Kevin McCarthy - next US House Speaker - on North Shore for Nick LaLota

by Thomas Nothel

Republican US House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy came to Long Island last week to campaign and fundraise for Nick Laloda the Republican nominee for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District.

"Being here should show to the rest of the district that Nick LaLota’s race is very important to us - and we're going to do everything in our power to help him," McCarthy said.

McCarthy hosted a lunch for LaLota in St James, and joined him in addressing the economic, crime and border crises hitting our country.

"We have to elect Nick LaLota here on Long Island," stated McCarthy. "Nick is a family man, a military veteran and graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He will fight for the kinds of common sense policies - a stable economy, a secure border, and a no-nonsense approach to stopping the surge in crime – that we need for this country."

McCarthy is tapped by most election experts to become the next Speaker of the US House of Representatives. The Republicans currently hold 212 seats in the 435 member House of Representatives, and only need six more to take the majority. Reapportionment and redistricting should have already moved 10 seats from Democrat to Republican, and historically, midterm elections favor the party not occupying the White House.

Retaining the seat in the First congressional district is important to the Republicans’ goal of regaining the majority of the seats in the House of Representatives.

The First District is currently held by Representative Lee Zeldin who is running for Governor of New York State. He has held the seat since he was first elected in November 2014. Zeldin defeated Democrat Nancy Goroff 205,715 votes to 169,294 votes in the 2020 Election based on Numbers from the New York State Board of Elections.

The new First district consists of Huntington, Smithtown, Port Jefferson, and the East End of Long Island.