Laura Gillen vs. Anthony D'Esposito highlights 4 huge Congressional races on Long Island
NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. -- There are four tight Congressional races on Long Island and none of them are considered a sure thing.
Three of the four are open seats, because Lee Zeldin, Tom Suozzi and Kathleen Rice all decided not to seek re-election.
CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff has more on the 4th Congressional District on Nassau County's South Shore, which is considered a toss up.
READ MORE: Tri-State voter guide: Nov. 8 General Election details and deadlines
A seat held by Democrats for 25 years -- Carolyn McCarthy and then Rice -- is up for grabs a year after a red wave swept the Long Island suburbs.
Laura Gillen is taking on Anthony D'Esposito. They've butted heads before, in the town of Hempstead, where Gillen was the first Democratic supervisor in a century. Republican D'Esposito sits on the board of America's largest township.
"I've had the ability to either hold the line on taxes or lower taxes to town residents. The one opportunity when Laura Gillen had to vote on a budget, that was a tax cut budget, she voted no," D'Esposito said Monday.
"When I showed up in town hall, that's when taxes went down consistently because I was there being a watchdog. I put contracts out to bid," Gillen said.
Now, it's national issues, with who controls Congress at stake.
"Women's autonomy over their own health care decisions, our children's safety, our communities' safety is on the ballot because we need common sense gun laws. Democracy is on the ballot," Gillen said.
"It's about crime. It's about money, you know, cost of living, inflation, and a lot of people are concerned about our open borders. Open borders causes crime," D'Esposito said.
READ MORE: All eyes on Long Island for 4 high-stakes congressional contests
Long Island will have much to say on whether Republicans can flip the house, said Lawrence Levy, Hofstra University's suburban studies chair.
"We may either be on the verge of a red tsunami or one of the greatest saves in political history," Levy said.
Gillen, 53, is from Rockville Centre and is an attorney and mother of four.
D'Esposito, 40, of Island Park, is a former NYPD detective and volunteer firefighter.
What are they not?
"Cashless bail is a huge threat. Her team passed it," D'Esposito says in an ad.
Gillen says she is not soft of crime.
"I spoke out against the cashless bail law and I fully support funding our police department," she said.
"My opponent is a rubber stamp for whatever his party wants," she says on one ad.
D'Esposito says his stance on abortion is distorted.
"I would not vote for a nationwide abortion ban," he said.
The 4th Congressional District has the highest Democratic enrollment on Long Island, with 229,554 Democrats and 155,519 Republicans. However, there is a significant chunk of Independents, so the race will be decided by who gets out the vote and which way Independents break.
D'Esposito also works at the Nassau Board of Elections, which Gillen says is a clear conflict of interest. He says his position has nothing to do with counting ballots.
