GOP flyers target one of LaLota's Democratic challengers

WASHINGTON — The state Republican Party is cutting in on the Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat from Long Island held by Republican Nick LaLota, mailing literature to Democratic voters attacking one of the two candidates.

The flyers have been arriving this week at the addresses of Democrats in the Suffolk County-based district ahead of the June 23 primary election. 

"I received one and everyone I know who votes in Democratic primaries has been getting them," said Keith Davies, of Kings Park, a party committeeman and political consultant.

The fingerprints are easy to detect. The flyers come stamped as sent by the New York Republican Federal Campaign Committee, a political action committee affiliated with the state GOP.

The target is Lukas Ventouras, 25, of Northport, who is running for Congress while still in law school. His opponent is Chris Gallant, 37, of Amity Harbor, a Black Hawk pilot, Army veteran, National Guardsman, former air traffic controller and volunteer firefighter.

One of the flyers reads: "Suffolk County: Stop Socialism. Stop Lukas Ventouras." That flyer goes on to list that he supports such things as "taxpayer-funded benefits to immigrants," abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and "more government-run health care."

Some Suffolk Democrats and independent political analysts suspect the Republicans' aim may be to elevate Ventouras, whom they perceive as a weaker candidate with fewer resources to promote himself.

"We’ve seen groups deploy similar tactics in a number of House and Senate races this cycle," Jacob Rubashkin, deputy editor of Inside Election, said. He’s among the nonpartisan analysts who haven’t considered New York’s 1st Congressional District as competitive in the national fight for the U.S. House majority, now narrowly in the hands of the GOP.

But Rubashkin said the race could get tighter, especially if President Donald Trump’s standing continues to worsen. "If that happens, he said, Republicans would probably prefer to face Ventouras rather than Gallant — a military veteran with a compelling story and some demonstrated fundraising ability."

The latest candidate financial filings through March 31 with the Federal Election Commission show that Gallant had raised $423,882 for his campaign, and had $72,390 remaining in the bank. Ventouras had raised $103,366, including a $3,800 loan from himself, and had $36,361 stockpiled.

Ventouras, in a statement, concedes, "Some Democrats may interpret that (the mailers attacking him) as a cynical effort to elevate someone Republicans would rather face."

"In reality, however," he said, Republicans "are trying to create confusion and discourage people from voting for me because they do not want to face me in the general election."

The Gallant campaign says the motivation is to boost Ventouras over him, but that Suffolk voters will understand what is happening.

"Nick LaLota can’t run on his own record, so he’s doing all that he can to avoid facing off against Army vet, Blackhawk helicopter pilot and firefighter Chris Gallant," the Gallant campaign said.

A spokesman for the state GOP committee declined to comment on the mailings.

LaLota (R-Amityville) is unapologetic, acknowledging full awareness of the mailings. He says he is thankful for the state party’s help. "It's all factual," he said of the flyers.

He deflected when asked whether the effort might really be intended — through a sort of reverse psychology — to boost Ventouras in the primary so that Gallant would not be his general election foe.

"I wouldn’t dare tell a Democratic primary voter how to choose between two far-left candidates," LaLota said. "This is alerting Suffolk County voters to the ills of socialism, and where the Democrat Party has trended, and where one of its candidates is, and voters have a choice to make."

Riya Vashi, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries's campaign arm — the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — responded, "New York Republicans are so terrified of losing in November that they’re now desperately meddling in Democratic primaries."