(The Center Square) — Republicans have expanded a “MAGA Majority” list of top battleground candidates to include two New York House seats the GOP is hoping to flip in this fall’s midterms.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has added New York’s 3rd and 19th congressional districts to its roster of must-win races in November, throwing its support behind Republican challengers Mike LiPetri and Peter Oberacker to flip the Democratic-held seats. They are challenging incumbent Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi on Long Island and Josh Riley upstate.
The NRCC said the New York candidates and six other Republicans added to the MAGA list — including former Maine Gov. Paul LePage who is running one of the states to House districts — “embody the Trump agenda: securing the border, lowering costs, restoring energy dominance, and putting American workers first.”
“House Republicans are on offense, and this latest round of MAGA Majority candidates proves we’re not slowing down,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement. “These are battle-tested leaders who reflect their districts and are ready to take the fight to vulnerable Democrats. With the right candidates in place early, we’re expanding the map and putting more seats firmly in play for 2026.”
Riley, a first-term Democrat, narrowly won the swing district in 2024 elections with just 51.1% of the vote. Souzzi, a fixture in Long Island politics, flipped the 3rd Congressional seat held by the ousted Republican Rep. George Santos in a special election in 2024, further narrowing the House GOP’s already razor-thin margins.
Both LiPetri and Oberacker are running with endorsements from President Donald Trump, who said the congressional hopefuls will “grow the economy, cut taxes and regulations, unleash American energy dominance.”
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has ranked New York’s 3rd Congressional District race as “lean Democrat” but said “it’s plausible” that this race will eventually make its way to the “Toss Up” column.
“But much will depend on whether Republicans actually end up with the resources to put the 3rd District’s proudly moderate Democratic incumbent on notice,” the Cook report’s authors wrote.
Republicans are also expected to target incumbent Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen on Long Island, who is facing a challenge from Republican Jeanine Driscoll, Hempstead’s Receiver of Taxes who was recently endorsed by the state party.
New York’s congressional districts are currently split 19 to 7 in favor of Democrats, who currently control the state Legislature and the governor’s office. The state is viewed as a battleground in the upcoming midterm elections, when control of Congress is up for grabs.
Earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed to redraw the blue state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats after the Texas’ Legislature moves ahead with a GOP-led redistricting plan ahead of next year’s midterm election.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave the state Republicans a big win in March when it ruled that New York City’s only GOP-held congressional district will remain intact after justices overturned a state court decision ordering the district’s lines to be redrawn ahead of the midterms.
