State Assemblyman Billy Jones highlighted several aspects of Sen. Gillibrand’s bill while speaking at the Lake Placid Beachhouse in July 2023. (Enterprise photo — Arthur Maiorella)

Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, will not seek the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 21st District special election that is expected soon.

On Friday, Jones said he enjoys his work in the Assembly and wants to continue what he’s done over the last four terms in office.

“I’ve been considering it and contemplating it for the last month, and this is the right thing for me and my family at this time,” he said in a statement. “I enjoy, immensely, representing the people of the 115th district here in the North Country on the state level. I enjoy my job and I want to keep up the hard work we’ve done for the last 8 years.”

Jones is one of very few elected Democrats with a high profile in NY-21.

Representing Franklin and Clinton counties, the assemblyman was widely considered a leading candidate for the Democratic party headed into the upcoming special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, who is leaving Congress to become the Trump administration’s United Nations ambassador.

With his step back from the campaign, Jones leaves declared candidates Steven W. Holden, Sr, Blake Gendebien and Paula Collins as the people openly seeking the Democratic nomination for that race. For both the Democrats and Republicans, the nominee will be selected by a weighted vote of the 15 party committee chairs that represent the counties covered by the district.

On the Republican side, Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, has announced he is seeking the party nod, and Amsterdam businessman Anthony Constantino has launched a self-funded campaign for the nomination. Jones said that Stec’s recent announcement that he’s seeking the Republican nomination didn’t factor into his decision on Friday. Stec represents Jones’ district in the upper chamber of the state legislature, and the two men work together on local issues despite being from different parties.

The nomination process will only start after Stefanik steps down from her seat, which she won reelection to in November with 62% of the vote. That is likely to happen after Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office and begins the formal nomination process for her appointment to the U.N.