Ahead of early voting for the Democratic primary election in the First Congressional District, John Avlon and Nancy Goroff took part in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters Monday night.
Televised by Southampton Town’s SEA-TV, it was a polite affair in which the candidates often agreed with each other and didn’t engage in crosstalk. Neither took the opportunity to use a rebuttal. One will emerge from the June 25 primary vote to face the Republican incumbent, Representative Nick LaLota.
The candidates took questions from the league’s Judi Roth, the moderator, and had two minutes to respond. Often, they provided well-rehearsed, snappy answers that came in under the allotted time, a departure from most political debates. They agreed that former President Trump and congressional Republicans posed a threat to democracy, that Democrats needed to focus on the affordability crisis on Long Island, that women’s reproductive freedoms needed preservation, that assault rifles should be banned, and that the United States should continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Mr. Avlon, a Sag Harbor resident and former CNN political analyst, stressed the need for the Democratic Party to expand its reach if it hoped to unseat Mr. LaLota. He highlighted his many endorsements and struck a centrist tone. In his opening statement, while acknowledging that the First Congressional District has been in Republican hands for over a decade, he asserted, “This is a swing district,” adding that only the politics of addition, not division, would prevail. “I do believe that a lot of the divisions in our politics today are because a lot of working families and middle-class families feel the system isn’t working for them.”
“Suffolk County is my home, it’s where I raised my kids, it’s where I built my career,” Ms. Goroff, a former chairwoman of the Stony Brook University chemistry department, said. Touting her activism, she said when a school board near her home elected “three right-wing MAGA extremists” three years ago, it was a wake-up call. With others, she formed the Long Island Strong Schools Alliance to advocate for public schools.
Ms. Goroff spent more time drawing a contrast between herself and Mr. LaLota than she did trying to separate herself from Mr. Avlon, despite the fact that he has raised more money and garnered more endorsements, including from the East Hampton Town Board, former Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, and six of the eight town Democratic Committees in the district.
That said, both candidates often tied Mr. LaLota, who lives in Amityville, to former President Trump. Mr. Avlon said it was a “combination of cowardice and careerism” that prevented Mr. LaLota from breaking with Mr. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Ms. Goroff pointed out how close Congress was to passing a bipartisan immigration reform bill before Mr. Trump, realizing that it would be a political victory for President Biden, torpedoed the effort. “Nick LaLota went right along with Trump,” she said.
Paraphrasing Voltaire, Mr. Avlon said that when governing, “We can’t make perfect be the enemy of good.” He would seek common ground with Republicans and get the middle 60 percent “to support immigration reform” because “our country only works when we find ways to find common ground.”
Immigration reform also came up when the candidates were asked what they could do to support Long Island farms, which both candidates said were dependent on immigrant labor. Mr. Avlon proudly pointed to his endorsement from Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who spearheaded the development of the community preservation fund in 1999, which has been integral for farmland preservation on the East End.
Supporting the middle class was a theme. Ms. Goroff said that during Covid the child tax credit was expanded, cutting the child poverty level in half. Republicans had refused to maintain the expanded levels, but they should, she said. “The lack of child care stifles the economy.”
“It’s critically important that workingclass families know Democrats have their back,” said Mr. Avlon, who also supported the expansion of the child tax credit. He added that “restoring the state and local tax deduction,” known as the SALT deduction, “would put an average of $10,000 back in working families’ pockets.” Ms. Goroff agreed.
On the subject of Republicans considering a national ban on abortion and restricting contraceptives, Ms. Goroff, a mother of two, said, “As a woman, I can’t imagine the idea of somebody else, especially men in Washington, having the ability to say what would happen with my body.”
“You don’t need to be a woman to vote right on women’s rights,” Mr. Avlon said, adding that “the first political belief I had was to be pro-choice.”
The debate covered many topics in only an hour, ranging over climate change, social media, gun violence, and antisemitism.
“One reason I think LaLota is a oneterm congressman is because he’s weak. He’s never had an in-person town hall to take questions directly, to listen and learn,” Mr. Avlon said. “Hyperpartisanism is making people fail at the basic job: listening.”
The debate is available to watch on SEA-TV’s YouTube channel. Early voting starts Saturday.
