Losses of House GOP moderates highlight role of Long Island representatives

WASHINGTON — With so many of their moderate-voting Republican colleagues wiped out in Tuesday’s elections, Long Island Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota now find themselves more politically lonely in the middle.

Even the Democratic co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus of moderates — Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) — says he is worried about maintaining the group’s strict 1-to-1 balance between Democratic and Republican members. Twelve of its 22 Republican members were defeated, a 13th awaits results and two others are retiring.

Following moderate Republican defeats across the country — including in Virginia, Arizona, California, Iowa, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and Rep. Mike Lawler in the Hudson Valley — Garbarino (Bayport) emerges among the House Republicans left standing as having the second-most liberal or moderate voting pattern, and LaLota (Amityville) the fourth-most. They previously were fifth and seventh.

Only New Jersey’s Chris Smith’s voting record among Tuesday's GOP survivors is rated more moderate than Garbarino’s. These tendencies have been tracked and ranked by the University of California, Los Angeles' Voteview, based on roughly 662 roll-call votes cast since January 2025.

"My record speaks for itself, and I’ll continue working with anyone, Republican or Democrat, who wants to deliver results for the people I represent," Garbarino said Friday in a statement.

Said LaLota in a statement: "One reason I survived the Blue Tsunami is that many Independents and even some Democrats understand I’m an American and Long Islander before a member of any party."

Of course, lawmakers can pad their centrist credentials by cherry-picking less-important votes on which to align with the other party. But for Garbarino and LaLota, this session, there have been notable breaks from their own party and leaders on some important bills.

Garbarino, for instance, was one of only three House Republicans out of 212 to vote against the GOP’s farm bill, which passed in May in a 224-200 vote. LaLota has established independence from GOP leaders on several votes tied to labor-related and workforce issues, which, he has explained, carries on a Northeastern and Long Island tradition.

And both lawmakers were among just 18 Republicans in June to join Democrats in passing significant military aid to Ukraine in defiance of President Donald Trump and Republican leaders. So, too, were they both among just 17 Republicans in January to vote in favor of extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

The reason why moderates were such a chunk of the Republicans to fall on Tuesday is that they — by virtue of their centrist views — are the types who can win in so-called "swing districts" that can flip from one party to the other.

Garbarino and LaLota also move up after Republican moderate losses in a separate ranking done by Bridge Grades, a nonpartisan project that scores members of Congress on a 100-point scale based on how collaboratively or divisively they govern. The rankings take in bill sponsorships, cross-partisan co-sponsorships, legislative effectiveness and public rhetoric.

Garbarino is tied for third among the most collaborative of all surviving Republicans (excluding California Rep. Young Kim, who currently trails in her still-uncalled race, and retiring Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan), and LaLota is ninth. If still including those who lost their elections, they would be 12th and 18th. Moving to the top of those rankings is another New Yorker, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn).

Many of those defeated Tuesday represent a notable Republican chunk of the current Congress’ 50-member ideological dead center in terms of the voting patterns of all 435 members, as ranked by Voteview.

On the other side of the aisle, Long Island Democrats Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) and Suozzi are among the most moderate voters in their party. That group is now expected to expand with Democratic wins in swing districts nationally.

Suozzi, who is co-chair of the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus — which focuses on promoting centrist and bipartisan legislative approaches and solutions to issues — saw his fellow co-chair and longtime co-sponsor on legislation, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), go down in defeat. 

Now, Suozzi told Newsday, because the group’s bylaws require an equal number of Democratic and Republican members, its roster of about 44 total members might have to shrink in the next congressional session, which starts in January. With the defeats of so many GOP moderates, he said, it could be harder to find those willing to be paired with remaining Democrats.

LaLota and Garbarino, as Republicans, will go from being in the House majority to the minority. But while that is a loss of clout, their roles in operating as among Congress’ top moderates could help mitigate that somewhat.

William Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said that with the incoming House speaker likely being Hakeem Jeffries, another New Yorker, they could, as party moderates, be willing to work with Democrats and even "see their profiles raised in the 120th Congress."