- 1. Which political party do both of New York's current U.S. Senators belong to?
A) Democrats
B) Independents
C) Conservatives
D) Republicans
- 2. Which borough is Chuck Schumer from?
A) Brooklyn
B) Queens
C) Manhattan
D) Bronx
- 3. In what county is Kirsten Gillibrand from?
A) Columbia County
B) Westchester County
C) Erie County
D) Monroe County
- 4. Who was the last upstate senator elected before Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010?
A) Daniel Patrick Moynihan
B) Charles Goodell
C) Kenneth Keating
D) Robert F. Kennedy
- 5. In what year did Chuck Schumer first win both state Senate seats for the Democrats by defeating Alfonse D'Amato?
A) 2010
B) 1947
C) 2004
D) 1998
- 6. Who did the New York Republican State Committee select as the candidate against Schumer in 2004?
A) Jay Townsend
B) Alfonse D'Amato
C) Howard Mills
D) Michael Benjamin
- 7. What percentage of the vote did Chuck Schumer win in 2010?
A) 50 percent
B) 66 percent
C) 62 percent
D) 72 percent
- 8. What was Kirsten Gillibrand's vote share when she was re-elected in 2012?
A) 55 percent
B) More than 72%
C) 62 percent
D) 66 percent
- 9. Which issue did Kirsten Gillibrand change her position on after being appointed to the Senate?
A) Gun control
B) Tax policy
C) Infrastructure investment
D) Education funding
- 10. Who served as an upstate senator from 1968 to 1971?
A) James Buckley
B) Jacob K. Javits
C) Kenneth Keating
D) Charles Goodell
- 11. Which regions have dominated New York politics recently?
A) Downstate areas
B) Western New York
C) The Southern Tier
D) Upstate rural areas
- 12. What entity did Michael Benjamin battle with in 2004?
A) New York Republican State Committee
B) The Governor's Office
C) The State Board of Elections
D) New York Democratic State Committee
- 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) Charles Goodell
B) James Buckley
C) Alfonse D'Amato
D) Jacob K. Javits
- 15. Since what year has New York State voted Democratic in national elections?
A) 1992
B) 1980
C) 1988
D) 2000
- 16. How many of the top five zip codes for political contributions are located in Manhattan?
A) Four
B) Five
C) Two
D) Three
- 17. Which specific Manhattan zip code generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns?
A) 10025
B) 10010
C) 10001
D) 10021
- 18. Why do Republican presidential candidates often skip campaigning in New York State?
A) They are barred from the ballot
B) They dislike the state
C) The state has no electoral votes
D) They view it as a guaranteed loss
- 19. Which city is listed as having a Democratic leaning?
A) All of these are correct
B) Ithaca
C) Buffalo (incorrect - also listed)
D) Albany (incorrect - also listed)
- 20. What has happened to Democratic voting trends in Upstate New York in recent elections?
A) They have moved to cities only
B) They have lost all influence
C) They remain unchanged
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) Theodore Roosevelt
C) Thomas Dewey
D) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- 22. What is the political status of suburban areas like Long Island in local races?
A) They have no political engagement
B) They are reliably Democratic
C) They are reliably Republican
D) They are still often tightly contested
- 23. What is the threshold for a party to qualify for official status in New York?
A) 200,000 votes or 4% of the vote
B) 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote
C) 100,000 votes or 5% of the vote
D) 50,000 votes or 1% of the vote
- 24. What determines the order of parties on the ballot in New York?
A) Random selection by the state board
B) The presidential vote
C) The date of party formation
D) The gubernatorial vote
- 25. How many members must each county committee have per election district at minimum?
A) Two members
B) Three members
C) Five members
D) One member
- 26. In New York City, who typically controls the choice of the county committee chair?
A) The sitting governor
B) The state committee chairperson
C) District leaders
D) The mayor
- 27. Who nominates New York Supreme Court justices?
A) The state committee
B) Judicial nominating conventions
C) The governor
D) The county committee chairs
- 28. From which areas are judicial delegates elected to nominate Supreme Court justices?
A) Assembly districts
B) Presidential districts
C) County districts
D) City councils
- 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) State assembly members
B) District leaders
C) Judicial delegates
D) Chairmen of local political committees
- 31. In what month are general elections for the State Legislature held?
