Elections 2024: LaLota, Avlon Enter Homestretch in East End Congressional Race

The closely watched race for the East End congressional seat — a competitive matchup in a key swing district that could help tip the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Freshman U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point), a U.S. Navy veteran, former Suffolk County Board of Elections official and ex-Amityville village trustee, is running for a second term against Democratic rival John Avlon, a former CNN broadcaster who has homes in Sag Harbor and Manhattan. They differ on abortion rights, immigration and taxes — as well as which one of them is the “common sense” candidate, and who actually has legitimate ties to the district.

“This year is especially tricky, because so many people already have a fixed opinion about some of the two leading candidates, which has to impact the decisions when they get in the voting booth,” former New York State Assemblyman Jerry Kremer has said.

The presidential election at the top of the ticket is expected to fuel increased voter turnout as former President Donald Trump, a Republican seeking to recapture the White House, faces off against Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat. New York State legislative races, several town-level seats and four propositions are also on Twin Forks ballots this cycle.

LaLota was leading Avlon by three percentage points — 47% to 44% — in a Newsday/Sienna College poll of voters, the results of which were released on Oct. 22. Avlon’s campaign noted that the poll put the Democrat within the 3% margin of error noted in election polls.

New York State’s 1st Congressional District includes the entire East End as well as the North Shore of Suffolk County up to the Nassau County line in the Town of Huntington. The district had 185,043 registered Democrats, 181,090 registered Republicans, 165,020 unaffiliated voters and 34,293 minor-party-affiliated voters as of Nov. 1, 2023, according to the latest state Board of Elections data available.

The Cook Political Report ranked the “likely Republican” race as having “the potential to become engaged.” Republicans currently hold an eight-seat majority in the House, which has three vacant seats. That has put a national spotlight on this race since the winner could help decide which party controls the chamber.

ABORTION RIGHTS

The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe. v Wade, which had established the right for women to get an abortion nationwide, has triggered a debate over whether Congress should pass legislation addressing the issue.

Avlon maintains that he would push to restore women’s reproductive rights and has repeatedly noted that LaLota said Roe being struck down was a “step in the right direction.” The Democratic challenger said he supports the Women’s Health Protection Act that would codify abortion rights nationwide.

“The decision to have an abortion is between a woman, her doctor and her God, not the government,” Avlon said during an Oct. 21 debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork.

LaLota held up a sign that read, “I oppose a national abortion ban” when Avlon took aim at the congressman’s stance on the issue. LaLota has said that he supports abortion in the first trimester in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at risk. Avlon described the position as a “12-week abortion ban” that the congressman favors.

“You can lie all you’d like, sir, but the reality is … I blocked extreme views on abortion,”  LaLota said in response during the debate, noting that he believes parents should be notified before a minor can get an abortion.

BORDER WARS

The congressman and his challenger have also traded barbs over one another’s position on the topic of immigration, which has also proven to be a hot-button issue on Long Island.

The House last month passed LaLota’s No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act that would restrict sanctuary cities — places such as New York City that have a policy of not reporting undocumented immigrants to federal immigration authorities — from using federal funds to address the migrant crisis by placing them in hotels, among other things.

“By refusing to help enforce federal immigration law, sanctuary cities have created their own crisis and federal taxpayers must not be forced to foot the bill for their misguided policies,” LaLota said. “New Yorkers, like the rest of the country, are fed up with the strain this crisis has put on our resources.”

The bill’s fate in the U.S. Senate is murky at best. But Avlon said LaLota should have supported a border deal that could have addressed the issue before it fell apart in May.

“When Donald Trump told him to, my opponent went online and mocked it,” Avlon said of the deal in an Oct. 20 debate hosted by NewsdayTV. “He helped kill it. If you’re going to fundraise and fearmonger off migrants and refuse to fix it, I think that’s a firing offense.”

TAX TUSSEL

In one of the few points on which the candidates agree, both men say they support repealing the federal State and Local Property Tax (SALT) deduction cap that the Trump administration enacted in 2017. But they differ on who will actually get it done.

LaLota, who took office after Congress approved the SALT cap — which barred homeowners from deducting more than $10,000 of such taxes on their federal income taxes — said he has been trying to get it repealed for the past two years that he has been in office.

“This cap has disproportionately affected families in high-tax states like New York, placing an undue strain on Long Island households already burdened with high property taxes to support essential local services,” LaLota said.

Avlon countered that LaLota hasn’t done enough to convince his GOP majority colleagues to lift the cap.

“The fact is, you failed to get it done,” Avlon said during the Newsday debate. “You failed to restore it.”

RESIDENCY QUESTIONS

One of the most contentious issues of the campaign is which candidate actually is tied to the district — with both sides accusing the other of being a carpetbagger.

Avlon has called out LaLota for the fact that he still lives in Amityville, which is outside of the district he represents but legal under state law. LaLota, who had said he would move into the district if elected but has yet to do so, has been describing Avlon as a Manhattan elitist whose Sag Harbor home is nothing but a summer beach house, not the challenger’s permanent residence.

“John Avlon is not and has never been a Suffolk County nor Sag Harbor resident and should not be referred to as such in coverage of this campaign,” Will Kiley, the congressman’s campaign spokesman, wrote in a three-page Aug. 9 memo to the media. “Based on tax filings, inconsistent responses to the media, and the residences and activities of his family members, no reasonable person can conclude that John Avlon is or was ever a full-time resident of Sag Harbor.”

Avlon countered in the Newsday debate that the congressman cannot vote for himself since he lives in another congressional district — but the challenger can.

“Only one of us on this stage can actually vote in this election,” Avlon said.

The nine-day early voting period starts on Oct. 26, which is also the state’s voter registration deadline. Election Day is on Nov. 5.

For more information on where to register and local polling locations, visit the Suffolk County Board of Elections website suffolkvotes.com

-With additional reporting by Miranda Ferrante and Michael Malaszczyk