Democrat Laura Gillen flips NY’s District 4 blue on Long Island
Lauren Gillen, Democratic Congressional candidate in New York, center, greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote rally at Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead, New York, US, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Democrat Laura Gillen wins New York’s battleground District 4 House seat on Long Island, flipping it blue and overcoming her previous defeat to Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito by four points two years prior.
The Associated Press projected the former town supervisor to win the South Shore district around 12:40 on Thursday, two days after the 2024 election.
Though Republicans will take control of the Senate and won the presidency, votes are still being counted to determine the balance of power in the House of Representatives.
To gain control of the House, Democrats need to flip four seats from Republicans, while holding all of their own, a tall task especially in congressional districts where Trump has won. It could come down to just a handful of seats, or as little as one, to determine House control.
Laura Gillen's campaign
Though Gillen lost to D’Esposito in 2022, her campaign hoped the presidential election would energize NY-4, which President Joe Biden won in 2020 by a 14-point margin.
Gillen, who served as Hempstead's supervisor 2017 – the first Democrat elected to the position in 112 years – leveraged the district's Democratic enrollment advantage and garnered support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s "Red to Blue" initiative. An attorney and mother of four, Gillen emphasized her confidence in her ability to win the district.
"We have far more resources this time, so we’re really making sure that we are out there talking not just to Democratic voters but to independent and Republican voters," she told FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg in October.
On the campaign trail, she pledged to support increased law enforcement and border security if elected, countering claims that her campaign was focused solely on Democratic issues.
D’Esposito, Gillen face off in tight NY-4 race
As the race for New York’s 4th Congressional District on Long Island heats up, an Oct. 26 poll shows Democratic challenger Laura Gillen leading Republican incumbent Anthony D’Esposito by 12 points. Both candidates, who faced off in 2022, are gearing up for a rematch with national implications, as control of Congress may hang in the balance. FOX 5’s Jodi Goldberg reports.
See all 2024 election results for New York here and track the balance of power in the House here.