Democrats vying for chance to flip NY-01 face off in June 10 League of Women Voters debate

Democratic congressional candidates Nancy Goroff and John Avlon will debate on June 10 in advance of primary election that will decide who will challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in November.

Goroff and Avlon will debate over Zoom from 7 to 8 p.m., in an event hosted by Southampton Town’s SEA-TV and the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork. The debate can be viewed live on Southampton Town’s YouTube channel. 

Each candidate will make timed opening and closing remarks and answer questions from the League of Women Voters and the public. The public can submit questions for the candidates by email to the LWV’s Neil Cohen no later than June 7. 

The winner of the Democratic primary will face first-term incumbent LaLota, who is seeking re-election in New York’s First Congressional District, in the Nov. 5 general election. LaLota, 45, of Amityville, is the nominee of the Republican and Conservative parties.

New York’s party primary election will take place Tuesday, June 25, at regular designated polling places. Early voting runs from June 15 to June 23 at select polling places, including at Riverhead Town Hall on West Second Street. Voters can also request an absentee ballot online here.

Avlon, 51, of Sag Harbor is an ex-CNN political commentator and former editor-in-chief of the national news website The Daily Beast. He has key endorsements in the race, including from New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs and Assembly Member Fred Thiele.

Goroff, 56, of Stony Brook, is an organic chemist and former professor at Stony Brook University. She ran for Congress in 2020 and was defeated by former Rep. Lee Zeldin by roughly 10%. Goroff has the endorsement of EMILYs List, a national organization that campaigns to elect Democratic pro-choice women. 

In a statement Tuesday, Avlon’s campaign called for television and radio debates between Alvon and Goroff before the primary begins. “John Avlon is the best candidate to take on Nick LaLota this fall and voters deserve televised and radio debates to see the clear contrast in this race,” Alvon’s campaign manager, Bryan Sokolowski, said in a statement.

Avlon raised $1.1 million during the last reporting period, which lasted between Jan 1 and March 31, according to his campaign’s Federal Election Commission filing. At the time of the filing he had spent roughly $104,000 and had roughly $1.03 million on hand. 

Goroff raised roughly $925,000 during the last reporting period, according to her campaign’s FEC filing. At the time of disclosure she had spent roughly $309,000 and had roughly $625,000 on hand. 

LaLota had received roughly $2.2 million, spent $537,457 and had roughly $1.7 million on hand at the time of his campaign’s last disclosure, according to his campaign’s FEC filing.

The First Congressional District is a Republican-leaning district that the Democratic candidates consider a swing district. The seat flipped from Democrat to Republican in 2014, when Republican State Senator Lee Zeldin upset six-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Tim Bishop. LaLota succeeded Zeldin in 2022, when Zeldin bowed out to challenge Gov.Kathy Hochul. LaLota won his first term with a 55.5% to 44.5% victory over Democratic County Legislator Bridget Fleming.

Since the 2022 election, the boundaries of the district have been reconfigured. Voters in the redrawn First Congressional District voted 50.9% in favor of Donald Trump for president in 2020, according to Redistricting & You, an online district map created by the CUNY Center for Urban Research using public election data.