By Hayleigh Gowans

Staff Writer

New York State Senator John A. DeFrancisco retained his seat in the 50th district following an unopposed race where he gained more than 99 percent of the votes.

“Thank you for supporting me over here, we [Republicans] has a tough few weeks but it’s looking to be in our favor,” DeFrancisco said to a cheering crowd at the Onondaga County Republican Committee at the Sheraton Hotel in Syracuse election night.

DeFrancisco, a Republican, has served in this seat since 1992 and was appointed deputy majority leader in July 2015.

In the 2015 legislative session, he served on the following committees: Banks; Cities; Codes; Crime Victims, Crime and Correction; Finance (chair); Judiciary; and Labor.

The term for this seat is two years.