- 1. Which political party do both of New York's current U.S. Senators belong to?
A) Independents
B) Conservatives
C) Democrats
D) Republicans
- 2. Which borough is Chuck Schumer from?
A) Bronx
B) Queens
C) Manhattan
D) Brooklyn
- 3. In what county is Kirsten Gillibrand from?
A) Columbia County
B) Erie County
C) Monroe County
D) Westchester County
- 4. Who was the last upstate senator elected before Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010?
A) Daniel Patrick Moynihan
B) Charles Goodell
C) Robert F. Kennedy
D) Kenneth Keating
- 5. In what year did Chuck Schumer first win both state Senate seats for the Democrats by defeating Alfonse D'Amato?
A) 2004
B) 1947
C) 2010
D) 1998
- 6. Who did the New York Republican State Committee select as the candidate against Schumer in 2004?
A) Jay Townsend
B) Howard Mills
C) Alfonse D'Amato
D) Michael Benjamin
- 7. What percentage of the vote did Chuck Schumer win in 2010?
A) 66 percent
B) 62 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 72 percent
- 8. What was Kirsten Gillibrand's vote share when she was re-elected in 2012?
A) 66 percent
B) More than 72%
C) 55 percent
D) 62 percent
- 9. Which issue did Kirsten Gillibrand change her position on after being appointed to the Senate?
A) Tax policy
B) Gun control
C) Infrastructure investment
D) Education funding
- 10. Who served as an upstate senator from 1968 to 1971?
A) Kenneth Keating
B) Charles Goodell
C) James Buckley
D) Jacob K. Javits
- 11. Which regions have dominated New York politics recently?
A) Upstate rural areas
B) The Southern Tier
C) Western New York
D) Downstate areas
- 12. What entity did Michael Benjamin battle with in 2004?
A) The Governor's Office
B) New York Democratic State Committee
C) New York Republican State Committee
D) The State Board of Elections
- 13. What previous rating did Kirsten Gillibrand have from the NRA?
A) B
B) F
C) C-
D) A+
- 14. Who was the Conservative senator mentioned as having been elected in New York over the last five decades?
A) Jacob K. Javits
B) Charles Goodell
C) Alfonse D'Amato
D) James Buckley
- 15. Since what year has New York State voted Democratic in national elections?
A) 1988
B) 2000
C) 1992
D) 1980
- 16. How many of the top five zip codes for political contributions are located in Manhattan?
A) Five
B) Four
C) Three
D) Two
- 17. Which specific Manhattan zip code generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns?
A) 10021
B) 10001
C) 10025
D) 10010
- 18. Why do Republican presidential candidates often skip campaigning in New York State?
A) The state has no electoral votes
B) They dislike the state
C) They view it as a guaranteed loss
D) They are barred from the ballot
- 19. Which city is listed as having a Democratic leaning?
A) Buffalo (incorrect - also listed)
B) Ithaca
C) All of these are correct
D) Albany (incorrect - also listed)
- 20. What has happened to Democratic voting trends in Upstate New York in recent elections?
A) They have lost all influence
B) They remain unchanged
C) They have moved to cities only
D) They have made dramatic gains
- 21. Who was the Progressive Republican governor of New York elected vice president in 1900?
A) Al Smith
B) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
C) Theodore Roosevelt
D) Thomas Dewey
- 22. What is the political status of suburban areas like Long Island in local races?
A) They are reliably Republican
B) They have no political engagement
C) They are reliably Democratic
D) They are still often tightly contested
- 23. What is the threshold for a party to qualify for official status in New York?
A) 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote
B) 50,000 votes or 1% of the vote
C) 200,000 votes or 4% of the vote
D) 100,000 votes or 5% of the vote
- 24. What determines the order of parties on the ballot in New York?
A) The gubernatorial vote
B) Random selection by the state board
C) The date of party formation
D) The presidential vote
- 25. How many members must each county committee have per election district at minimum?
A) Two members
B) Five members
C) Three members
D) One member
- 26. In New York City, who typically controls the choice of the county committee chair?
A) District leaders
B) The state committee chairperson
C) The sitting governor
D) The mayor
- 27. Who nominates New York Supreme Court justices?
A) The governor
B) The county committee chairs
C) Judicial nominating conventions
D) The state committee
- 28. From which areas are judicial delegates elected to nominate Supreme Court justices?
A) Assembly districts
B) City councils
C) Presidential districts
D) County districts
- 29. In practice, who effectively names the state committee chairperson?
A) A sitting governor of the party
B) The state committee members
C) The county committee chairmen
D) The national committee
- 30. Outside New York City, who composes the executive committees of county committees?
A) District leaders
B) Chairmen of local political committees
C) Judicial delegates
D) State assembly members
- 31. In what month are general elections for the State Legislature held?
