New York’s Democrats have finally made a comeback, two years after their disastrous performances in the 2022 midterm elections that helped cost their party the House of Representatives.
Democrats flipped three Republican seats, and no Democrats lost their seats, leaving the split at 19 Democrats and seven Republicans.
Democrat Josh Riley beat Republican Representative Marc Molinaro, who recently pivoted from a pragmatic brand of conservatism to full-on MAGA, with 51.8 percent of the vote at 96 percent reporting in a rematch from the 2022 midterms.
Democratic State Senator John Mannion beat Representative Brandon Williams with 53.9 percent of the vote at 84 percent reporting, flipping New York’s 22nd congressional district from red to blue. Williams took the seat in 2022, after after former Representative John Katko, a more moderate Republican, announced his retirement.
Laura Gillen beat Representative Anthony D’Esposito Thursday, with 50.9 percent of the vote at 98 percent reporting. D’Esposito’s campaign was marred by a damning report that he gave jobs in his office to his former lover and his fiancée’s daughter.
Cook Political Report had updated its rating of D’Esposito’s race just four days ahead of the election, shifting its prediction from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” signaling that D’Esposito would likely lose his seat.
At the same time, Democratic lawmakers were able to defend their House seats in races against strong Republican challengers. Democratic Representative Tom Suozzi held his ground against GOP challenger Mike LiPetri, leading him by 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent with 97 percent reporting. Suozzi won the special House election in New York’s 3rd congressional district after the ouster of George Santos, flipping the Long Island and Queens–based district from red to blue.
Still, many Republicans were able to fend off challenges from Democrats.
In New York’s 17th congressional district, Representative Mike Lawler crushed a challenge from former Representative Mondaire Jones, earning a whopping 57 percent of the vote with 94 percent reporting. Jones’s already struggling campaign was further weakened by a spoiler candidate that left the Working Families Party campaigning against itself.
In Long Island, Republican Representative Nick LaLota defeated former CNN commentator John Avalon with 55.7 percent of the vote with 88 percent reporting.
Republican Representatives Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Andrew Garabino, Nicholas Langworthy, and Claudia Tenney were also able to maintain their seats.
With Republicans winning both the presidency and the Senate, it’s become clear that every Democratic House seat matters. Even with many House races yet to be called, it currently looks like there will be a Republican majority in the House.
In 2022, the ascension of Molinaro and Lawler in the Hudson Valley, D’Esposito and LaLota on Long Island, and Williams in central New York are credited with losing the Democratic Party’s slim majority in the House.
That widespread failure came as an unhappy surprise for Democrats, especially considering that in New York state, there are nearly twice as many active registered Democrats than Republicans, indicating a significantly depressed turnout among Democratic voters for the 2022 midterm elections. In 2023, there were roughly 5.9 million active Democrats and only 2.7 million Republicans.
