Kevin Byrne (New York politician)


Kevin Byrne is the Assembly member for the 94th District of the New York State Assembly. He is a registered Republican who first successfully ran with the Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform Party lines.
The district includes portions of Putnam and Westchester counties in the Hudson Valley.
Byrne is the ranking member on the Assembly’s Health Committee and chairperson of the Assembly Minority Conference Program Committee, making him the youngest member of his conference’s leadership team. He also serves on the Governmental Operations, Insurance, Labor, and Transportation Committees.
In addition, Byrne also serves as the New York state chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Previously, Byrne served as co-chair of the Assembly Minority Conference Task Force on Critical Infrastructure and Transportation, as the ranking member of the Assembly’s Aging Committee, and as vice chair of minority steering.

Life and career

Byrne was born and raised in the Hudson Valley and attended Carmel High School before enrolling at the University of Scranton. As a high school student, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At Scranton, Byrne participated in the Army ROTC program, but was unable to qualify for the Army physical because of a high school wrestling injury. Despite that, Byrne did complete the academic portion of the ROTC program coupled with an internship with then Congresswoman Sue Kelly.
Following his graduation from the University of Scranton in 2007, Byrne returned to the Hudson Valley and eventually served as a member of the Putnam Valley Planning Board and as a Firefighter/EMT with the Kent Volunteer Fire Department where he served three terms as the department’s president. He later served as Deputy District Director to Congresswoman Nan Hayworth and then as a Regional Director for the American Heart Association while finishing his M.P.A. concentrating in Healthcare Administration at Marist College. Byrne won his first bid seeking elected office in 2016 when he was elected as the Assemblyman for New York’s 94th Assembly District.
Assemblyman Byrne lives in Mahopac with his wife Briana, a Physician Assistant, and their rescued Treeing Walker Coonhound, Tracker.

Legislative Record & Accomplishments

Assemblyman Byrne first ran for office seeking to bring a new generation of leadership to the Assembly, and has routinely noted that New York cannot tax and spend its way out of every challenge it faces. His record as a fiscal conservative is well recognized by his belief that tax relief, not more big government spending, is the best way to provide the economic boost the state needs.
Byrne cites that the greatest obstacle to these challenges remains the state's awful reputation for public corruption, which Byrne refers to as a "corruption tax." Byrne credits the corruption tax as part of the reason for more than one million people leaving the state from 2010 - 2017.
During his first term, Byrne voted against every state imposed tax increase proposed in the Assembly. That is one of the primary reasons Byrne was recognized in 2017 as one of five state legislators with the highest rating by the Conservative Party of New York State.
In addition to Byrne's fiscal positions, Byrne is recognized as a strong advocate for many other public health and safety issues such as winning the war on addiction, protecting our veterans and first responders, and improving our state's aging infrastructure.
During his first term, Byrne introduced and passed ten bills in the Assembly, 8 of which passed the Senate and were signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, more than nearly any other freshmen member during that time.
Some examples of Byrne’s legislation over the years include:
Byrne frequently credits his legislative successes to finding support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
During his time in the Assembly, Byrne also developed a unique ability to work with colleagues from both political parties to deliver results. Some of the legislation he helped pass as a co-sponsor include:
Additionally, by partnering with colleagues in both conferences, Byrne has effectively advocated for policy changes such as:
In 2016, Assemblyman Steve Katz announced that he would not seek another term. Byrne was one of five Republicans that announced they would seek the nomination to replace Katz. At the local Republican Convention, Byrne received 14,562 weighted votes over Somers Town Councilman Bill Faulkner's 3,681 and Carmel Councilwoman Suzanne McDonough's 974. Councilwoman McDonough immediately pledged she would continue a primary campaign.
A day after winning his party’s endorsement, Byrne was seriously injured in a Brewster auto accident, breaking his right knee and suffering other injuries when another car, traveling at high speed, crossed into his lane, he said, and collided with him head-on. Byrne continued his campaign throughout his recovery and would later be victorious during the Republican primary. Despite being outspent, Byrne beat McDonough 60% to 40%, one of the largest Republican primary victories for an open seat within the Hudson Valley in recent memory.
He would later defeat Democrat Brian Higbie in the 2016 general election with a record setting 62% victory to take the seat.

2018 New York Assembly campaign

In 2018, Byrne was challenged by Vedat Gashi, a Yorktown resident who recently relocated from NYC.
Throughout the campaign, Byrne focused on his ideas to make the state a more affordable place to live for all New Yorkers.
A key highlight of the campaign was during a Putnam League of Women Voters Forum when Byrne exposed Gashi’s repeated attempts to purposefully misinform the public about Byrne’s voting record. In interviews leading up to the debate, Gashi made claims that Byrne had voted against legislation that would prevent violent domestic abusers from obtaining firearms when in fact Byrne had voted in favor of such legislation twice, commonly referred to as the “Domestic Violence Escalation Protection Act.”
During the debate, Byrne produced a hard copy of his voting record and publicly hand delivered it to Gashi. Looking at Byrne’s printed voting record, Gashi again asserted Byrne voted no on the legislation in question. To which Byrne then marked the printed out copy of the voting record and pointed to where it said “Y”, indicating a yes vote in favor of the legislation.
Throughout the campaign, Byrne's effectiveness was highlighted by his record of passing more legislation than nearly any other freshmen lawmaker in the state, regardless of party affiliation, during his first term. This fact drew ire from Gashi, whose platform hinged on his belief that he could deliver more for the district by being a member of the majority Democratic conference. Byrne’s record and statements have been fact checked and confirmed by multiple sources, including candidate interviews with Yorktown News, Examiner News, and the NYS Assembly website.
Gashi’s campaign outspent Byrne’s campaign by more than four times, spending more than $250,000 on the election with much of the donations coming directly from New York City and outside the Assembly District. In contrast, Byrne only spent approximately $60,000 with most of his donations coming from individual contributors who reside in the area.
The same election year, the state Senate flipped to Democratic control. This was in part due to the loss of a Republican held Senate seat that largely overlapped with the 94th Assembly District. In a year that proved challenging for many Republicans across the state, Byrne easily won his bid for re-election by a strong double digit margin.