A growing number of current and former NY lawmakers are running for Congress
With Democrats looking to flip a number of House seats away from first-term Republicans, current and former state legislators from around the state are deciding to try their luck on the national stage with runs for Congress. So far, state Sens. John Mannion of Syracuse and Kevin Thomas of Long Island, along with fellow Long Islanders and former state Sens. Anna Kaplan and Jim Gaughran, have already announced their intentions to challenge their districts’ GOP representatives. State lawmakers often seek higher office, but it doesn’t come without risk. And it’s worth taking a look at the electoral track records for some of the candidates and the recent success rate of state legislators’ congressional runs.
Of the four current and former state lawmakers to have announced, Thomas – who hopes to run against Rep. Anthony D’Esposito next year – has the best electoral history of the bunch. His 2018 victory against longtime GOP incumbent Kemp Hannon was also his first attempt at running for office. Thomas won by a narrow margin, but maintained his seat for the next two election cycles. Kaplan, who is challenging Rep. George Santos, similarly won against the incumbent in 2018 during her first run for office, but ultimately lost to state Sen. Jack Martins last year. Gaughran, looking to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota, chose not to seek reelection last year after initially winning office in 2018. But unlike both Kaplan and Thomas, who won their seats on their first attempt, it took Gaughran three tries to win his position in the state Senate, each time running against former state Sen. Carl Marcellino.
To the north, Mannion – who is challenging Rep. Brandon Williams – won his seat in 2020 as well as his reelection last year. But it also took a second attempt to get to the state Senate after his first run in 2018 against former state Sen. Bob Antonacci for an open seat came up short. When Antonacci left before his first term finished, Mannion had had more success against a different GOP opponent for a seat once again open. Unlike his Long Island colleagues, he has never unseated an incumbent as he is hoping to do now.
Personal politics aside, state lawmakers who have sought higher office have had a mixed bag in the recent past. Last year, then-state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and then-Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou both gave up their positions in the state Legislature to launch congressional campaigns, ultimately losing in their respective primaries to non-state lawmakers. In 2020, then-state Sen. David Carlucci also lost his congressional bid to replace retiring Rep. Nita Lowey in the Hudson Valley. A few years earlier in 2016, Republican Jack Martins gave up his seat in the state Senate in an ill-fated bid for Congress. He has since returned to the state Senate after unseating Kaplan last year, but his name has also been floated as a potential Republican challenger to Santos.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2023/08/growing-number-current-and-former-ny-lawmakers-are-running-congress/389390/
