Incumbent Representative Nick LaLota, a Republican, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, John Avlon, to be re-elected for a second term in what many believed would be a close race.
As it turned out, it was not: Mr. LaLota grabbed 55.7 percent of the vote in the First Congressional District, while Mr. Avlon got 44.2 percent, according to unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
In other races, New York’s Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, fended off a challenge from the Republican Michael Sapraicone to be returned to Washington for a third full term. On the East End, New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo, a Republican, defeated Sarah Anker, a Democratic challenger who formerly served in the Suffolk County Legislature, and Tommy John Schiavoni, a Democratic Southampton Town Councilman, bested Stephen Kiely for State Assembly.
Mr. Palumbo and Mr. Kiely were present Tuesday night at an event held for Suffolk County Republicans at Stereo Garden in Patchogue, where Mr. LaLota gave his victory speech.
“As an officer in the world’s finest Navy, I’ve been proud to take a number of oaths, and I took an oath two years ago to serve as your representative in Congress,” Mr. LaLota said. “I’m fired up to go back to Washington and take another oath to fight for you.”
Mr. LaLota described the local Republican Party as “Suffolk County’s fighting force for good,” and its dominance on Tuesday night was undeniable. Unofficial results showed Donald Trump and J.D. Vance with 55 percent of the vote countywide in the presidential race. Mr. Trump took Suffolk County by just over 200 votes in the 2020 election. Mr. LaLota won with 55.5 percent of the vote in 2022.
New York’s First Congressional District has been red since Lee Zeldin won the seat in 2015, and it will continue to be so after the 46-year-old Navy veteran’s victory on Tuesday.
Before being elected to Congress, Mr. LaLota, who lives in Amityville, was chief of staff for the Suffolk County Legislature, and prior to that was a commissioner at the Suffolk County Board of Elections. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Homeland Security Committee, and the House Small Business Committee.
“Now listen, we’ve gotten outspent in a number of races,” the representative said. “When I was in the Republican primary two years ago, I got outspent by $3 million. In my general election two years ago, I got outspent by $2 million. In this general election, I got outspent by $4 million. You don’t win these races getting outspent by that much without these awesome men and woman here.”
Later, Mr. LaLota addressed those who voted for Mr. Avlon and the challenger himself separately.
“I will continue to serve you regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of your support of me,” Mr. LaLota said to those who voted for his opponent. “My team and I will be there with you every step of the way.”
To Mr. Avlon, the congressman was less gracious.
“To my opponent — despite spending $8 million on lies on abortion, residency, the border, and everything else — thank you for running in this district.” After a pause, he added, “Let’s look forward.”
Mr. Avlon had his own event at the Union Hall of the Local 1049 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Holtsville. At around 11:30 p.m., he took the stage to give his concession speech.
“In this campaign I said we would fight the good fight, and that’s true, we fought the good fight,” Mr. Avlon said.
“It’s a hard night in Suffolk County for us Democrats, it’s a hard night for many Democrats across the country. But the fight continues,” he said. “This is not a time for us to shirk back, but it’s a time for folks to step up continuously. . . . Because the good fight never ends and democracy depends on loving your country no matter who’s president.”
Mr. Avlon, a journalist and former CNN anchor who was a speechwriter for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, attempted to position himself as a centrist in his bid for the First Congressional District. He lives in Sag Harbor.
“The core premise of our campaign continues and arguably is more important than ever,” Mr. Avlon said later in his concession speech. “I said that we should rebuild the middle, and we still desperately need to rebuild the middle here in Suffolk County and across the country.”
Despite the disappointments, those at the Democratic event did, however, have reason to celebrate when they heard that Proposition 1, the Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution, passed by a comfortable margin, as did the countywide Proposition 2,
On the campaign trail, Representative LaLota largely adhered to Republican orthodoxy: United States support for Israel, a secure border, and supporting a reversal of the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT), which has an outsize impact on homeowners in this district, where housing costs are so high.
Reproductive rights also developed into a central issue. At a debate hosted by Newsday, Mr. LaLota said that he “doesn’t support a national abortion ban,” despite being attacked in ads on the issue.
Doors opened in Patchogue at 3 p.m., and reporters from Newsday, News 12, Times Review, students from Stony Brook University journalism school, and many other outlets arrived over the next six hours to set up cameras and wait for the crowds to roll in.
Signs showing support for Mr. Palumbo, Mr. Sapraicone, Mr. Kiely, Mr. LaLota, and other G.O.P. candidates lined the walls in a display of Suffolk County Republican unity. Mounted above them all — at the front of the red-white-and-blue-lined room — was one that read “Suffolk is Trump Country.”
