GOP Reacts to $16.1 Million Democrat Spend in New York Politics

New York Republican leaders aren’t worried about the millions of dollars the Democrat’s House Majority political action committee (PAC) is earmarking for New York politics.

“We don’t have to match that to win because we have the best candidates but that doesn’t mean we won’t match it,” New York Republican State Committee Chair Ed Cox told The Epoch Times of the rival PAC’s funding.

Mr. Cox was among the Republican politicians and leaders who attended Mike LiPetri’s campaign kickoff rally on Sunday in Bethpage, Long Island.

Mr. LiPetri is challenging Democrat Congressman Tom Suozzi in Congressional District 3 (CD-3).

“This election is not only about Congress,” Mr. LiPetri said to the crowd. “It’s about the president of the United States, and it starts with a man at the top of the ticket to boot out Joe Biden and to get Donald J. Trump back in as our president.”

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Mr. Suozzi flipped the CD-3 seat, formerly held by disgraced former Congressman George Santos (R-N.Y.), back to blue after he defeated Republican Mazi Pilip on Feb. 13 in a special election.

Mr. LiPetri, the current Republican nominee for CD-3, is a former New York State Assemblyman.

“He’s a terrific candidate,” Mr. Cox said. “He’s going to be out there knocking on doors and talking to people. That’s what he has to do and our plan for him is to make sure that he’s well-funded and can run a good campaign.” 

The Democrats are vowing to blanket 60 media markets nationwide with $146 million in television ads and $40 million for digital advertising, according to CNN.

Congressional Democrats are led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrat’s House Majority PAC president is Mike Smith.

“We need four seats to win back the majority,“ Mr. Smith told CNN. ”It’s a very tough four seats. Every single one of those is going to be trench warfare.”

In comparison with the Democrat super PAC’s $186 million, the Republican-backed Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) super PAC has reportedly raised $142 million for its candidates so far.

“We have incredibly strong Republican incumbents in the toughest races, far better recruits, and a political environment that seems to favor Republicans,” Dan Conston, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, told CNN. “If the resources are there, we will hold the majority this fall.”

Locally, however, funding is sparse for Mr. LiPetri.

That’s compared to $954,406 on hand through March 4 for Mr. Suozzi and $5.2 million in individual contributions.

Mr. Cox said fundraising for Mr. LiPetri is just getting started.

“Contributions will be coming in because people know Mike LiPetri and know what a good candidate he is,” Mr. Cox added.

The rally for Mr. LiPetri took place at the Bethpage American Legion on Washington Street.

Although Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) is unopposed in the June 25 Republican primary election, Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Cairo expects him to be included in the looming Democrat spending onslaught.

“Hakeem Jeffries can put in that $16 million against Anthony D‘Esposito but you know what Anthony’s got,” Mr. Cairo told the audience. “He’s got the men and women, some of whom are here today, of the entire South Shore who will come out and vote for him. He did it two years ago. He’ll do it again this year.”

Mr. D’Esposito won the 4th Congressional District seat in Nassau County two years ago in a district that has 70,000 more Democrats than Republicans by enrollment. He narrowly defeated Democrat Laura Gillen with 51.8 percent of the vote.

Ms. Gillen is facing competition from five Democrats in the June 25 primary election to secure a place on the November general election ballot.

“We do have a fight in front of us,” Mr. D’Esposito said at Mr. LiPetri’s rally. “There is a target, there is a bullseye, and it lands right in the middle of Long Island. The Democrats want nothing more than to take back this island and take the majority in the House of Representatives.”

As of Dec. 31, 2023, Mr. D’Esposito had $1,247,942 in cash on hand.

In addition to Mr. D’Esposito’s 4th District, New York Republicans gained Districts 17 and 19 in the 2022 elections. Mike Lawler represents the Hudson Valley’s 17th District and Marc Molinaro was elected to the 19th District.