than triple the necessary number, and was on the ballot on the Tea Party line.

[37] The race was called for Hochul by multiple local and national news organizations, including the Associated Press, at about 10 p.m. EDT, an hour after polls closed and after a majority of votes had been counted.