U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko won reelection to a 10th term in Congress representing New York's 20th District Tuesday night.
The Capital Region Democrat's reelection to a solidly blue seat comes as Democrats won comfortable majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.
"We have shown democracy survives, and that the people have put their feelings into the ballot box and let this country, this administration and all who hope to serve [know] they have been put on notice," Tonko said in a speech to supporters in Albany as news channels reported that South Carolina would send a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 1998. "So my pledge to you is to continue to have an open dialogue with the people who have placed trust in me. I have never abandoned that trust."
Tonko's Republican opponent, former New York State Trooper Ralph Ambrosio, conceded in a statement posted to Facebook Tuesday night, calling the election "a tough night for a party whose principles I believe in deeply."
"I will not hide my concern about the direction Upstate New York is heading," Ambrosio said. "The rising cost of living, the struggles of working families, and the challenges facing our communities are very real. I fear what the future holds if we continue down this path. But tonight, while we may have lost an election, we have not lost our purpose, our principles, or our hope."
Tonko sits on the House Energy Committee, which will be chaired by Democrats in January, and will soon chair its subcommittee on the environment. He said Tuesday he wants to use his position on that committee to put income-based caps on Americans' utility bills, pass permitting reform for electrical infrastructure projects and regulate artificial intelligence data centers.
"I say let's put a one-cent surcharge per kilowatt hour of power required by these [data center development] groups, and dedicated for efficiency purposes, for relief for hardest-hit households, for investment in transmission and upgrades that the system may require," Tonko said in an interview.
The Democratic majority will also give Democrats the opportunity to more thoroughly investigate the Trump administration. Like many Democrats, Tonko has made corruption a centerpiece of his campaign, and he said Congress will now have the opportunity to investigate the administration's stock trading and the start of the war with Iran.
"This has got to stop," Tonko said. "And I think, again, the corruption is what really angers the people. 'Look, we're enduring, and then you're making a record amount of money?' No administration, Republican or Democrat, has ever shown itself in that sort of corrupt outcome."
