2010 New York Senate - Townsend vs. Schumer

Since the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s, New York politics was divided between Republican upstate and Democratic New York City.  The growth of the suburbs and the movement of the white working class toward the party of Eisenhower moved the balance toward the Republicans for a while.  But as the suburbs moved back toward the Democrats in the 1990s and 2000s, the state likewise became solidly Democratic.

In 1998, Charles Schumer took advantage of this movement in the suburbs and handily defeated three-term Senator Alfonse D'Amato.  Schumer has been re-elected handily ever since.  The polls in the latest race suggest that he is still favored to win, albeit by a reduced margin.