Nick LaLota wins New York's 1st Congressional District; other races too close to call
LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- New York is among the closely contested regions that voters are eyeing as the fate of Congress could be decided in the Empire State.
By early Wednesday morning, some U.S. House races, including on Long Island where four seats were at stake, were still too close to call.
Three of those districts are currently controlled by Republicans and helped the party gain control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats were hoping to flip two of those districts: the 1st District in Suffolk County and the 4th District in Nassau County.
1st District Race
Republicans retained at least one of those districts, with ABC News projecting Rep. Nick LaLota to win New York's 1st Congressional District.
The Republican, who was seeking a second term in his race against former CNN anchor and author John Avlon, thanked his supporters on Tuesday night.
"Thank you so much to every single one of you who've been on this journey for years and years. I'm only here because of everything that you've done, you've knocked out the doors, you've made the phone calls you plan for the law signs to get behind this winning campaign. I'm so thankful for every one of you, you trusted me," he said.
The 1st Congressional District is contained within Suffolk County and stretches from the eastern tip of Long Island to the New York City suburbs. Republicans have held the seat for the last decade.
LaLota was one of several New York Republicans running for reelection in a district whose voters were narrowly divided in the 2020 presidential election.
4th District Race
Meanwhile, New York's 4th Congressional District, where Republican Anthony D'Esposito faced a rematch against 2022 Democratic nominee Laura Gillen, was still too close to call Wednesday morning.
The race was expected to be the most contentious on Long Island.
"We've knocked on 90,000 doors already, and we're going to keep knocking until November 5th," Gillen said.
She may have also seen a boost from a bombshell New York Times report that accused D'Esposito of putting his fiancee's daughter and mistress on the same payroll, costing taxpayers nearly 30,000 dollars.
"There's certainly no scandal. There's no story. It's a political hit piece and there have been zero ethics violated," Rep. Anthony D'Esposito said.
D'Esposito helped lead the charge to expel disgraced Long Island Congressman George Santos from office.
2nd District Race
ABC News is projecting Republican Andrew Garbarino to win New York's 2nd Congressional District.
He defeated Democrat Rob Lubin, a founder of a sports fashion marketplace who was making his first run for elected office.
Garbarino has represented a district covering a swath of Long Island's South Shore since 2021.
Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the district, but it has reliably favored the GOP in recent elections. Garbarino is a former state Assembly member and currently chairs a House subcommittee on cybersecurity and infrastructure protection.
3rd District Race
ABC News also projected Democrat Tom Suozzi to win New York's 3rd Congressional District.
Suozzi, who had represented this Long Island district for three terms before stepping down to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, returned to his old seat this year in a special election after Republican Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress.
Suozzi defeated Michael LePetri, a former state assemblyman. The district covers the northern half of Nassau County and a small piece of Queens.
District 3, is the only one on Long Island currently controlled by a Democrat.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
More election results from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut
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