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Gillen Defeats D’Esposito in New York, Flipping House Seat for Democrats
Laura Gillen unseated Representative Anthony D’Esposito, a first-term Republican, on Long Island. Her campaign focused on abortion and the border.
Laura Gillen, a former Democratic town supervisor on Long Island, narrowly defeated Representative Anthony D’Esposito of New York, according to The Associated Press, giving her party another crucial pickup in its uphill quest to win the House majority.
The race, in New York’s Fourth District on the South Shore of Long Island, had been considered a bellwether. The district voted for President Biden by 14 points in 2020, only to lurch rightward two years later when Mr. D’Esposito, a Republican, capitalized on frustration over crime and inflation for a surprise victory.
By the time the race was called on Thursday, it had become clear the district had swung back — but only far enough for Ms. Gillen to scrape to victory. She prevailed with 51 percent of the vote to Mr. D’Esposito’s 49 percent.
Ms. Gillen was running roughly a percentage point ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in turn clinging to a less than 3,000-vote lead over President-elect Donald J. Trump in the district when the race was called.
“It’s time to turn a new page,” Ms. Gillen said late Tuesday night as she declared victory. “It’s time to get Congress back to work again for everyday people. It’s time to stop pointing fingers.”
The contest was the last of a half-dozen swing races to be called in New York, one of the nation’s largest House battlegrounds this year. Altogether, Democrats flipped three seats — on Long Island, in Syracuse and in the Hudson Valley — while Republicans held onto two others.
The gains in New York were enough to keep Democrats’ hopes of winning the House majority alive. But Republicans were believed to have the upper hand in yet-uncalled contests in California and other western states.
In the Fourth District, Mr. D’Esposito, a former police detective, tried to revive many of the themes that carried him to victory in 2022, especially concerns about the southern border. But Ms. Gillen, 55, proved better funded this time and prepared to blunt their impact.
She appealed to moderates by embracing immigration as a focus of her campaign, spending nearly $1 million on an ad promising to work with “anyone from any party to secure our southern border.” And she hammered Mr. D’Esposito, 42, as a threat to abortion rights, drawing attention to comments in which he said he would “probably” vote for a 15-week abortion ban.
Mr. D’Esposito was buffeted by scandal. The New York Times reported in September that he had put both his mistress and the daughter of his fiancée on the congressional payroll, in possible violation of several House rules. CNN later reported that he had charged over $100,000 in food and drink, including thousands of dollars in steak, to his campaign account in a little over two years.
Mr. D’Esposito denied that he had broken any rules and called both reports partisan smears. But he never offered a detailed explanation for his hiring decisions, either.
“We have serious problems that need to be fixed, and he’s too busy focusing on enriching himself and friends and family,” Ms. Gillen said in the campaign’s closing stretch.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government. More about Nicholas Fandos
Alyce McFadden is a reporter covering New York City and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Alyce McFadden
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