Josh Riley is the Democrat candidate for U.S. Congress in New York’s 19th District on Nov. 8, 2022, in one of the most competitive House races in the nation.
James Escher/Newsday via AP

The contest to succeed outgoing Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi in a district that Democrats have held for decades and Joe Biden won by 10 points isn’t usually ranked at the top of lists of New York’s most competitive districts.

But the local election results in 2021 were as bad for Democrats as anywhere in the country. Republicans won every single office on the ballot in North Hempstead, which makes up a third of the congressional seat’s population and had previously been controlled by Democrats since the 1980s.

The DCCC added the district to its “Red to Blue” program just last week, providing Democratic National Committee member and longtime public affairs executive Zimmerman additional resources in the campaign against Republican investment banker Santos.

NY-04: Laura Gillen (D) v. Anthony D’Esposito (R)

POLITICO Forecast Rating: Leans D

The seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice began to emerge as competitive to some local observers in just the past few months, thanks to Long Island’s tempestuous political climate that is especially sensitive to local politics.

The November matchup pits former Hempstead supervisor Gillen, who became the first Democrat elected to the position in more than a century, against Hempstead Town Board member D’Esposito, a volunteer firefighter and retired New York City police detective.

Gillen lost her supervisor reelection bid to a Republican in 2019, showing just how swiftly Hempstead’s political winds can shift. She beat three other Democrats in the August primary. D’Esposito ran unopposed in the primary and has had the party’s support since March.

NY-11: Max Rose (D) v. Nicole Malliotakis (R)

POLITICO Forecast Rating: Likely R

Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from Staten Island, is running for re-election in a competitive district in New York City.