TIGHT HOUSE RACES IN NY
Key to majority in Congress
The increasingly tight race between Gov. Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin has most New York voters focused on the top of the ticket — but Empire State voters could also play a key role in deciding the balance of power in Congress.
With early voting for the Nov. 8 election starting Saturday, the Democratic governor and her Republican rival are locked in a bitter battle that the Real Clear Politics website recently ranked a toss-up as polls showed Zeldin rapidly gaining ground.
Meanwhile, nine of the 26 New York state congressional districts are described as competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, with three ranked as toss-ups.
Here are some of the state’s closest House contests:
The 17th District race between Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (inset top), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler (inset below) was revised from “lean Democratic” to a toss-up this week.
Cook cited $3.5 million in spending by GOP super PACs compared to just $384,000 by Democratic groups, as well as Zeldin’s surge and Maloney’s controversial use of taxpayer funds to hire his husband’s personal trainer as a fill-in driver.
Two Navy veterans are doing battle in the 22nd District, another toss-up race, to succeed Rep. John Katko (R-Auburn), a moderate who announced his retirement in January after being one of only 10 GOP House members voting to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Republican Brandon Williams, a Dallas native, owns a software company while Democrat Francis Conole, who grew up in Central New York, is an Iraq War veteran and commander in the Navy Reserve.
Another toss-up race pits Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro (inset top), the GOP’s 2018 gubernatorial candidate, against Josh Riley (inset bottom), a Democratic exstaffer to ex-Sen. Al Franken.
They’re competing for a 19th District seat left vacant when Rep. Antonio Delgado resigned to become lieutenant governor following the indictment of Hochul’s first No. 2, ex-state Sen. Brian Benjamin, in a bribery scheme.
On Long Island, Democratic Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming faces Republican Nick LaLota, a Navy veteran and chief of staff to the county Legislature’s GOP majority, to succeed Zeldin in a race rated “lean Republican” in the 1st District.
Zeldin, who previously served in the state Senate, is expected to do well in Suffolk and could boost LaLota’s chances, but Democratic enrollment increased during the pandemic.
Long Island also has a rematch in the 2nd District between GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino and Democrat Jackie Gordon, a retired Babylon town council member and retired Army lieutenant colonel who lost two years ago in a bid to succeed ex-longtime GOP Rep. Peter King.
Garbarino voted to certify President Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump but opposed impeaching Trump over the Jan. 6 attack.
Long Island’s 4th District pits former Democratic Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen against Republican Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a retired NYPD detective.
They’re vying for a seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice in a race the Cook rates “lean Democratic.”
Public relations guru Robert Zimmerman, a longtime member of the DNC, is squaring off against GOP financier George Santos to replace Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in the 3rd District.
Their race to represent parts of Nassau and Queens is believed to be the first involving two openly gay House candidates and is rated “lean Democratic.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/B’klyn) faces a rematch with former Dem Rep. Max Rose (inset bottom), who served a single term before she ousted him in 2020.
Meanwhile, Republican efforts to end the Democratic 43-20 supermajority in the state Senate are focused squarely on Long Island, where Democratic state Sens. John Brooks and Anna Kaplan face tough challenges from GOP former Nassau County Legislator Steven Rhoads and former state Sen. Jack Martins. reporting by Zach