Today is Election Day in New York, and voters are casting ballots in a high-stakes primary season that has absorbed more than $27 million in outside money, fueled by cryptocurrency giants, AI companies, and donors like former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
While much of that spending has chased influence in Manhattan, the battle for control of the House is playing out in the commuter towns of Long Island, the small cities of the Hudson Valley, and the rural expanse of the Catskills.
Here are five of the most pivotal House races in New York.
NY-03 | The North Shore of Long Island
The district: New York’s 3rd Congressional District spans northeastern Queens, across the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, and into parts of northwestern Suffolk County. Its communities include Great Neck, Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Huntington, and Plainview—a stretch of leafy suburbs along the Long Island Sound with a long history of swinging between the parties.
The race: Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi is seeking re-election to the seat he has held, across multiple stints, for the better part of a decade. A former Nassau County executive and mayor of Glen Cove, Suozzi has cultivated a centrist profile on immigration and fiscal policy, though he voted to provide $10 billion in funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January—a vote he later said he regretted after the killing of a constituent.
He is going up against Danielle Welch, a public defender and fellow Democrat.
His likely Republican opponent is Michael LiPetri Jr., a former state assemblyman and Farmingdale attorney who lost to Suozzi in 2024 by just 3.6 points and is mounting a direct rematch. LiPetri has Trump’s endorsement and enough national Republican support that Vice President JD Vance traveled to Bethpage last week to rally for him, accusing Suozzi of voting “exactly like Nancy Pelosi.” Suozzi called the barbs “phony baloney.” LiPetri faces a primary challenge from Gregory Hach, an Air Force veteran and attorney from Oyster Bay.
Why it matters: Cook Political Report rates the race as Lean Democratic. But the Vance visit signals Republicans view this as genuinely gettable—and LiPetri, with a rematch advantage and national backing, is a more formidable challenger than he was in 2024.
NY-10 | Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn
The district: New York’s 10th Congressional District covers lower Manhattan, including the West Village, SoHo, Tribeca, and Battery Park City, as well as a broad swath of Brooklyn that includes Park Slope, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Borough Park, and Bay Ridge.
The race: Unlike the other races on this list, the most competitive fight for NY-10 is happening in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, not in November. Incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor best known for leading the first impeachment of Donald Trump, is facing a stiff challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
The two have split sharply on Israel and Gaza. Goldman has underscored his support for Israel while distancing himself from AIPAC, which has backed him, while Lander has called for a ban on US weapons to Israel under current conditions. The divide has animated the race from the start—and put it squarely in the middle of a broader battle over the direction of the Democratic Party. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have endorsed Lander; Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are backing Goldman.
Why it matters: Whoever wins Tuesday will be the heavy favorite in November—making this primary effectively the general election for the seat. A May Emerson College/PIX11 poll put Lander ahead 57% to 23%, with voters under 40 breaking for Lander by 73% to 15%. Goldman has pledged to spend heavily from his personal fortune to close the gap. The outcome will signal whether Mamdani’s coalition can translate mayoral momentum into congressional wins—and how much the Israel question is reshaping Democratic politics in New York City.
NY-17 | The Lower Hudson Valley
The district: New York’s 17th Congressional District covers all of Rockland and Putnam counties, northern Westchester County, and a sliver of Dutchess County. Its communities include Spring Valley, Nyack, and Pearl River in Rockland; Ossining, and Peekskill in Westchester; and Carmel and Brewster in Putnam—a mix of commuter towns, small cities, and villages sitting just north of New York City.
The race: Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is running for a third term in one of only three districts in the country held by a Republican that Kamala Harris won in 2024. Despite that partisan lean, Lawler has proven a durable presence—in 2024, he defeated Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones 52% to 46%, even as the district’s voter registration skews Democratic by roughly 212,000 to 138,000. Five Democrats are competing in Tuesday’s primary. The two front-runners are former Biden administration cybersecurity official Cait Conley, an Army veteran, and Beth Davidson, a Rockland County Legislator. A third candidate, Tarrytown Village Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley, is running to their left with a Working Families Party endorsement.
Why it matters: Cook Political Report and Inside Elections both rate the general election a Toss-Up. “It’s hard to say any one district is a ‘must win,’ but this one is certainly close to it,” Cook analyst Erin Covey told CBS New York.
NY-19 | The Catskills & Southern Tier
The district: New York’s 19th Congressional District is one of the largest and most geographically diverse in the state, covering all or parts of 11 counties. It runs from the Massachusetts border in Columbia County west through the Catskill Mountains and into the Southern Tier, including Binghamton, Ithaca, and Hudson.
The race: Democratic Rep. Josh Riley, an attorney and former Senate general counsel, flipped the seat in 2024, defeating Republican incumbent Marc Molinaro by just over two points—a rematch of their 2022 contest, which Molinaro won by 4,500 votes. Riley is running for re-election unopposed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
As for the Republican side, state Sen. Peter Oberacker and timber farmer Alexander Portelli are competing for the nomination to face him in November. The fundraising gap is stark; Riley entered 2026 with $2.39 million cash on hand, while Oberacker had $195,631, including a $130,000 loan from himself. Oberacker has leaned on a Trump endorsement to compensate, and has attacked Riley as a Washington insider; Riley’s campaign has centered on utility bills, farm support, and protecting Social Security.
Why it matters: Cook Political Report rates the race as Lean Democratic. The district has swung in each of the last two cycles, and the questions hanging over Oberacker—including scrutiny over his campaign’s claim that he is “upstate New York born and raised,” when multiple biographies list him as born on Long Island—have given Republicans little reason for confidence heading into the fall.
Correction: An earlier version of this article included New York’s 4th Congressional District. Because Rep. Laura Gillen is running uncontested in today’s primary, the race has been removed from this story. The general election in NY-4 remains one of the most competitive in the state and will be covered ahead of November.
