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Politics

As of April 2016, Democrats represented a plurality of voters in the State of New York, constituting more than twice as many registered voters as any other political party affiliation or lack thereof. Since the second half of the 20th century, New York has generally supported candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won the State of New York by over 25 percentage points in both 2012 and 2008. New York City, as well as the state's other major urban locales, including Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, are significant Democratic strongholds, with liberal politics. Rural portions of upstate New York, however, are generally more conservative than the cities and tend to favor Republicans. Heavily populated suburban areas downstate, such as Westchester County and Long Island, were solidly Republican until the 1990s, and have since shifted to primarily supporting the Democratic Party.

New York City is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five ZIP Codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top ZIP Code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore.

The State of New York has the distinction of being the home state for both major-party nominees in three presidential elections. The 1904 presidential election saw former New York Governor and incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt face Alton B. Parker, chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. The 1944 presidential election had Franklin D. Roosevelt, following in his cousin Theodore's footsteps as former New York Governor and incumbent president running for re-election against then-current New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. In the 2016 presidential election, former United States Senator from New York Hillary Clinton, a resident of Chappaqua, was the Democratic Party nominee. The Republican Party nominee was businessman Donald Trump, a resident of Manhattan and a native of Queens.

New York City is an important center for international diplomacy. The United Nations headquarters has been situated on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan since 1952.