Nick LaLota, the Republican Party designee in the First Congressional District, cruised past two challengers in the GOP primary election Tuesday, winning 47% of the votes cast in a three-way race.
LaLota received 12,368 votes, defeating Michelle Bond, with 7,289 votes, and Anthony Figliola with 6,569 votes, according to unofficial results published by the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
“Tonight we celebrate a win against $3 million in outside special interests,” LaLota tweeted last night after declaring victory, referring to Bond’s well-financed campaign. “Tomorrow, we fight for our community and country against the Biden-Pelosi agenda.”
LalLota, who also has the Conservative Party line, will face County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) in the Nov. 8 General Election.
LaLota, of Amityville, told RiverheadLOCAL in February he will move his family into the First Congressional District if elected.
Currently chief of staff to Suffolk Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, LaLota is a former Village of Amityville trustee and a former commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
His candidacy was backed from the outset by county Republican and Conservative party leaders, but drew challenges from former Figliola, a Brookhaven deputy supervisor, of East Setauket, and cryptocurrency advocate Michelle Bond of Port Jefferson.
The First Congressional District seat has been held by Republican Lee Zeldin since 2015. Zeldin chose not to seek a fifth term in Congress in order to run for governor this year.
The district lines were redrawn by a special master this year, after Democrats’ redistricting maps were invalidated by the courts. The redrawn NY-01, which takes in the five East End towns and all of Suffolk’s north shore, is considered a swing district, with likely voters split about evenly between Trump and Biden in 2020.
About 15% of the 174,622 active Republican voters in NY-01 turned out to vote in yesterday’s primary election.
There are 182,396 active Democratic voters in the district, according to State Board of Elections data. Active NY-01 voters not enrolled in a party number 155,501.
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