Democrat Kyle Hill challenging GOP Rep. Nick LaLota in 1st Congressional District
Democrat Kyle Hill, above, is challenging Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in the 1st Congressional District race. Credit: Wynne Leila Hendry
Democrat Kyle Hill on Tuesday declared his candidacy in the 1st Congressional District.
A former congressional staffer from Port Jefferson, Hill is the fourth Democrat to challenge freshman GOP Rep. Nick LaLota of Amityville in the 2024 election.
Democrats Nancy Goroff, a former Stony Brook University chemistry department chair, James Gaughran, a former state senator from Huntington, and Craig Herskowitz, who was most recently a New York City administrative law judge and lives in Northport, also have filed to run.
Daniel Peter Foti has filed to run as a Conservative. Republican Darrion Stewart, who had filed for the race, has switched his campaign to New York’s 8th Congressional District, a seat held by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn).
Hill said he is running in response to what he sees as dysfunction in Congress, including the 21 days the House was without a speaker this fall after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted in an effort led by far-right members of his party.
“We really have what I call ‘the Congress of chaos,’ ” Hill said. “This Congress has been hijacked by the MAGA extremists, and the tail is absolutely wagging the dog here.”
LaLota's campaign on Saturday received support from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who attended a fundraiser for LaLota in Hauppauge. Suffolk County GOP chair Jesse Garcia said Johnson’s visit “clearly demonstrates the importance of New York and Long Island in maintaining the House majority.”
Garcia described LaLota as “a fighter for Long Island” who has advocated for regional issues including the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and lifting the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions.
Hill works for the Manhattan-based nonprofit health insurer Healthfirst. He previously served as legislative director for Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and as a health policy adviser to former Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat from Huntington who represented the 3rd Congressional District from 2000 until 2016.
Hill said the top issues include health care, affordable living — including repealing the SALT cap — and protecting reproductive freedoms.
LaLota has just over $1 million in cash on hand as of the campaign finance reporting period ending Sept. 30, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Gaughran has $109,859, and Herskowitz had $104,449. No fundraising numbers had been posted for Goroff, who declared her candidacy in October. Foti has reported no contributions.
The primary is June 25.
The 1st District spans Suffolk County’s North Shore and eastern portion and traditionally has been a swing district.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates the district as “likely Republican” for 2024.
With Tara Smith
Democrat Kyle Hill on Tuesday declared his candidacy in the 1st Congressional District.
A former congressional staffer from Port Jefferson, Hill is the fourth Democrat to challenge freshman GOP Rep. Nick LaLota of Amityville in the 2024 election.
Democrats Nancy Goroff, a former Stony Brook University chemistry department chair, James Gaughran, a former state senator from Huntington, and Craig Herskowitz, who was most recently a New York City administrative law judge and lives in Northport, also have filed to run.
Daniel Peter Foti has filed to run as a Conservative. Republican Darrion Stewart, who had filed for the race, has switched his campaign to New York’s 8th Congressional District, a seat held by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn).
Hill said he is running in response to what he sees as dysfunction in Congress, including the 21 days the House was without a speaker this fall after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted in an effort led by far-right members of his party.
“We really have what I call ‘the Congress of chaos,’ ” Hill said. “This Congress has been hijacked by the MAGA extremists, and the tail is absolutely wagging the dog here.”
LaLota's campaign on Saturday received support from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who attended a fundraiser for LaLota in Hauppauge. Suffolk County GOP chair Jesse Garcia said Johnson’s visit “clearly demonstrates the importance of New York and Long Island in maintaining the House majority.”
Garcia described LaLota as “a fighter for Long Island” who has advocated for regional issues including the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and lifting the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions.
Hill works for the Manhattan-based nonprofit health insurer Healthfirst. He previously served as legislative director for Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and as a health policy adviser to former Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat from Huntington who represented the 3rd Congressional District from 2000 until 2016.
Hill said the top issues include health care, affordable living — including repealing the SALT cap — and protecting reproductive freedoms.
LaLota has just over $1 million in cash on hand as of the campaign finance reporting period ending Sept. 30, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Gaughran has $109,859, and Herskowitz had $104,449. No fundraising numbers had been posted for Goroff, who declared her candidacy in October. Foti has reported no contributions.
The primary is June 25.
The 1st District spans Suffolk County’s North Shore and eastern portion and traditionally has been a swing district.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates the district as “likely Republican” for 2024.
With Tara Smith
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.
