The Hudson Valley is sometimes described as where upstate meets downstate. It's where the MTA service area ends, where suburbs give way to rural expanses, and where increasingly, New York City expatriates are choosing to live, changing the political composition of the region.
And it's home to some key elections this fall.
NY-19
Rep. Antonio Delgado is seeking a second term in what has been a hotly contested battleground for the last decade. The 20th congressional district in the past has seen a heavy amount of national interest as both parties vied for control of the district, once represented by Republicans like Chris Gibson and John Faso.
Delgado unseated Faso in the district two years ago amid a barrage of spending by both sides in the district. This year, the House district is not seeing the same level of attention, as Delgado faces Republican Kyle Van De Water. In many respects, the district reflects the potential fortunes of both national parties: Democrats appear poised to keep control of the House of Representatives as the map grows smaller for the GOP.
NY-18
Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is seeking re-election to a district he wrested from Republican Nan Hayworth in 2012. Like its 20th district neighbor to the north in the Hudson Valley, the 19th congressional district several election cycles ago was a nationally focused battleground as well. But lately the district is viewed as less competitive for Republicans as Maloney has held the seat for four terms.
This year, Maloney faces Republican Chele Farley, who last ran for the U.S. Senate in 2018 against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Senate District 41
Republican Sue Serino has held this Poughkeepsie-area Senate district since 2014 after unseating Democratic Sen. Terry Gipson. Serino is once again facing Democratic Sen. Karen Smythe for the mid-Hudson Valley Senate seat, a rematch from two years ago.
Smythe lost in 2018 by only 688 votes in what was a Democratic wave year for the party, and attention is once again being focused on the district as a potential flip for the party.
Senate District 42
Democrats had long hoped to flip the district represented by Republican John Bonacic. In 2018, when Bonacic retired, they got their chance.
Democrat Jen Metzger won the district in the Hudson Valley, which also includes swaths of the Catskill Mountains. Metzger is facing a challenge from Republican Mike Martucci, a businessman who founded a contract school bus company and later sold it.
Democrats did well in 2018 amid a national wave year for the party. Hillary Clinton in 2016 proved to have few, if any coattails for down-ballot candidates to ride like President Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012.
It remains to be seen if President Donald Trump, broadly unpopular in New York, will be a drag for Republicans this year, or if his popularity in parts of upstate New York will help lift GOP candidates running for state and congressional races.