HUDSON VALLEY – Lifelong Rockland County resident Bill Weber, a Republican, is currently leading incumbent Democratic State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick in the race for the 38th Senate District in New York. Melnick has been the district’s senator since 2021 after succeeding Democrat David Carlucci.
Prior to redistricting, the 38th Senate District included portions of Rockland and Westchester counties. When the new districts were approved, the entire district was limited to an area within Rockland County.
In conceding defeat on Wednesday, Senator Reichlin-Melnick said, “Last night, Rockland was hit by a flood of Republican votes and we faced currents that were just a little too strong to overcome.” He took issue with the shift in politics. “In our Senate district at the top of the ticket Lee Zeldin led by 11 points and Mike Lawler led by nine. Riding on their coattails, Bill Weber was able to secure a narrow 52 percent to 48 percent” while noting that there are uncounted absentee ballots that have not been counted but the final count would not change the outcome.
Weber is a certified public accountant and serves on the board of Mental Health America of Rockland County. Weber received 50,380 votes in his bid to unseat Melnick.
As of Wednesday morning, Melnick had garnered 46,827 votes.
