NEW YORK – Democratic challenger Laura Gillen pulled off an upset Tuesday night in the New York City suburbs over first-term Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, flipping a coveted seat in a racially diverse South Coast district of western Long Island.
The victory of Gillen, a former local government official, gives Democrats a much-needed boost in their quest to retake the House of Representatives and brings partisan balance to a region largely governed by Republicans at the local and state levels.
Gillen, previously the town of Hempstead supervisor, narrowly lost a bid against D’Esposito for the 2022 seat.
D’Esposito, a freshman member of Congress and former NYPD detective, faced scandal in the final months of his campaign after a New York Times exposé in September revealed that he was having an affair and his lover and had put his fiancée’s daughter on his payroll.
He has denied violating House ethics rules.
Gillen’s path to victory was paved by Democrats’ support of the district’s Black and Latino voters, her argument that she is better positioned to work across the aisle and her message that her party cares to secure the border. Her prospects improved after Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Congressional races on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and in central New York are expected to help determine whether Mike Johnson or Hakeem Jeffries will serve as speaker next year.
In 2022, D’Esposito turned NY-04 red after former Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice had chosen not to seek re-election.
It made the district one of the few in the House where voters chose Biden in 2020 but chose a Republican House member two years later. The victory was part of a red wave that swept the state as Republicans turned four seats in the New York House red.
D’Esposito, who was instrumental in ousting then-colleague Rep. George Santos, was a face of Nassau County’s storied Republican Party and a leader whom Donald Trump praised when he visited the county in September.
One of the few female challengers to Democrats floating on the battlegrounds of California and New York, Gillen proved to be a prolific fundraiser. She brought in $2.4 million in the third quarter of her campaign and $1.9 million in the second quarter.
Democratic attacks on D’Esposito have often focused less on the accusations of patronage and nepotism and more on complaints of misconduct against him filed during his days as a police officer. He was accused of lying under oath, a case that New York City settled with $250,000 of taxpayer money, and he failed to secure his gun, which had been stolen from him.
D’Esposito defended his police record in their only debate. He accused Gillen of patronage and tried to use her record as a city supervisor against her. He repeatedly attacked her as a liar, a gaslighter and someone he described as ineffective in the Hempstead government, where they both served.
His ads targeted Gillen as an ally of unpopular Democratic leaders Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Mayor Eric Adams, whom he and other vulnerable New York Republicans portrayed as soft on immigrants and crime.
“My opponent and Democrats across the country told us the border was secure, and they said the economy was booming,” D’Esposito said during the News 12 debate. “Suddenly Kamala Harris becomes the nominee, and now they want to secure the border and fix the economy. They lie to everyone.”
Gillen attempted to portray D’Esposito as enabling a highly ineffective and dysfunctional Republican-controlled Congress, noting that Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected the Senate’s bipartisan border deal.
“You’re sending me to Congress,” she said in one ad. “I will work with anyone from any party to secure our southern border, lock up criminals who sell fentanyl, and end the migrant crisis.”
The Democrat also urged the incumbent Republican party to give the green light to a nationwide abortion ban, supported by Chairman Johnson.
D’Esposito, like other moderate Republicans fighting for their political lives in blue states, said he would not vote for a federal ban and accused Democrats of misrepresenting his positions for political gain.
Democratic leaders rallied behind Gillen over the course of the district’s race. They included House Minority Leader Jeffries, House Foreign Affairs Committee Member Gregory Meeks, and House Minority Leader Katherine Clark.
