BUFFALO, N.Y. — A pair of current New York State Senators will square off in November to represent the newly drawn 61st district. Republican Edward Rath III and Democrat Sean Ryan both won their primaries by wide margins Tuesday night.
Ryan held off a challenge from attorney Ben Carlisle, who also ran as a write-in candidate in Buffalo's mayoral election last fall. Ryan is currently representing the 60th District.
Rath's name will appear on both the Republican and Conservative lines in the general election after he picked up resounding victories in both primaries. He represents the current 61st District. Joel Giambra was still on the ballot for those two tickets, despite suspending his campaign earlier this year.
Giambra announced in July that he was suspending the campaign and changing his party affiliation. In an email sent to friends and supporters, Giambra said he, "can no longer remain a Republican or continue with my campaign to seek the Republican nomination for Senator in the 61st District."
It was too late to remove his name from the ballot.