The voters of New York, which is deep-blue, may be the most unexpected group that Republicans will have to thank if they win the House as widely anticipated.
Even though the Democrats’ blue wall was strong, it prevented the GOP from winning in close races across the country. However, Republican candidates for New York outperformed all prognostications by flipping or almost flipping a few House seats and almost capturing Governor’s Mansion.
Look at the four seats that we won on election night and you will see that we are going to win New York State alone. … We won two seats in Long Island and one in Hudson Valley,” Elise Stefanik, Chair of the House GOP Conference, stated Wednesday morning. She also said, “You can build a majority by just using our inroads in Northeast.”
Stefanik won her reelection bid easily Tuesday night. She pointed out Republican Mike Lawler’s “firing Sean Patrick Maloney” as the reason for his defeat in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s chairman, George Santos’ (R–NY) upset in the Democrat leaning 4th Congressional District lining Long Island’s southern shore, and Duchess County Executive Marc Molinaro’s (R–NY) flipping a upstate district as proof of the GOP’s County Executive Marc Molinaro’s County’s County’s County executive Marc Molinaro’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s County’s county district to show the GOP’s strength in New York.
The strong showing of Republicans in the Empire State was also reflected in a close upset in the gubernatorial race. Gov. Kathy Hochul was elected governor after the resignation of the former Gov. Andrew Cuomo held off a strong challenge from Rep. Lee Zeldin last August by single digits despite a partisan voter advantage close to 2-1 for Democrats.
A map that Hochul had signed, which would have secured a 22-4 partisan advantage in favor of Democrats, was struck down by a number of courts. This forced Democratic lawmakers into awkward musical chairs. Maloney, currently representing the state’s 18th Congressional District moved to the 17th District to increase his reelection prospects. The incumbent in that district was forced to move to lower Manhattan’s 10th District after he lost a crowded primary. Ironically, Maloney conceded defeat Wednesday morning to Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), who was the Democratic nominee for the more GOP-friendly 18th District. Ryan won a narrow victory.
Although there were expectations of a red tsunami sweeping across the United States, Tuesday night’s results turned out to be more like a trickle. New York and Florida served as the highlights for an underperforming Republican Party.
