Laura Gillen concedes 4th Congressional District race

Democrat Laura Gillen conceded the race in the 4th Congressional District to Republican Anthony D'Esposito, cementing the GOP's hold on all four House seats on Long Island.

“This has been a long, close, and hard-fought race," Gillen said Wednesday in a statement.

"I know this is not the outcome we hoped for, but it has been the honor of a lifetime to have been the Democratic nominee for this district," Gillen said.

Republicans also flipped the 3rd District in Nassau and Queens, where Republican George Santos beat Democrat Robert Zimmerman for the seat held by Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who is retiring.

In the 1st District in Suffolk County, Republican Nicholas LaLota, of Amityville, chief of staff to the presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, beat Democrat Bridget Fleming, a Suffolk County legislator from Noyac, according to unofficial returns.

Also, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) won reelection in the 2nd Congressional District against Democrat Jackie Gordon.

With 100% of election districts reporting, D'Esposito, a Hempstead Town Council member and an administrative assistant at the Nassau County Board of Elections, beat Gillen by a margin of 52% to 48%, according to unofficial returns from the Nassau County Board of Elections.

D’Esposito, 40, of Island Park, and Gillen, 53, a commercial attorney, entered the 4th District race after Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) announced her retirement.

On the campaign trail this fall, Republicans in the Long Island House races vowed to focus on public safety, address inflation and backed more domestic production of fossil fuels.

Democrats said they would protect reproductive and LGBTQ rights, work to pass stricter gun laws and stimulate the economy with green energy infrastructure projects.

As of Tuesday, of 50,396 absentee ballots requested by Nassau County voters, 32,345 had been returned, according to the Nassau County Board of Elections.

Of those returned, 16,547 were from Democrats, 9,668 were from Republicans and 5,051 were from voters not aligned with any party.

In Suffolk County as of Tuesday, 32,167 absentee ballots had been received by elections officials of 48,635 sent out, according to the office of Democratic Suffolk elections commissioner.

Of those returned, 15,230 were from Democrats, 9,480 were from Republicans and 6,808 were unaffiliated voters.

Absentee ballots had to be received by county boards of election by the close of polls at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, or postmarked no later than Tuesday.

With John Asbury, Robert Brodsky, Scott Eidler, Michael Gormley, Nicholas Spangler, Vera Chinese and Rick Brand

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.