David Valesky

David J. Valesky (b. circa 1966) is an American politician who is a former member of the New York State Senate. A Democrat, Valesky represented the 53rd Senate District and the 49th Senate District in upstate New York.[1]

Valesky was first elected to the State Senate in 2004[2] when he defeated longtime incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (R-Fabius).[3][4] Hoffman was challenged in a Republican primary by Tom Dadey.[5] While Hoffmann defeated Dadey,[6] Dadey remained in the race on third-party lines. Valesky prevailed in the three-way race.[7][8] He took office as a state senator in January 2005.[9]

In 2011, Valesky joined with Jeffrey D. Klein, Diane Savino, and David Carlucci to form the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).[10] On April 16, 2018, the IDC was dissolved and Valesky returned to the Senate Democratic Conference.[11][12]

In the 2018 Democratic primary, Valesky was defeated by Rachel May.[13] Valesky received 46.66% of the primary vote to May's 50.47%.[14] All eight former members of the IDC faced left-wing primary challenges in 2018, and six were defeated.[15]