NEW YORK (AP/WSKG/NCPR) In a cluster of contentious Democratic primaries Tuesday, two New York incumbents were ousted from the U.S. House after redistricting shuffled congressional districts in one of the nation's largest liberal states.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a 15-term incumbent who chairs a powerful House committee, lost to longtime colleague Rep. Jerry Nadler, while Rep. Mondaire Jones, a first-term progressive who was one of the first openly gay Black members of Congress, was defeated by Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
In other races in the state, the chair of the House Democrats' campaign arm, Sean Patrick Maloney, survived a primary challenge of his own from a progressive. Democrats held on to a swing district in a special election — at least for a few more months.
Some of the top elections in New York state:
END OF AN ERA
Nadler and Carolyn Maloney each chair powerful committees and had spent 30 years representing Manhattan's Upper West Side and Upper East Side, respectively. But they ended up in the same race after new redistricting maps merged much of their longtime congressional districts.
The race for New York's 12th District, between Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, became contentious. The two stopped speaking after deciding to run against each other, Nadler said, and the campaign became barbed, with Maloney questioning his mental acuity.
Nadler, who was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has talked up his role overseeing Trump's impeachments while serving as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Maloney has touted her own check on the former president while serving as chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee and positioned herself as a feminist champion.
Challenging them both was 38-year-old lawyer Suraj Patel, who argued it was time for a new face in Congress.
A CROWDED FIELD FOR AN OPEN SEAT
With Nadler and Maloney running in the district immediately north, a congressional seat covering southern Manhattan, including Wall Street, and Brooklyn, was a rare open contest in one of the most liberal and influential areas of the country.
Goldman, a Democratic attorney who built his reputation as a federal mob and securities fraud prosecutor but made a national name for himself as House Democrats' lead counsel in Trump's first impeachment hearing, won a crowded primary for New York's 10th District, which attracted a bevy of progressive candidates. Among the contenders was Jones, a congressman from the New York City suburbs, who moved to the area to run and finished third in the primary.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS' CAMPAIGN CHIEF WINS PRIMARY
Sean Patrick Maloney, who became New York's first openly gay congressman when he was elected a decade ago, survived a primary challenge from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in New York's new 17th District, home to idyllic towns along the historic Hudson River Valley.
Maloney, who had the backing of former President Bill Clinton, campaigned on Democrats' recent legislative wins in Congress and warned that the congressional seat could fall to Republicans in November if the Democratic nominee is too liberal.
Biaggi, a 36-year-old progressive endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a granddaughter of former Bronx congressman Mario Biaggi. She had sought to portray Maloney as out of touch and part of the establishment.
Pat Ryan will fill out the remaining four months of the term in the 19th Congressional District, in a special election, holding on to a battleground district for Democrats ahead of even more contentious midterm races this fall. The Democratic Ulster County executive defeated Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, carrying 51% of the vote with all precincts reporting Tuesday. ButMolinaro refused to concede the race Tuesday, despite trailing by almost 3,000 votes with all precincts reporting.
In a primary in the 19th Congressional District, Ithaca Democrat Josh Riley defeated Dutchess County entrepreneur Jamie Cheney. Riley won with more than 60% of the vote. In claiming victory Tuesday, Riley gave thanks for his roots, having grown up in Endicott in Broome County.
“It’s been 70 years since we sent somebody from Broome County to represent Broome County in Congress and in November that is going to change,” Riley told a crowd in Johnson City. Riley outperformed Cheney in every county in the new district, with his largest vote share coming from Tompkins County.
Former CIA officer Matt Castelli has won the Democratic primary for New York's 21st House District. Castelli will face Republican Elise Stefanik for her seat in Congress in November.
Central New York’s newly drawn congressional district seat will be up for grabs in November. And primaries for the 22nd district led to some surprises. Conservative Republicans in central New York rallied around a political novice on primary day, in an upset victory. Brandon Williams, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, soundly beat the GOP designated nominee Steve Wells.
On the Democratic side in the 22nd congressional district primary,Francis Conole is declaring victory. But the primary race was not a runaway, with Conole less than 1,000 votes ahead of DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood.
STATE GOP CHAIR DEFEATS CONTROVERSIAL CANDIDATE
New York's Republican Party chair, Nick Langworthy, won a primary in western New York by defeating controversial Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino in New York's redrawn 23rd District.
Paladino, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, has a long history of inflammatory and offensive remarks, including recent comments that praised Adolf Hitler and circulated conspiracy theories around mass shootings.
The heated primary came as Langworthy and Paladino sought to replace GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who decided not to seek reelection after facing backlash from his own party for voicing support for an assault weapons ban following a racist mass shooting in his hometown of Buffalo in May.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney won Tuesday's Republican primary for New York's 24th congressional district seat, according to unofficial election results.
The district was enlarged earlier this year and now contains parts of 12 counties and includes Watertown, as well as most of Jefferson County.
Tenney currently represents New York's old 22nd congressional district. She's been in that office for just two years, but she also held it previously, between 2017 and 2019. She lost the seat to Democrat Anthony Brindisi in 2018, but she won it back in 2020.
This story includes reporting by the Associated Press, WSKG, WRVO and North Country Public Radio.