ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Democrats in New York unseated two first-term Republican incumbents in the U.S. House on Tuesday, one in the Hudson Valley and the other in a district that includes Syracuse, rolling back some recent GOP gains in the state.
New Yorkers were expected to play an outsized role Tuesday in helping determine control of the U.S. House as Republicans clung to suburban seats they won two years ago by seizing on fears of crime, and Democrats tried to claw them back by warning that a right-wing Congress might ban abortion.
Democrat Josh Riley beat Rep. Marc Molinaro, a freshman incumbent in a district that stretches from the Massachusetts border to the Finger Lakes region.
Riley, an lawyer from Ithaca, campaigned on his support for abortion rights as well as calling for stronger border controls to counter Republican criticisms of federal immigration policy. Before he ran for office, Riley had once been a policy analyst at U.S. Department of Labor and previously served as general counsel to former U.S. Sen. Al Franken.
In central New York, Democratic state Sen. John Mannion defeated Republican Rep. Brandon Williams. Williams was considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents this year because state Democratic leaders redrew his district to make it more favorable to their party.
Other closely watched congressional races that involved first-term Republicans unfolded on Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley.
The slew of competitive elections underscore the hidden political complexity of New York, which is associated with Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but has also given rise to Republican stars like U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican Conference. Jeffries, Ocasio-Cortez and Stefanik all kept their seats Tuesday.
On Long Island, Republican U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito was in a tough rematch with Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor he defeated in 2022. The Associated Press had not declared a winner in the race as of early Wednesday morning, but Gillen claimed victory, saying in a statement that voters chose “common sense over chaos and corruption.”
Further out on Long Island, Republicans kept a House seat they’ve held for a decade, as U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota defeated Democrat John Avlon, a former host and political analyst for CNN.
Democrats maintained control of a critical seat in the Hudson Valley, with U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan fending off Republican challenger Alison Esposito. Even as he celebrated his victory, Ryan, an Army veteran, acknowledged in a speech to supporters that the early election returns had left many Democrats in the room on edge.
“I know everybody is anxious right now, I’m anxious right now,” he said, “but to a certain degree all you can control is what’s in your community.”
On both sides, the strategy has been to play to moderate suburban voters while casting opponents as extremists.
In 2022, Republicans in New York City's suburbs thrived with campaigns that portrayed the nearby city as having become lawless during the pandemic. Crime rates have dropped significantly since then, but Republicans have kept pressing crime as an issue while also trying to capitalize on suburban unease about immigration policy and an influx of international migrants.
Democrats moved to mount a stronger defense to voters’ concerns about crime and immigration. They also hammered Republicans on abortion — a tactic that didn't produce anticipated wins for the party two years ago in a state where abortion rights are not generally seen as under threat.
Republican gains on Long Island were eroded last year when former U.S. Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress after he was revealed to have fabricated his life story and defrauded campaign donors.
Santos was replaced in a special election by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, who previously represented the district for three terms before stepping down to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022.
Suozzi won reelection Tuesday in a race against Republican Mike LiPetri, a former state lawmaker, a victory possibly aided by tweaks to the district’s boundaries earlier this year that trimmed out a more conservative section of Long Island.
In the suburbs north of New York City, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler defeated former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat who previously represented part of the district before its boundaries were redrawn for the 2022 election.
The contest received extra attention in early October when The New York Times obtained a photo of Lawler wearing blackface in 2006 at a college Halloween party where he dressed as Michael Jackson. Lawler said the outfit was intended to be an homage to a childhood idol.
Lawler appeared to embrace the controversy when he declared victory late Tuesday, saying “Folks, tonight the Hudson Valley told Mondaire Jones to ‘Beat It!’” after taking the stage while Jackson’s hit song played, and even throwing in a theatrical high kick.
In the one New York congressional race not involving an incumbent, Democrat George Latimer defeated Republican Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser. Latimer had beaten U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary in June, making Bowman the first member of the progressive band of liberals known as the “Squad” to lose a reelection bid.
Anthony Izaguirre, The Associated Press