LI House district pits 2 candidates who both live elsewhere

WASHINGTON — In U.S. House races from Florida to Texas to Arizona, members of Congress and other election hopefuls are drawing "carpetbagger" attacks for running in districts in which they do not, or did not previously, reside.

Some of this district hopping or shopping is a result of mid-decade partisan redistricting. But in New York State, where no such mid-cycle gerrymandering has yet occurred, an eastern Long Island congressional race stands out because both the Republican and Democrat nominees do not live in the district.

The incumbent, GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, of Amityville, continues to reside, as he described it, "just a privately owned drone’s flight away" from New York’s 1st Congressional District, located entirely in Suffolk County. That has not dissuaded majorities of voters from electing him twice to his job.

Meanwhile, Democratic hopeful Chris Gallant — a New York Army National Guard pilot, former air traffic controller and volunteer firefighter — lives about 20 minutes outside the district’s borders in Amity Harbor. His campaign said he plans to move into the district after his fiancée returns from a military deployment, which the campaign said is why he chose to run in the district.

Non-partisan political handicappers give LaLota the edge. But they say the contest could become more competitive in an election season in which Democrats need a net pickup of three districts in November to flip the majority in the 435-seat House.

LaLota and Gallant were born in Suffolk County, and both emphasize their established local roots and public service. The U.S. Constitution does not require House members to reside in the district they represent, with only state residency required.

"I’ve spent almost 12 years working with and serving NY-1 residents — as Suffolk elections commissioner, chief of staff to the Suffolk Legislature, and now as their congressman. Few public officials know this district and its communities as well as I do," LaLota said.

Gallant said: "When I talk to voters, they’re much more concerned with finding solutions and sending a fighter to D.C. than where my house is within Suffolk County."

Not taking issue

Technically, neither candidate fits the modern interpretation of "carpetbagger," which is derived from depictions of Northerners in the post-Civil War years who moved with fabric-bound luggage to Southern states to exploit opportunities for profits or political power.

But that’s only because neither has even gone through the motions of actually relocating into the district, at least not yet.

And neither candidate, nor their national party strategists, has made residency an issue, a sort of political mutual disarmament. But Gallant’s defeated Democratic primary opponent, Lukas Ventouras, who does live in the district, did try to raise the topic with regard to both LaLota and Gallant.

"I definitely did make it an issue ... I have gone on record saying that I believe that to be truly accountable to your constituents, you must live amongst them," explained Ventouras, who said he now fully supports the candidacy of fellow Democrat Gallant.

In other states, partisan mid-decade redistricting this election cycle has led to candidates running in newly configured districts they have not yet moved into, or districts they currently mostly represent, but with their home areas chopped out.

Those include Florida Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz. And in Texas, Democrat Rep. Joaquin Castro has said his personal home was sliced a half-mile outside a new version of his longtime San Antonio area district.

And it’s not just incumbents. In Arizona, former New York Jets placekicker Jay Feely is the Republican nominee for a Phoenix-area seat being vacated by a Republican, though he lives outside that district. Feely has said he initially was going to run in his home area, but that Trump and party leaders encouraged the switch, seeing him as a best choice to help defend a crucial swing seat.

"I think the criticism is, ‘Oh, you don’t live in that district, you’re coming in, you’re a carpetbagger,' " he told a local radio news show. "For me, the easy answer is, ‘Take it up with the president' "

History of outsiders

Newsday reported in 2024 that out-of-district congressional candidacies have been an issue in Long Island's 1st District — an area heavy in second homes for Manhattanites — since at least the 1970s, mostly regarding challengers.

The topic came up with regard to LaLota during his first campaign for the House seat in 2022. And he responded then that he would move his family into the 1st District if elected.

But by June 2024 — as an incumbent during his initial bid for reelection — LaLota told Newsday he had been looking at homes in the district but was concerned about high interest rates. By October 2024, LaLota told Newsday he had no immediate plans to relocate to the district and has maintained his residence in Amityville.

"Living 7 or so miles outside of the line hasn't impeded my ability to deliver for my fellow Suffolk County residents," he said then.

Even so, LaLota by 2024 was launching outsider-focused attacks against his then-Democratic challenger — former CNN anchor John Avlon — calling him a "Manhattan elitist." Avlon had changed his voting registration to Suffolk County in 2020 during the pandemic, but also maintained a Manhattan residence, and LaLota seized on that.

"This is where my home is," Avlon responded to Newsday, referring to the district. "Yes, I've got an apartment in the city. But again, my opponent doesn't even live in the district," he said of LaLota.

There exists no official or precise list of sitting House members, like LaLota, who maintain primary residences or voter registrations outside of their official district borders. Estimates based on occasional regional news reporting and statements from candidates have indicated there could be at least a couple dozen at any given time.

Those have included some lawmakers in urban areas like New York City, where past redistricting has reset lines just blocks away from their homes. But there are also instances unrelated to redistricting, such as in Maryland, where in June incumbent Democratic Rep. April McClain Delaney fended off a primary challenge from the previous representative, even as neither of them reside in the district.

Nonpartisan political experts contacted over the past week say they can’t think of another congressional race where both the Republican and Democratic general election candidates openly acknowledge they are running from outside a district’s boundaries.

Focus on ideology

Donald Nieman, a professor of history and provost emeritus at Binghamton University, said that voters generally are less offended nowadays by having a non-resident run in their congressional district, as partisan aims take higher priority.

"Because such a high percentage of voters have their minds made up and few districts are competitive, voters are much more likely to vote for the candidate they identify with ideologically even if they don't live in the district," Nieman said. That's especially true when the candidates live close by, he said.

Jacob Neiheisel, an expert on political communication and campaigns at the University at Buffalo, agrees. But, he said, "I am honestly torn" as to whether the practice is good or bad from the perspective of good governance.

"On the one hand, living in the district that you represent signals that you have a personal stake in how that district is represented," he said. "On the other, however, there is still an incentive to get to know the district that they represent quite well if they want to keep their job."

LaLota said that living outside the district’s borders "hasn’t stopped me from being more personally present in my district than anyone else in the Long Island congressional delegation — or from delivering for my constituents." He points to middle-class tax cuts, border security measures and millions "for clean water, public safety and infrastructure projects that help keep local taxes in check."

Gallant, who still runs drills with the National Guard out of MacArthur Airport, said, "I’m born and bred Suffolk County. This is my community, and I’m right there with the thousands of families suffering under the policies of politicians like Nick LaLota, whether that’s tariffs making groceries more expensive, or the rubber-stamped war in Iran driving up the cost of gas. "

LaLota noted that the lines could soon change: "Albany Democrats are pushing to redraw district lines again before 2028 — leaving no ZIP code guaranteed to remain in NY-1 from one election to the next."