NYS primary 2026 features contests for Congress, state comptroller

WASHINGTON — Long Islanders are to pick their party favorites in races for congressional seats and state comptroller during primary election voting Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.

While party primaries often don't attract big voter turnouts, these races could have potentially significant impacts, including on which party takes the majority in the 435-seat House, which Republicans now control by a narrow margin.

"I’d be surprised if the turnout wasn’t more like the typical school budget vote, straining to get very deeply into double digits," predicted Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, of the percentages of registered Republicans and Democrats in Nassau and Suffolk counties who will be voting.

Voter turnout was low Tuesday morning at multiple polling sites visited by Newsday.

Less than a handful of people were observed walking in or out of polling locations in Great Neck, including the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Company 4 and Company 3 stations and the Russell Gardens Village Hall.

The sites are in the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Tom Suozzi.

Lorraine Topps, 70, voted at the Company 3 station. She said she “votes for everything.”

She added, “This is standard procedure for me. There is so much going on right now, I feel it is important for everybody to vote.”

In Massapequa, voting had also gotten off to a slow start Tuesday at the Unqua Elementary School, Berner Middle School and Marjorie R. Post Community Center. One volunteer at the community center said no eligible voters showed up between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.

“Each of the four people that came in were Republicans, and they couldn’t vote,” Catherine J. Nieves, 70, said. “They didn't understand that it was just a Democratic primary.”

The community center is located in New York’s 2nd congressional district, where Republican incumbent Andrew Garbarino is not facing any primary challengers. His Democratic challenger, Patrick Halpin, was also running unopposed in the primary.

Nieves, who cast a ballot Tuesday, said “surviving Donald Trump” guided her primary vote for state comptroller.

“I really don't know if that's possible because he's dismantled so much of the systems that we've relied on as a country and it still befuddles me that so many people could believe him,” Nieves said. She added, “To measure a society is how it takes care of the weakest among us, and there's no interest in that.”

In early voting, 16,480 people cast ballots in Nassau and 6,721 in Suffolk.

Here’s a rundown on some of what’s at stake:

1st Congressional District  

Chris Gallant, 37, of Amity Harbor, a Black Hawk pilot, Army veteran, National Guardsman, former air traffic controller and volunteer firefighter, faces Lukas Ventouras, 25, of Northport, who is attending St. John’s School of Law, and has worked on past political campaigns. The winner takes on Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) in November. The district is entirely in Suffolk County.

3rd Congressional District

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), 63, is the only Long Island House incumbent facing a primary foe, being challenged for the Democratic nomination by Danielle Welch, 35, of Bayside, Queens, a public defender. The district includes parts of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens.

On the Republican side, former Assemb. Michael LiPetri, 35, of Farmingdale, who lost to Suozzi in 2024, is running against attorney Gregory Hach, 55, of Oyster Bay.

4th Congressional District  

Jeanine Driscoll, 59, a Hempstead tax official, is running against Marvin Williams, 64, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and minister from Garden City, for the chance to run in November against Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre). The district is entirely in Nassau County.

State comptroller 

Democrat Thomas DiNapoli, 72, faces his first primary challenge since he assumed the office in 2007, running against Raj Goyle, 51, who has worked on a number of philanthropic campaigns in New York City, and Drew Warshaw, 45, the executive director of a nonprofit housing firm.

East Hampton

East Hampton Town's Democratic primary pits Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, 64, against challenger East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, 61. With no Republican on the November ballot, the contest is likely to determine who takes office next year.

Newsday staff reporters Angelina Livigni and Nora Toscano contributed to this report.