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, House Democratic campaign chairman Sean Patrick Maloney survived a primary challenge from a progressive. Democrats remained in a swing district in a special election — at least for a few more months. In Florida, a Republican incumbent narrowly defeated a far-right challenger. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a conservative firefighter, won his primary with the specter of a federal investigation hanging over him. Some of the top picks: END OF AN ERA Nadler and Carolyn Maloney 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 many of their long-held congressional districts. The race for New York’s 12th District between Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, has become controversial. The two stopped talking after deciding to go head-to-head, Nadler said, and the campaign became thorny, with Maloney questioning his mental acuity. Nadler, who was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, spoke about his role in overseeing Trump’s impeachments while serving as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Maloney has touted her own scrutiny of the former president while serving as chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee and positioned herself as a feminist champion. Both were contested by 38-year-old lawyer Suraj Patel, who argued that it was time for a new face in the Congress. A FIELD FOR AN OPEN POSITION With Nadler and Maloney running in the district immediately to the north, a congressional seat that covered southern Manhattan, including Wall Street and Brooklyn, was a rare open contest in one of the most liberal and powerful districts in the country. Goldman, a Democratic lawyer who built his reputation as a federal mob and securities fraud prosecutor but made a national name as lead counsel for House Democrats in Trump’s first impeachment hearing, won a crowded primary for New York’s 10th District, which attracted grief. of progressive candidates. Among the contenders was Jones, a congressman from suburban New York who moved to the district to run and finished third in the primary. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN CHIEF WINS FIRST Sean Patrick Maloney, who became New York’s first openly gay lawmaker 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 valley of the Hudson River. Maloney, who had the backing of former President Bill Clinton, campaigned on recent Democratic legislative victories in Congress and warned that the congressional seat could go to Republicans in November if the Democratic nominee is too liberal. Biaggi, a 36-year-old progressive endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the granddaughter of former Bronx Rep. Mario Biaggi. He had tried to portray Maloney as out of touch and part of the establishment. THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT WAS A CONTROVERSIAL CANDIDATE New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy won a western New York primary by defeating controversial Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino in New York’s redrawn 23rd District. Paladino, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010, has a long history of inflammatory and offensive comments, including recent comments praising Adolf Hitler and circulating conspiracy theories surrounding mass shootings. The heated primary came as Langworthy and Paladino sought to replace GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who decided not to seek re-election after facing backlash from his own party for voicing support for an assault weapons ban following an racist mass attack in his hometown of Buffalo in May. . VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATS VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATS IN THE SPECIAL ELECTION In addition to the primary races, New Yorkers elected two new members of the House to fill vacancies for the rest of the year. Democrat Pat Ryan won one of the special elections, a battleground race in south and central New York to replace Democrat Antonio Delgado, who became New York’s lieutenant governor. Ryan defeated Republican Mark Molinaro in what is now New York’s 19th Congressional District. In western New York, Republican Joe Sebolinski defeated Democrat Max Della Pia in a special general election to serve the remainder of the year in New York’s 23rd District. Czebolinski will replace Republican Rep. Tom Reed, who resigned in May after sexual harassment allegations. THE FAR RIGHT PROVOCATE LOSES AGAIN Florida Republican Rep. Dan Webster defeated Laura Loomer, a far-right provocateur in Florida who has been banned on some social media networks for anti-Muslim and other statements. Webster, who has served central Florida since 2011, won an unexpectedly tight primary in Florida’s 11th District, which is home to The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community and a GOP stronghold. Loomer unsuccessfully ran for the House in 2020, winning the Republican primary, but lost that year’s general election to incumbent Democrat Lois Frankel for a Palm Beach-area seat that includes his Mar-a-Lago resort Trump. On social media, Loomer regularly posted conspiracy theories and misinformation about Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress. Among them was the false claim that Omar and other Democrats were planning to enact Sharia law in Minnesota. GAETZ WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY AMID SCANDAL Gaetz, a Trump protégé who is under federal investigation in a sex-trafficking case, won a primary contest seen as a test of whether he could retain the support of moderate Republicans. Gaetz has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. He was facing a challenge from Mark Lombardo, a former Marine and FedEx executive who has blanketed the western Panhandle with attack ads centered around research as he sought to challenge him in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. Rebecca Jones, a former Department of Health employee who challenged the state’s COVID-19 data, won the Democratic primary for the seat in the heavily Republican district. The state inspector general’s report concluded that Jones’ allegations were unfounded, but in her race for Congress, she used national support to raise funds, bringing in more than $500,000.
Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.
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