Robert Ortt

Robert Ortt

Republican Party

New York State Senate District 62

Tenure

2015 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

11

Predecessor: George Maziarz (R)

Compensation

Base salary

$142,000/year

Per diem

$203/day

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army National Guard

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official X

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Robert Ortt (Republican Party) is a member of the New York State Senate, representing District 62. He assumed office on January 1, 2015. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Ortt (Republican Party, Conservative Party) ran for re-election to the New York State Senate to represent District 62. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Ortt was elected as State Senate Minority Leader in June 2020.^[1]

Biography

Ortt's professional experience includes working as a financial analyst and serving as the mayor, city treasurer, and city clerk of North Tonawanda, a city in western New York. He served in the New York Army National Guard and is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom. He received a Bronze Star for his service.^[2]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Ortt was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Rules Committee, Ranking Member

2021-2022

Ortt was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Rules Committee, Ranking member

2019-2020

Ortt was assigned to the following committees:

• Energy and Telecommunications Committee
• Senate Agriculture Committee, Vice chair
• Senate Insurance Committee
• Senate Mental Health Committee
• Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, Vice chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ortt served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 62

Incumbent Robert Ortt won election in the general election for New York State Senate District 62 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Ortt (R / Conservative Party)	99.4	113,744
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	716

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 114,460
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Robert Ortt advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 62.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Robert Ortt advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 62.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

2022

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 62

Incumbent Robert Ortt won election in the general election for New York State Senate District 62 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Ortt (R / Conservative Party)	99.3	85,923
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	593

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 86,516
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Robert Ortt advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 62.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Robert Ortt advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 62.

2020

See also: New York's 27th Congressional District election, 2020

New York's 27th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 23 Republican primary)

New York's 27th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House New York District 27

Incumbent Christopher Jacobs defeated Nate McMurray and Duane Whitmer in the general election for U.S. House New York District 27 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Christopher Jacobs (R / Conservative Party / Independence Party)	59.7	228,885
		Nate McMurray (D / Working Families Party)	39.0	149,449
		Duane Whitmer (L)	1.3	4,877
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	120

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 383,331
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Gammariello (G)
• Beth Parlato (Conservative Party)

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Nate McMurray advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 27.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Melodie Baker (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 27

Incumbent Christopher Jacobs defeated Beth Parlato and Stefan Mychajliw Jr. in the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 27 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Christopher Jacobs	59.1	40,459
		Beth Parlato	21.6	14,805
	Submit photo	Stefan Mychajliw Jr.	18.5	12,650
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	573

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 68,487
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Frank Smierciak (R)
• Robert Ortt (R)

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Beth Parlato advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 27.

Green primary election

The Green primary election was canceled. Michael Gammariello advanced from the Green primary for U.S. House New York District 27.

Independence Party primary election

The Independence Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Christopher Jacobs advanced from the Independence Party primary for U.S. House New York District 27.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for U.S. House New York District 27

Duane Whitmer defeated Nicholas Phelps in the Libertarian primary for U.S. House New York District 27 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Duane Whitmer	74.6	188
	Submit photo	Nicholas Phelps	24.6	62
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	2

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 252
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Scott Flynn (L)

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Nate McMurray advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 27.

2018

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2018

Ortt also ran in the 2018 election as a Conservative Party, Independence Party, and Reform Party candidate.

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 62

Incumbent Robert Ortt defeated Peter Diachun in the general election for New York State Senate District 62 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Ortt (R)	86.6	69,118
	Submit photo	Peter Diachun (G)	13.2	10,539
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	131

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 79,788 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New York State Senate District 62

Incumbent Robert Ortt advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 62 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Robert Ortt

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green primary election

Green primary for New York State Senate District 62

Peter Diachun advanced from the Green primary for New York State Senate District 62 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Peter Diachun

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 14, 2016. The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 23, 2016.

Incumbent Robert Ortt ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 62 general election.^[3][4]

New York State Senate, District 62 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Robert Ortt Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: New York Board of Elections

Incumbent Robert Ortt ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 62 Republican primary.^[5][6]

New York State Senate, District 62 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Robert Ortt Incumbent (unopposed)

Ortt also ran on the Conservative, Independence, and Reform Party tickets.

2014

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election took place November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 10, 2014. Johnny G. Destino was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Robert Ortt defeated Gia Arnold in the Republican primary. Ortt also ran on the Conservative Party and Independence Party of New York State tickets. Paul Brown ran as a Working Families Party candidate. Ortt defeated Destino and Brown in the general election.^[7][8][9]

New York State Senate District 62, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Robert Ortt	64%	47,606
	Democratic	Johnny G. Destino	29.2%	21,678
	None	Blank	4.2%	3,136
	Working Families	Paul Brown	2.5%	1,840
	None	Scattering	0.1%	41
	None	Void	0%	30
Total Votes				74,331

New York State Senate, District 62 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Robert Ortt	78%	5,645
Gia Arnold	22%	1,589
Total Votes		7,234

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Robert Ortt did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Robert Ortt did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Robert Ortt did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Ortt's campaign website highlighted the following issues:^[10]

• Excerpt: "As our next Senator, Rob will fight to repeal the SAFE Act, and protect our second Amendment Rights. He’ll bring his expertise in turning around a broken government to a place that needs it most - Albany."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in New York

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of New York scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Noteworthy events

Pleaded not guilty to allegations of no-show jobs

On March 23, 2017, Ortt pleaded not guilty to charges that he was involved in a plan to provide his wife with no-show jobs. Following his arraignment, Ortt dismissed the charges as a political move by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D). The charges stemmed from his time as mayor of North Tonawanda from 2010 to 2014, when Schneiderman alleged that Ortt arranged a deal for his wife to be paid $20,000 for work she reportedly did not actually do.^[11]

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Footnotes

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