Paul Tonko has represented the Capital Region in Washington for nearly two decades. He rose from a Montgomery County engineer and 25-year state Assemblyman into one of the House’s senior voices on climate and energy policy.
In 2026, the 77-year-old Democrat is seeking a tenth term representing New York’s 20th Congressional District. He is running in a reliably blue seat but facing a more combative national landscape, one in which he’s used his platform to call for the abolition of ICE and to warn about extremist Republican rivals.
So, who is Paul Tonko, what has he built over more than 40 years in public office, and what’s ahead as he seeks reelection in 2026?
Quick Facts
- Party
- Democratic
- Hometown
- Amsterdam, N.Y.
- Born
- June 18, 1949
- Current Position
- U.S. Representative, New York's 20th District; Ranking Member, Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment
- Background
- Mechanical/industrial engineer; Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman; NYSERDA President & CEO
- In Office Since
- January 2009 (U.S. House); 1983-2007 (NY State Assembly)
- Up For Reelection
- November 2026, facing Republican Ralph Ambrosio
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Paul David Tonko was born June 18, 1949, in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. His family is primarily of Polish descent, and he has remained a lifelong resident of the city.
He graduated from Amsterdam’s Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1967 and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University in 1971.
After college, he worked as an engineer for New York’s Department of Transportation and later the state Public Service Commission.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Tonko entered elected office in the mid-1970s, winning a seat on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, where he served from 1976 to 1983.
He was elected chairman of the board in 1981, becoming, at the time, the youngest person in the county’s history to hold that position.
Tonko on tour c. 2023
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY (1983-2007)
Tonko was elected to the New York State Assembly’s 105th District in 1982 and served 13 terms, from 1983 until 2007.
During that tenure he chaired the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy for 15 years, from 1992 to 2007.
That role positioned him as a leader on utility deregulation and energy-efficiency policy well before climate change became a mainstream political issue.
LEADING NYSERDA
In 2007, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer appointed Tonko president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, known as NYSERDA.
Tonko later described the job as his “dream job,” running the state agency focused on energy efficiency, alternative energy, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
He resigned that post in April 2008 to run for Congress.
ELECTION TO CONGRESS
Tonko was elected to the U.S. House in November 2008, succeeding longtime Rep. Michael McNulty in what was then New York’s 21st Congressional District. He took office in January 2009.
Following the 2010 redistricting cycle, he has represented the state’s 20th Congressional District since 2013. After the 2020 census cycle, that district was redrawn to include all of Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties along with part of Rensselaer County.
He has been reelected in every cycle since, including a 61%-39% win over Republican Kevin Waltz in 2024.
A SENIOR VOICE ON CLIMATE AND ENERGY
In Congress, Tonko has built his career around energy and environmental policy. He has served as chairman, and now ranking member, of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment since 2013, making him the subcommittee’s highest-ranking Democrat for over a decade.
Full committee Chairman Frank Pallone credited Tonko as the key person behind the sweeping CLEAN Future Act, a 600-plus-page draft climate bill aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Rep. Paul Tonko questioning witnesses at a July 2021 Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on ransomware.
Tonko also secured a rare waiver to serve simultaneously on the Natural Resources and Science, Space and Technology committees, giving him a hand in nearly every major climate-related debate in the House.
He has repeatedly pushed PFAS “forever chemical” legislation through the House, including the PFAS Action Act of 2019 and 2021. Both measures aimed to direct the EPA to regulate and help clean up PFAS contamination in drinking water.
In the 119th Congress, he also sits on the House Budget Committee and serves as Democratic Deputy Whip for Policy, coordinating the House Democratic Caucus’s policy work. He co-chairs the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition and the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus.
RECENT ADVOCACY
In early 2026, Tonko publicly called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He cited what he described as a record number of deaths in ICE custody, the tear-gassing of legal observers, and economic harm to industries including hospitality, agriculture, and horse racing in his district.
“2025 was the deadliest year for the agency in decades,” Tonko said, calling for enforcement practices to revert to a pre-2003 model focused on genuine criminal threats rather than “arbitrary quotas.”
Later that year, Tonko joined Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in raising alarm over the planned closure of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Schenectady.
CAMPAIGN HISTORY AND CONTROVERSY
Tonko has generally won reelection comfortably in his Democratic-leaning district. His 2020 and 2022 campaigns against Republican Liz Joy drew national attention.
Ahead of their 2022 rematch, Tonko’s campaign called on Joy to join a televised debate. It cited what it called her “extremist positions, including leading an insurrection bus trip and support for abortion bans.”
“Those running for The People’s House should be held to account and open to public scrutiny. My opponent organized a bus trip to the Capitol on January 6th where police officers died, and insurrectionists tried to overturn an election,” the campaign said.
Tonko went on to defeat Joy 62%-38% in 2022.
2026 REELECTION
Tonko is seeking a tenth term in 2026 against Republican Ralph Ambrosio of Delmar. Ambrosio is a former assistant attorney general and former assistant counsel to the New York State Police.
He previously ran unsuccessfully for Albany County District Attorney against Lee Kindlon in 2024.
TONKO'S GENERAL-ELECTION VOTE SHARE, 2008-2024
Tonko’s House reelection margins in his two most recent cycles. Source: NBC News and Times Union election results.
New York’s 20th District has been a reliable Democratic seat in recent cycles. Tonko’s campaign has continued to emphasize job creation, clean-energy investment, and support for the middle class in the Capital Region as its core message heading into the fall.
LOOKING AHEAD
At 77 and seeking his tenth term, Tonko remains one of the most senior members of New York’s congressional delegation and one of the House’s most prominent voices on climate policy. He is also taking an increasingly outspoken line on immigration enforcement in a polarized Congress.
PagPol will continue following the 20th Congressional District race through November. For updates on Tonko’s campaign and other Capital Region races, sign up for PagPol’s Capital Region newsletter.
