(The Center Square) — Democrats flipped two New York congressional seats in Tuesday’s elections, rolling back gains made by Republicans two years ago, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives still in play.
Democrat Josh Riley defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro in New York’s sprawling 19th Congressional District, which runs from the border with Massachusetts across the Catskill Mountains to the Finger Lakes region.
“We fight for the underdog, the overlooked, and the left-behind,” Riley posted on social media Tuesday night. “Those are Upstate New York’s values, and I am going to take them with me to Congress.”
This is the second time Molinaro and Riley, an attorney, have faced one another. In 2022, Molinaro won with 51.1% of the vote as part of a red wave that helped the GOP win control of the House.
In central New York, Democratic state Sen. John Mannion edged out Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in the 22nd Congressional District. Williams narrowly won the district in 2022, but redistricting upended its boundaries, and Democrats targeted the seat as a prime pickup in this election cycle.
On Long Island, Republican U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito was still locked in a race against Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor he defeated in 2022. The outcome was still too close to call.
Gillen declared victory late Tuesday, with a tally by the Associated Press showing her ahead of D’Esposito by 50.2% to 49.1%, with 95% of the votes counted. The race still hadn’t been called as of Wednesday morning.
In the Hudson Valley region, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler pushed back a challenge from former Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat representing part of the largely suburban congressional district before its borders were redrawn ahead of the 2022 midterm election.
On the campaign trail, Jones portrayed Lawler as an “extreme MAGA Republican” who supports Trump’s policies, but Lawler has pushed back on those claims and argued that Jones is out of touch with voters and too liberal for the district.
Republicans also held onto a House seat they’ve occupied for nearly a decade, with incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota defeating Democrat John Avlon, a former CNN host and political analyst.
Control of the House remained uncertain on Wednesday morning. Whether Republicans maintain control of the chamber will come down to races in California, which could take days to call.
In the 2022 midterms, a red wave of Republicans in New York City’s suburbs won seats in Congress with campaigns that portrayed the Big Apple as crime-ridden and lawless during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those victories helped Republicans win control of the House with a narrow majority.
Republicans continued to press crime this election cycle while also seeking to capitalize on suburban anger over the Biden administration’s immigration policies and an influx of asylum seekers that has overwhelmed New York City and surrounding counties.
But Democrats sought to claw back those congressional districts by arguing that a Republican-controlled Congress might ban abortion nationwide. They’ve also pointed to recent data showing that violent crime is down in the state and nationally.
A key Republican-held seat on Long Island flipped last year after former Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress when he was convicted of defrauding campaign donors and caught lying about his history.
Santos was replaced in a special election by Democrat Tom Suozzi, who easily won reelection Tuesday against Republican Mike LiPetri, a former state lawmaker.
In New York’s 16th Congressional District, Democrat George Latimer defeated Republican Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser. Latimer, a former Westchester County Executive and state lawmaker, ousted Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a contentious Democratic primary in June. The upset made Bowman the first member of the progressive group of liberals known as “The Squad” to lose a reelection bid.
