Incumbent
Steve Chan
New York State Senator, District 17, since Jan. 1, 2025
Focus: Public safety
Conservative Party of New York State +1
General Election
ELECTION WAS NOV 3
NY Senate · Senate District 17
First-term Republican's crime and shelter bills versus a Democratic district leader's neighborhood plans
Steve Chan won the seat in 2024 with 54.7% of the vote over incumbent Iwen Chu, in a district Donald Trump carried by nearly 15 points that year. Neither party held a June primary for the seat; Chan is on the Republican, Conservative and Stop Mamdani lines, and Larry He on the Democratic line.
Candidates
LH
Larry He
Chief of Staff to Assemblyman William Colton; named co-chief of staff by January 2024
Small business — Would introduce legislation creating a state "microbusiness" category for firms with 10 or fewer employees, with targeted grants, a 60-day period to fix non-dangerous violations before fines, and violation tracking by business size. Also wants contracting agencies to publicly report contract approval, invoice processing and reimbursement times, and to revive a Bensonhurst business improvement district on 86th Street.
Susan Zhuang +1
▸ Your ballot — State Senator - District 17
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Issues
Where homeless shelters go
Whether state law should limit where New York City can place homeless shelters, and how the city should answer neighborhood concerns about transparency, construction safety and procedure when it plans one.
Opposes the proposed homeless shelter in Bensonhurst. At a March 28, 2026 rally against it, raised concerns about transparency, construction safety and whether proper procedures were being followed.
Documented — Bensonhurst shelter protests, March 2026Crime and public safety
State law sets criminal penalties and police procedures; a 2025 law, for example, requires police answering family-violence reports to take temporary custody of firearms for at least 120 hours.
Wants to expand the city's LockerNYC secure delivery lockers throughout the district to cut package theft, pushing the city Department of Transportation to use NYPD theft data to prioritize the area before its 2026 program review. Would require multilingual sign-up help in Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish at district sites.
Larry He campaign website — Package theftTransit and commuting
Calls fighting for fewer delays and more consistent subway service one of his core promises, after asking residents how long they have waited for the D train.
Larry He campaign websiteThe money
Cycle-to-date · NYS Board of Elections — figures change as new reports are filed.
LHHe
$201K
Chan$123K
Researched & verified Sep 29, 2026. Compiled from verified public sources; claims that failed verification are excluded.
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