[7][8] Democratic Senator Charles Schumer won reelection against Jay Townsend, his Republican opponent.
On November 2, 2010, a special election was held to fill the seat for the remainder of Clinton's unexpired term.
Under the authority of Article I in the U.S. constitution and provisions in New York state law, Governor David Paterson was supposed to call a special election in spring 2010 to fill the seat.
[2] In the wake of incumbent Andrew Cuomo's decision to pursue the governor's post and not seek re-election, five Democrats ran in a primary election; the winner was State Senator Eric Schneiderman, who had heavy backing from labor.
Brian Foley,[19] Antoine Thompson,[20] Darrel Aubertine,[21] and Craig Johnson[7]) were defeated in the general election.
[25] After defeating incumbent William Stachowski in a Democratic primary,[26] Timothy M. Kennedy prevailed in the general election in Senate District 58.
[27] The Republicans' takeover of control of the State Senate was not confirmed until Johnson, who had sought a full hand recount of his race, exhausted his final appeal on December 20, 2010.