Democrat Laura Gillen defeats incumbent GOP Rep. D’Esposito for Long Island seat
After almost two days of waiting, Democrat Laura Gillen defeated first-term Republican Rep. Anthony D'Esposito in Long Island's 4th Congressional District, the Associated Press reported. The close race flips another seat from red to blue and inches Democrats closer to control of the U.S. House of Representatives — though the majority remains up in the air, with the GOP ahead by 13 seats as of Thursday afternoon.
While the AP didn't call the race for more than 36 hours, Gillen declared victory in a speech to supporters just before midnight on Tuesday. She was two points ahead of D'Esposito, a margin she held on Thursday.
"We put together a campaign that was a winning campaign that we will emulate for years to come," Gillen said. "It's time to get Congress back to work again for everyday people."
D'Esposito conceded shortly after the race was called on Thursday, thanking his supporters and volunteers.
"From the NYPD to Capitol Hill, I have always strived to serve the public, and I will continue doing so," he said in a statement. "I remain your congressman until the 119th [Congress] convenes. I'll see you around the district!"
The candidates were competing for a district that spans much of Nassau County's south shore and was considered a crucial battleground as Democrats sought to flip at least four seats to take majority control of the House. They came close: Gillen's victory marks the third New York seat Democrats flipped in the chamber in Tuesday's election.
But it is still unclear if the victories in New York will be enough to shift the balance in the House, with races still to be called on the West Coast. Even as Republicans awaited the results of this contest, they celebrated what appeared on Tuesday to be a positive outcome for the top of the ticket and in the U.S. Senate, where the party took majority control of the chamber.
Republican Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, said the shifts that happened locally were a sign of things to come nationally.
"It started right here on Long Island with Nassau and Suffolk County," said Blakeman, who predicted Trump would continue to make gains and ultimately win the election.
The contest between Gillen and D'Esposito echoed national debates over crime, the U.S. southern border and women's rights. It also often took a personal tone, owing in part to the candidates' long history of competition.
Gillen was the first Democrat elected as Hempstead town supervisor in 112 years, and D'Esposito, who is a retired NYPD detective, was a member of the town council. She said that when she first took office, he was among the people who stole all the furniture from her clerk's office, "down to the flag out of her flagpole holder." Then in 2022, they ran against each other for the House seat D'Esposito eventually won, and which Gillen is taking this time.
In this year's race, their personal histories crystalized some of the campaign's main battles. To underscore the importance of abortion rights, Gillen shared her own story of needing a lifesaving abortion procedure when she was pregnant with her third child, after doctors discovered the baby did not have a heartbeat.
And after the New York Times reported that D'Esposito had hired his fiancée's daughter and the woman he was having an affair with to work in his office, Gillen blasted his "arrogance and the utter disregard for his responsibility as an elected official." D'Esposito denied he did anything wrong.
The congressmember framed his campaign was a "mission to save the United States," and the rights of women and girls figured prominently into his message. He promoted a campaign against a statewide ballot proposal, known as Proposition 1 , that aimed to enshrine abortion rights and antidiscrimination measures into the state constitution's equal protection clause.
Critics of the measure, including the Newsday editorial board, said its wording was "absurdly vague." D'Esposito and his supporters reframed the issue to argue that it would allow transgender girls to participate in girls' sports, which the New York City Bar Association has said is untrue. The state already has existing statutes for gender identity protections, and some local school districts currently permit kids to play on sports teams based on their gender identity.
On Tuesday, Prop 1 passed.
Gillen's win puts a dent into Republicans' recent gains across Long Island. Last year, Republicans won the Suffolk County executive seat. And D'Esposito's 2022 victory flipped a seat that Democrats had held for nearly three decades.
GOP voters were motivated by a combination of local and national issues, especially the presence of a larger number of newly arrived immigrants, said Kelly Nocella, who made phone calls on behalf of the D'Esposito campaign.
"Our main issue around here is definitely the migrants," Nocella said at an event for D'Esposito on Tuesday night. "I don't want migrants in my area. Absolutely not."
But Democratic voters say they were also galvanized, and turned out in large numbers.
Virginia Nunez, 54, of West Hempstead was one of the first people to arrive at an election night event supporting Gillen. She wore a denim jacket with a Harris-Walz pin for the Democratic ticket and said she voted for both Vice President Kamala Harris and Gillen because she was concerned about the health and freedoms of her 15-year-old daughter.
"It's important to preserve women's rights for my daughter and for all women," said Nunez.
