John Avlon, Nancy Goroff Wage Dem Primary To Unseat Nick Lalota

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — On Tuesday, June 25, Suffolk County voters will head to the polls for a Democratic primary election to decide which candidate will face off in the race this November against incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Lalota, who represents New York's 1st Congressional District.

Running, and aiming to flip the seat from red to blue are John Avlon, of Sag Harbor, a former CNN political analyst and editor of the Daily Beast and Nancy Goroff, a former chemistry professor from Stony Brook wholost the race for the congressional seat to Lee Zeldin in 2020.

In November, 2022, Lalota, a Republican, won the race against challenger Bridget Fleming for the District 1 seat vacated by former Rep. Lee Zeldin, waged an unsuccessful campaign to unseat incumbent New York State Governor Kathy Hochul.

After redistricting, New York's 1st Congressional District includes both the North and South Forks, Riverhead, the northern part of Brookhaven Town, all of Smithtown and all of Huntington.

Here's a look at both of the Democratic candidates:

John Avlon

On his campaign website, Avlon said, about his reasons for running: "I am running for Congress in New York’s First District because there is too much at stake for the country and community I love.

"Together, we can flip this seat and finally solve problems for Long Island families. We need to rebuild the middle class, protect women’s reproductive rights, invest in our local infrastructure and transportation, and combat climate change."

He added: "This election is not a drill. Now’s the time for us all to stand up and get off the sidelines. Democrats can't afford to lose this fight."

Avlon said: "I'm a native New Yorker and the grandson of immigrants. They inspired in me a deep love for our country and an appreciation that the blessings of America cannot be taken for granted."

Avlon said, on his site, that he has " warned about dangers to our democracy for over a decade — in books, columns and on TV. This election is not a drill. Now’s the time for us all to stand up and get off the sidelines. We need to build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump, defend democracy and win back the House from his extreme MAGA minions. That’s why I'm running for Congress in New York's 1st district."

He added: "If you’ve seen me on CNN or my appearances on "Real Time with Bill Maher" or the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," you know that I’ve consistently called out the unhinged extremism and poisonous polarization in our politics. I’ve tried to be a voice of reason in unreasonable times, preaching the need to focus on common facts and common ground so we can find solutions to our common problems."

Nancy Goroff

Nancy Goroff is a scientist, teacher, and community leader who built her life in Suffolk County. At Stony Brook, where she taught chemistry, she led the effort to provide healthcare to uninsured workers. She founded the Long Island Strong Schools Alliance, a non-profit that helped beat more than two dozen Moms for Liberty extremist candidates who were trying to ban books from our schools. In Congress, Goroff will take on MAGA extremists once again, fighting against their attempts to ban abortion nationwide and undermine our democracy. That’s why she was endorsed by EMILYs List and honored by her local Planned Parenthood.

When asked why she believes the race is so critical, Goroff told Patch: "Our current representative, Nick LaLota, is too extreme and is more interested in political stunts than getting things done for the people of Long Island. He was the first member in a swing district to endorse Donald Trump for president. When a conservative Republican senator negotiated a border security deal with Senate Democrats, LaLota came out against the deal before he even knew what was in it. It is clear that LaLota is too extreme and has no interest in properly representing the people of this district. The people of NY-01 deserve better."

Discussing the issues that comprise the pillars of her platform, Goroff said: "I am running to defend our democracy and rights, especially the right to an abortion, which has been under attack by extremists across the country, to protect our communities, from gun violence and from extreme weather caused by climate change, and to build an economy that works for everyone by combatting the affordability crisis.

Goroff said she has "been on Long Island, in Suffolk County, helping build this community for decades. From my work at Stony Brook University where I taught chemistry and helped a group of uninsured workers get health care, to my work fighting for reproductive rights and access to health care with Planned Parenthood who awarded me with their Impact Award last year, to my nonprofit, the Long Island Strong Schools Alliance, where we beat extremists running for school board who were attacking our public schools and kids, Long Islanders know they can rely on me and trust that I will fight for them."

Suffolk County, she said, is her home." It’s where I raised my kids, taught at Stony Brook, and founded a nonprofit to fight back against extremism at the local level in school board races. In Congress, I will continue to fight for our community, defend our democracy and our rights, protect our families from gun violence and extreme weather caused by climate change, and build an economy that works for everyone. "

Goroff said she believes: "The way we make the world better is through hard work. It may not happen instantaneously but if we keep working, we can build the future we want for ourselves and our children."

Avlon and Goroff held a debate recently with the League of Women Voters of ; that debate can be viewed on YouTube.

During that debate, Avlon said he is running because he believes so much is at stake for the country and for local communities. "We're in a dangerous place, we're on a knife's edge," he said. "I'm the grandson of immigrants, and they taught me that you cannot take the blessing of an American democracy for granted. American democracy is under threat."

Avlon said he believes it's critical to build a "broad, patriotic coalition" to win the swing seat.

He said he left CNN because he and his wife felt deeply felt that they never wanted to feel that "they could have done more when it mattered most."

Avlon reminded that the seat currently held by Republican LaLota was held by Democrat Tim Bishop for more than a decade.

He said the pillars of his campaign were to fight the "fever of Trumpism, which has divided our country"; protect reproductive freedom, and tackle the affordability crisis that has residents from Greenport to Northport frustrated over spiking grocery prices and other costs.

Goroff said she is "pushing back against extremism." She said she has fought back locally, helping to defeat more than 25 "MAGA extremist school board candidates. But on the national level, things are as bad as ever, and our representative Nick Lalota is part of that terrible picture. We absolutely deserve better than what Lalota is doing to us all. He is all talk and no action."

She said she is running to protect our reproductive rights, fight for affordability in issues such as housing; to protect communities against gun violence and extremism and to educate about climate change.

During the debate, the candidates answered questions on issues including whether they could "work across the aisle to pass a bill that was good but not perfect"; both agreed they could and would.

When asked about the Child Care credit, Goroff said the tax credit had been expanded during the pandemic and during that time "we cut the child poverty level in half. That's an incredible accomplishment. Republicans have refused to maintain those expanded levels, and we need to bring them back because so many American families depend on this. We want to make children have a real opportunity to succeed, regardless of the circumstances of their births."

Avlon said as a father of two young children, he understands that the middle class on Long Island feels that the "system is not working for them", but instead, just for the "super rich. We need to be sure to strengthen the middle class" and help them as they face the high costs of raising of family on Long Island, from housing to groceries, he said.

He said the federal Child Care tax credit was critical, as was restoring the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction, that would "put $10,000 back in working families' pockets."

During the debate, both firmly supported defending reproductive rights and ensuring veterans' needs were met. They discussed how to help local farmers. Avlon said it was important to focus on comprehensive immigration reform because those seasonal, temporary workers were critical to farming on Long island.

Goroff said it was important not to "subsidize big agriculture but, instead, make sure small farms get their share." She, too, said seasonal workers were critical and said the government was responsible not only to small farmers but to consumers, "to strengthen and diversity the food chain — that's better for the environment, for the farmers, and better for us."

During the debate, the candidates also discussed issues such as climate change; whether the government should play a role in restricting social media and AI; gun control; and international issues such as the United States' position in relation to Ukraine and Israel; anti-Semitism; and voter fraud.

In closing, Goroff said: "We are working hard here to flip this seat."

Added Avlon: This is no ordinary time, no ordinary election. We have the unique opportunity to flip this seat from red to blue. Democrats can't afford to lose this fight."

Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday.