Democrats seize power in Trump-won county despite losing election there months ago

Democrats captured a majority in Orange County, New York’s Legislature on Tuesday — despite losing to Republican candidates in a majority of districts in the November 2025 elections.

Democratic New York State Sen. James Skoufis, who represents almost all of the county, celebrated his party’s newfound majority in the legislature, writing in a Wednesday morning post on X that Democrats accomplished this feat “for the first time in the nearly 60-year history of the chamber.” The county’s legislature elected Democrat Laurie Tautel as chairwoman on Tuesday, with legislator Michael Amo, an independent who usually votes with Republicans, casting the decisive vote, local outlet Mid Hudson News reported.

Tautel bested Barry Cheney, a Republican, by an 11–10 margin, with Amo joining the chamber’s 10 Democrats, the outlet reported.

The most recent legislature election in the county took place in Nov. 2025, and the GOP won a majority then, according to unofficial results published on Nov. 5, 2025. Republicans had previously maintained the majority in the Orange County Legislature throughout most of its history over the past 55 years, Mid-Hudson News reported on Tuesday.

“Today Orange County is at a new crossroads,” Tautel said, as reported by Mid Hudson News. “Families are struggling with rising costs, seniors are worried about staying in their homes, young people want to build lives here, but aren’t sure they can afford to. Our infrastructure is aging, our health systems are under strain, and too many residents feel disconnected from [the] county government all together.”

County Executive Steven Neuhaus, a Republican, said that the “proof will be in the pudding on how everyone works and governs,” according to Mid Hudson News.

“To me it doesn’t change the dynamics at all. The proof will be in the pudding on how everyone works and governs but I have always had this relationship, and I got along with people,” Neuhaus said, per the outlet. “When Laurie Tautel was a new councilman in Highland Falls, I was a young councilman in Chester, so we have had a long relationship, and I expect everybody to do what is best for the taxpayers of Orange [County].”

Skoufis wrote in a separate X post on Wednesday that this marks a “major win” for Tautel.

“This was an opportunity a couple of us saw early on and seized. A reminder that electoral politics ≠ only Election Day,” Skoufis wrote in the social media post. “A major win for new Chair and longtime friend, Laurie Tautel, as well as incoming Leader Ramos along with the entire Dem caucus, [including] seven (!) new electeds.”

In November 2024, President Donald Trump notably won Orange County, New York, securing 54.05% of the vote to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 45.69%. The county notably has a large Orthodox Jewish population and includes the predominantly Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, which is in Amo’s district.

Kiryas Joel voted almost unanimously for Trump in 2024, with the president winning the 98.4% of the vote there — but the village also voted overwhelmingly for Skoufis, a Democrat, on the same ballot.

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