Does this House drama on LI have a third act?
Anthony D'Esposito, left, and Rep. Laura Gillen could face each other in their third race for the 4th Congressional District. Credit: Getty Images / Bonnie Cash, Newsday / Steve Pfost
More than three weeks ago, former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito was in Washington to face questions from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. The occasion was a hearing on his confirmation as inspector general of the Labor Department where D’Esposito dodged one highly relevant subject.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked D’Esposito whether he is running next year for the 4th Congressional District seat he lost to Democrat Laura Gillen last year. “Right now, my focus is on being confirmed” for the IG post, said the former Hempstead Town councilman.
Blumenthal asked again on the premise that D’Esposito can’t run while in the IG post.
“Senator with all due respect . . .” D’Esposito began before repeating his answer. He awkwardly added: “Having discussions about the future are questions that I can’t answer.” Further queries focused on his still-existing fundraising committee.
Earlier, in his opening remarks hailing Donald Trump’s presidency, D’Esposito had called his nomination “the honor of a lifetime.”
The confirmation has been moving forward, albeit slowly, having cleared the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. A full Senate vote has yet to be scheduled. Might D’Esposito’s appointment be abandoned?
Earlier this month, Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, attended a fundraiser for CD1’s Rep. Nick LaLota at the King Umberto restaurant in Elmont, with Nassau Republican chairman Joe Cairo and D’Esposito on hand. LaLota says: “When I spoke before the 100-person crowd, I made it clear that Long Island would be far better served with my friend Anthony D’Esposito back in Congress . . .”
For his part, Cairo said through a spokesman on Monday only that the county Republicans are “in communication with stakeholders locally and in Washington” on “plans for victory in NY-4. Our team will make an announcement in the near future, selecting a candidate who will provide real tax relief as an alternative to Laura Gillen’s extreme agenda . . .” the statement said.
This “extreme agenda” hyperbole is standard-issue cant of the congressional cycle. Gillen, of Rockville Centre, this year heatedly denounced democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani en route to his winning the New York City mayoralty. She accused the mayor-elect of holding extremist views. Her statements drew criticism from at least a few young Brooklyn Democrats who said they had previously helped her campaign in Nassau County.
But if D’Esposito jumps in, his third straight one-on-one confrontation with Gillen will be rooted in strictly local Town of Hempstead politics. That gives it a special dimension. In 2017, Gillen unseated the late Town Supervisor Anthony Santino to become the first-ever Democrat in the job (with the party-crossing support of then-Councilman Bruce Blakeman). She lost two years later.
In 2022, Gillen faced D’Esposito for Congress, with the Island Park Republican winning 52%-48% in a year that produced a red wave on Long Island. Last year, she unseated D’Esposito in a tight race 51%-49%, a difference of only 8,500 votes. As intensely local as their rivalry may be, a textbook national dynamic is at work. As a rule, congressional campaign committees of both parties put resources into defeating their opponents’ first-term incumbents. The thinking always has been that once the incumbent wins reelection, he or she will be positioned to hold the seat for many years.
If another Gillen-D’Esposito contest is coming, the third time may be the charm — but for whom? This early, it’s impossible to tell.
Columnist Dan Janison’s opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
