Gillen defeats Trump-endorsed Driscoll in New York's 4th CD

Freshman Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) won a second term representing New York’s 4th congressional district Tuesday after defeating Republican challenger Jeanine Driscoll.

Gillen garnered 55.3% of the vote, compared to Driscoll’s 42.19%, with 91% of Nassau precincts reporting their results late Tuesday night.

Gillen, speaking at an election night gathering organized by Nassau Democrats said her campaign was able to reach voters on issues like affordability and transparency.

Voters chose "common sense over chaos," she said.

Gillen, 57, was first elected to the U.S. House in 2024, defeating former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park). Nassau Republican Party leaders were looking to D’Esposito to return for a rematch against Gillen, but he opted not to run in order to keep his appointment as inspector general of the Department of Labor. His decision gave local Republicans a narrow window to find a new candidate.

Driscoll, 59, a Bellerose attorney, was selected by the Nassau GOP in April to run for the seat, and soon after President Donald Trump endorsed her in a social media post, saying she had his "complete and total" support.

Driscoll’s springtime entry into the race, also put her more than a year behind Gillen in campaign fundraising. Driscoll’s campaign raised more than $687,000 since launching in April, and had spent the majority of those funds as of the Federal Election Commission's Oct. 14 filing deadline. Gillen, meanwhile, raised $6.1 million since January 2025, and spent nearly half of that, $2.9 million as of the FEC’s latest filing deadline.

Gillen, on the campaign trail, sought to position herself as a bipartisan player in Congress, and a Democrat not aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and its growing ranks of elected officials including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Driscoll, touted her experience as tax receiver on the campaign trail, saying she supported the sweeping 2025 tax-and-spend bill passed by congressional Republicans and signed into law by Trump, while pledging to do more to explore other tax cuts.

The race generated national interest as both parties sought to pickup seats in Long Island's battleground districts. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D- Brooklyn) and Democratic House Whip Kathleen Clark of Massachusetts, both stumped alongside Gillen.

Driscoll, was among the Long Island Republican congressional candidates who appeared onstage with Trump during his September visit to Nassau's police training complex, and she also stumped alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican House Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota during their visits to Long Island.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.