A new poll of two closely watched New York races shows one Republican freshman incumbent trailing his Democratic opponent by double digits and another GOP lawmaker barely ahead of his Democratic challenger.
According to a Siena College Research Institute survey of 532 likely voters polled Oct. 13-17, Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is 12 percentage points behind Democrat Laura Gillen in New York’s 4th Congressional District, which covers central and southern Nassau County.
Vice President Kamala Harris leads former President Donald Trump 54% to 42% in the district. The poll’s margin of error was 4.4%.
Mr. D’Esposito, who defeated Ms. Gillen in 2022 by 4%, is under scrutiny for allegedly paying a woman he was having an affair with $2,000 a month to work part-time in his Garden City district office a few months after taking his oath of office as a congressman, reported The New York Times.
Mr. D’Esposito said in a statement, “Tabloid garbage being peddled by The New York Times is nothing more than a slimy, partisan ’hit piece’ designed to distract Long Islanders from Democrats’ failing record on border security, the economy and foreign policy.”
In the nearby 1st Congressional District, a poll conducted from Oct. 13-17 of 526 likely voters shows Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, a first-term lawmaker, leads Democrat John Avlon 47% to 44%. Ms. Harris leads Mr. Trump in the district by 1 point. The survey had a 4.5% margin of error.
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Mr. LaLota and Mr. D’Esposito won their 2022 elections when former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin lost the race for governor to Democrat Kathy Hochul.
Republicans like Mr. D’Esposito struggling to keep their seats are trying to bring out their supporters and new voters by cautioning constituents about a ballot measure known as the Equal Rights Amendment or colloquially as Proposition 1.
According to the New York Post, polling shows that a majority of voters support the measure, though opposition has grown in suburban districts where there are battleground congressional races.
Democrats are advocating for the constitutional amendment on New York’s ballot, hoping it will bring out pro-abortion liberals.
Republicans are rallying their own base to vote against Prop 1, which includes measures that would help transgender youths get sexual reassignment surgery without parental consent.
A political TV ad released Monday night by the Vote No on Prop 1 Committee says the measure, intended to codify abortion rights in the state constitution, will also favor illegal immigrants and let noncitizens vote in New York elections.
“The border is broken. New York is paying the price. And Proposal 1 would make it worse,” the narrator says in the 30-second ad.
“This isn’t about equal rights. It’s about special rights for illegal immigrants.”
The voice-over plays over a video of migrants crossing the border and beating up a police officer.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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