NY-SD22: GOP looks to flip a southern Brooklyn Senate seat
The game of southern Brooklyn musical chairs that kicked off with the retirement of former Assembly Member Helene Weinstein will finally conclude this week. On Tuesday, voters headed to the polls to vote in a special election for state Senate District 22. Although the largely Orthodox Jewish community in the district overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump the past two years, Democrats are still confident they will continue representing the district.
The race is to replace now-New York City Council Member Simcha Felder in the state Senate. Felder left his legislative seat after winning the race to replace now-Assembly Member Kalman Yeger, who replaced Weinstein in the Assembly after hitting his City Council term limit. Felder’s old state Senate seat is the final one that needs to be filled as lawmakers in southern Brooklyn swap and trade seats.
Lawmakers practically created the seat for Felder in 2012 during redistricting. At the time, it was the 17th state Senate District. Though legislators renumbered the seat in the most recent round of redistricting, its lines did not change dramatically. At the time, state leaders decided to create a predominantly Orthodox Jewish state Senate district to give the community a greater voice in the upper chamber. Felder easily beat his Republican opponent in 2012 in his first election.
The race to replace Felder pits two Jewish community leaders against each other. Democrat Sam Sutton is a well-known member of the Sephardic Jewish community in Brooklyn and a nonprofit leader. Republican Nachman (Carl) Caller is an Orthodox lawyer who serves as a GOP district leader and has previously run for the Assembly. He is also running on the Conservative Party line.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/05/gop-looks-flip-south-brooklyn-senate-seat/405456/?oref=csny-category-lander-top-story