A) December
B) September
C) October
D) November
- 32. Who was the last Republican candidate to win a statewide election in New York as of 2025?
A) Donald Trump
B) Chris Christie
C) George Pataki
D) Michael Bloomberg
- 33. What type of primary system does New York use?
A) Open primary
B) Blanket primary
C) Top-two primary
D) Closed primary
- 34. What is the maximum number of registered voters typically allowed in an election district?
A) 1500
B) 500
C) 950
D) 2000
- 35. What voting method is used for New York City primaries for city offices?
A) Approval voting
B) Runoff voting
C) Plurality voting
D) Ranked-choice voting
- 36. How many petition signatures are required for a person to contest a statewide primary election?
A) 25000
B) 15000
C) 10000
D) 5000
- 37. What is the minimum age for suffrage in New York?
A) Twenty-one
B) Seventeen
C) Eighteen
D) Sixteen
- 38. Are individuals on parole or probation allowed to vote in New York?
A) Only for local elections
B) Yes
C) Only if they have a pardon
D) No
- 39. What is the term for allowing two or more parties to nominate the same person for office?
A) Cross-registration
B) Dual candidacy
C) Coalition nomination
D) Electoral fusion
- 40. For how many days before an election is voter registration at local boards closed?
A) Five
B) Thirty
C) Fourteen
D) Ten
- 41. How long has the Democratic Party led the New York State Senate?
A) Since 2010
B) Since 2019
C) Since 1975
D) Since 2000
- 42. According to the 2005 study, what percentage of committee member elections in New York City were uncontested?
A) 10%
B) 33%
C) 98%
D) 50%
- 43. Who supervised elections in New York during the colonial period?
A) The town mayor
B) The governor
C) The sheriff
D) The county committee
- 44. When was the first state election held in New York?
A) November 1776
B) April 1775
C) November 1842
D) June 1777
- 45. How long did state elections last annually until 1821?
A) One week
B) Two days
C) Three days
D) One day
- 46. When did the single-day election format for New York state elections begin?
A) 1846
B) 1870
C) 1842
D) 1821
- 47. In what year did U.S. senators from New York begin to be elected statewide?
A) 1926
B) 1846
C) 1914
D) 1938
- 48. When did the office of New York Secretary of State become appointive by the governor?
A) 1978
B) 1876
C) 1927
D) 1926
- 49. When did judges of the New York Court of Appeals become appointed?
A) 1978
B) 1973
C) 1926
D) 1870
- 50. Since what year have Republicans not held a majority of New York US House seats?
A) 1965
B) 1930
C) 1990
D) 2006
- 51. How many districts out of New York's 26 are located in New York City?
A) 15
B) 13
C) 10
D) 20
- 52. Who did Bill Owens replace in the North Country seat after a 2009 special election?
A) Jim Walsh
B) Sherwood Boehlert
C) John McHugh
D) Randy Kuhl
- 53. In 2010, how many seats did Republicans gain in New York?
A) 6
B) 10
C) 8
D) 3
- 54. Which specific election led to the fact that almost every seat in New York had elected a Democrat since 2006?
A) The 2010 midterm election
B) Kathy Hochul's 2011 special election
C) Bill Owens' 2009 special election
D) The 2012 general election
- 55. In 2018, which candidate won the Staten Island district?
A) Max Rose
B) Anthony Brindisi
C) Antonio Delgado
D) Kathy Hochul
- 56. When was the last time a Republican presidential candidate carried New York City?
A) 1990
B) 1930
C) 1924
D) 1965
- 57. How many electoral votes does New York currently have?
A) 28
B) 32
C) 30
D) 25
- 58. Which candidate won New York by a 25-point margin in 2000?
A) Al Gore
B) Barack Obama
C) John Kerry
D) Bill Clinton
- 59. In the 2008 presidential election, what percentage of the vote did Barack Obama receive in New York?
A) 60.5%
B) 54%
C) 63.4%
D) 62.9%
- 60. Which states were more Democratic than New York in the 2008 election?
A) California and Massachusetts
B) Maryland and Delaware
C) Oregon and Washington
D) Hawaii and Vermont
- 61. When was the last time New York voted for a Republican in a presidential election?
A) 1972
B) 1984
C) 1980
D) 1988
- 62. What percentage of the vote did Ronald Reagan receive when he won New York in 1984?
A) 60%
B) 51%
C) 54%
D) 58%
- 63. To have a chance of carrying the state, Republicans must perform well in which three cities?
A) Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester
B) Albany, Buffalo, and New York City
C) Buffalo, Albany, and Rochester
D) Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers
- 64. Which of these Republicans won New York in 1948?
A) Thomas Dewey
B) Herbert Hoover
C) George H. W. Bush
D) Ronald Reagan
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