Blue Wave Hits New York’s Swing Districts

Swing districts in New York came out strong for Democrats this election, with races in the lower Hudson Valley, upstate, and Long Island mostly turning blue.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler called his challenger, Army veteran Cait Conley, a Democrat, on election night to concede the race in the 17th Congressional District. In Westchester County, part of the district, ballot scanners went down on Election Day due to a printing error on ballots, leaving 90,000 ballots to be counted Wednesday. Even so, Lawler said, “When all of the votes are counted in Westchester, it’s going to be pretty clear we will be short.”

Political Action Committees and donors viewed the district as a key battleground, with outside independent expenditures surpassing $30 million as of Nov. 1.

In one race still being counted in rural upstate 21st District on the St. Lawrence River, Trump-endorsed businessman Anthony Constantino is leading Democrat Blake Gendebien by about 2 percentage points.

Long Island Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen both held their swing district seats—the third and fourth, respectively—and beat back challengers endorsed by President Donald Trump.

In the 19th District, Democratic Rep. Josh Riley also handily defeated his Republican challenger, state Sen. Peter Oberacker.

Westchester Voting Debacle

Lawler and Conley went head to head in two intense televised debates covering the high cost of energy in New York, law enforcement, anti-Semitism, tariffs, taxes, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement collaboration with local police.

In a centrist district, both attempted to tie their opponent to the extreme wings of the other’s party. Lawler criticized Conley for not denouncing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s online statement on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, in which he mentioned Israel’s “ongoing genocide in Gaza.” Conley said Lawler votes with Trump 100 percent of the time.

Lawler has frequently cited his bipartisan ranking from the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranked him fourth among all 435 members of Congress for working on legislation with Democratic colleagues.

Pressed at a debate, Conley disavowed Mamdani’s Oct. 7 statement on Israel. Lawler argued he has pushed back on the president several times including on Temporary Protected Status for Haitians—Lawler and Gillen cosponsored a bill to re-grant their protected status—the president’s diesel deal with Russia, as well as tax breaks via the SALT (state and local taxes) deduction.

The 17th District includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties, as well as northern Westchester, and parts of Dutchess counties. According to Lawler, 50 percent of households in the district have a police officer, a firefighter, a first responder, or a veteran living in the household. The district also has one of the nation’s largest populations of Jewish residents.

In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just half a percentage point.

Voters who spoke with The Epoch Times in May at a rally featuring Lawler and Trump said Lawler is accessible and active in the community.

Suozzi Holds Seat

Suozzi defeated former LiPetri to represent the Third District comprising the north shore of Nassau County and parts of Queens and Suffolk counties. Suozzi won with 54.8 percent of the votes to LiPetri’s 45 percent in a rematch of the 2024 election when Suozzi won 52 percent to LiPetri’s 48.

Suozzi, a four-term congressman, who previously served as Nassau County executive, has pushed back on the more extreme wing of the Democratic Party. Suozzi disavowed socialism, called himself a capitalist, and wrote editorials in the Wall Street Journal in 2025 and 2026 critical of the Democratic Socialists of America and then-mayoral candidate Mamdani.

LiPetri, a former member of the state Assembly from 2019 to 2021, received Trump’s endorsement on TruthSocial as well as at an Aug. 14 rally in Garden City, Nassau County.

District resident Anne Marcano, who voted early on Oct. 24 in Mineola, said she is concerned about food prices, “which impacts our quality of life tremendously, daily.” She said she is also not happy about the war in Iran.

When asked about immigration enforcement, Marcano said, “I think that we need a comprehensive immigration plan. I don’t think that these measures, these extreme measures are necessary.”

Gillen Returns to Congress

Gillen defeated Republican Jeanine Driscoll in the Fourth District in southern Nassau County, which in the past eight years has sent both Democrats and Republicans to Washington.

Gillen received 56.1 percent of the vote to Driscoll’s 43.5 percent.

Gillen highlighted her concerns about the high cost of healthcare for Long Island families, from the ending of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits under Trump to fighting cuts in Medicaid and nutritional assistance passed by a Republican Congress.

Driscoll, a tax collector for the Town of Hempstead since 2020, has touted her record as a responsible steward. On July 13, Trump endorsed her on TruthSocial.

Voters who spoke with The Epoch Times said prices are out of control and they want to stop Trump. Germino Medina, who will soon become a grandpa, said he is concerned about deficit spending, the growing national debt, and how the next generation will deal with it.

“That’s gonna bite,” he added.

First elected to Congress in 2024, Gillen is a lawyer and former law professor at Hofstra University, She was also supervisor of the Town of Hempstead from 2018 to 2020.

Riley Retains 19th District Seat

Riley beat back a challenge from Oberacker, retaining his seat with a solid 57.2 percent of the vote, compared with his challenger’s 42.6 percent.

Riley first won the seat in 2024. The Central New York district is made up of all or part of 12 counties. The race was less competitive this election season, with the Riley campaign spending about $6 million, compared with $9.8 million spent in 2024 to defeat then-Republican incumbent Rep. Marcus Molinaro.