A) November
B) September
C) October
D) December
- 32. Who was the last Republican candidate to win a statewide election in New York as of 2025?
A) George Pataki
B) Donald Trump
C) Michael Bloomberg
D) Chris Christie
- 33. What type of primary system does New York use?
A) Closed primary
B) Blanket primary
C) Open primary
D) Top-two primary
- 34. What is the maximum number of registered voters typically allowed in an election district?
A) 2000
B) 950
C) 500
D) 1500
- 35. What voting method is used for New York City primaries for city offices?
A) Ranked-choice voting
B) Plurality voting
C) Runoff voting
D) Approval voting
- 36. How many petition signatures are required for a person to contest a statewide primary election?
A) 25000
B) 10000
C) 15000
D) 5000
- 37. What is the minimum age for suffrage in New York?
A) Sixteen
B) Eighteen
C) Seventeen
D) Twenty-one
- 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) Coalition nomination
B) Dual candidacy
C) Cross-registration
D) Electoral fusion
- 40. For how many days before an election is voter registration at local boards closed?
A) Ten
B) Fourteen
C) Five
D) Thirty
- 41. How long has the Democratic Party led the New York State Senate?
A) Since 2019
B) Since 2010
C) Since 2000
D) Since 1975
- 42. According to the 2005 study, what percentage of committee member elections in New York City were uncontested?
A) 50%
B) 10%
C) 33%
D) 98%
- 43. Who supervised elections in New York during the colonial period?
A) The sheriff
B) The town mayor
C) The governor
D) The county committee
- 44. When was the first state election held in New York?
A) November 1842
B) November 1776
C) April 1775
D) June 1777
- 45. How long did state elections last annually until 1821?
A) One day
B) Three days
C) One week
D) Two days
- 46. When did the single-day election format for New York state elections begin?
A) 1870
B) 1821
C) 1846
D) 1842
- 47. In what year did U.S. senators from New York begin to be elected statewide?
A) 1926
B) 1914
C) 1938
D) 1846
- 48. When did the office of New York Secretary of State become appointive by the governor?
A) 1927
B) 1876
C) 1978
D) 1926
- 49. When did judges of the New York Court of Appeals become appointed?
A) 1978
B) 1926
C) 1870
D) 1973
- 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) 10
B) 13
C) 20
D) 15
- 52. Who did Bill Owens replace in the North Country seat after a 2009 special election?
A) Sherwood Boehlert
B) John McHugh
C) Jim Walsh
D) Randy Kuhl
- 53. In 2010, how many seats did Republicans gain in New York?
A) 8
B) 6
C) 3
D) 10
- 54. Which specific election led to the fact that almost every seat in New York had elected a Democrat since 2006?
A) The 2012 general election
B) Bill Owens' 2009 special election
C) Kathy Hochul's 2011 special election
D) The 2010 midterm 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) 1924
B) 1990
C) 1965
D) 1930
- 57. How many electoral votes does New York currently have?
A) 28
B) 30
C) 32
D) 25
- 58. Which candidate won New York by a 25-point margin in 2000?
A) Bill Clinton
B) John Kerry
C) Al Gore
D) Barack Obama
- 59. In the 2008 presidential election, what percentage of the vote did Barack Obama receive in New York?
A) 54%
B) 62.9%
C) 60.5%
D) 63.4%
- 60. Which states were more Democratic than New York in the 2008 election?
A) Hawaii and Vermont
B) Maryland and Delaware
C) Oregon and Washington
D) California and Massachusetts
- 61. When was the last time New York voted for a Republican in a presidential election?
A) 1980
B) 1988
C) 1972
D) 1984
- 62. What percentage of the vote did Ronald Reagan receive when he won New York in 1984?
A) 51%
B) 54%
C) 58%
D) 60%
- 63. To have a chance of carrying the state, Republicans must perform well in which three cities?
A) Buffalo, Albany, and Rochester
B) Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester
C) Albany, Buffalo, and New York City
D) Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers
- 64. Which of these Republicans won New York in 1948?
A) Ronald Reagan
B) Thomas Dewey
C) Herbert Hoover
D) George H. W. Bush
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