Democratic challenger Laura Gillen won her rematch against incumbent  Anthony D’Esposito in New York’s 4th Congressional District, Newsday reported.

Gillen won narrowly by a 1% lead over her opponent. In her victory speech, Gillen said, “It doesn’t matter if you are a [Republican], a [Democrat], or blank, I’m here to work for all of you, and I look forward to delivering for you in the next Congress.” D’Esposito has not made a concession speech as of Wednesday. 

Gillen’s victory in southwest Nassau County was predicted by recent polls, which showed her with a 12% lead over D’Esposito. His campaign has been rocked by a New York Times expose revealing that D’Esposito hired his mistress and his fiancée’s daughter as assistants to his campaign. 

Gillen won because she had a significant war chest and a better than usual “ground game,” said Lawrence Levy, the executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. Her position on abortion as well as “her tougher stances on crime and the border helped her win over moderate swing voters,” said Levy. 

Laura Gillen became Hempstead’s Town Supervisor in 2017, being the first Democrat to hold that position in 112 years. In her campaign, she has painted D’Esposito as a radical conservative, and placed emphasis on D’Esposito’s views on abortion, claiming that he would support a federal abortion ban. Gillen has positioned herself as a moderate, calling for a more secure Southern border and reimbursement to New York for migrant crisis costs. 

Anthony D’Esposito, a former  New York City police officer,  began his political career as a Hempstead town council member in 2016. In 2022, he won the Republican primary for New York’s 4th District and beat former Hempstead supervisor Gillen with 51%, a major upset. D’Esposito built his campaign on promising to secure the border, emphasizing his membership at the Homeland Security Committee.

The 4th Congressional District in Nassau County is New York’s second wealthiest district. Biden won the district by 56% in the 2020 election. That same district would then vote for D’Esposito, after two decades of Democratic representatives, signaling a growing conservative movement within the district.