Democrat Josh Riley has defeated the Republican incumbent, Representative Marc Molinaro, according to The Associated Press, flipping New York’s 19th Congressional District in one of the most watched House races of the cycle.
A lawyer and former U.S. Senate policy analyst, Mr. Riley spent his campaign railing against what he called profiteering corporations and the politicians who did their bidding, stressing his promise not to accept corporate PAC contributions and his support for term limits. He also emphasized his pledge to defend abortion rights.
The district, which spans New York’s Hudson Valley, Catskills and Southern Tier, was widely considered a tossup. The stakes prompted roughly $45 million in total spending on the contest, much of which went to ads in which each candidate accused the other of corruption and lying.
With Mr. Riley’s victory, Democrats have flipped two seats held by Republican incumbents in New York; earlier on Tuesday, State Senator John Mannion defeated Representative Brandon Williams in a neighboring district to the north.
Mr. Riley’s campaign ads pointed to Mr. Molinaro’s record in Congress and the times he voted with his party to make it more difficult to obtain an abortion, as proof that his opponent would not stand up to oppose a national abortion ban.
But Mr. Molinaro repeatedly said that he opposed such a ban. In his ads, he bashed Mr. Riley and his party for the flood of undocumented immigrants who have cost New York State taxpayers $2.4 billion this year alone.
A former county executive and state lawmaker who had earned a reputation as a bipartisan pragmatist, Mr. Molinaro veered to the right this year, sharing a conspiracy theory popularized by former President Donald J. Trump that claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pet dogs and cats. Since then, Mr. Molinaro has stood by the debunked claim, repeatedly refusing to apologize.
Late Tuesday night, Mr. Molinaro released a statement acknowledging his seeming defeat, without offering a formal concession.
“While we would have liked to end tonight with more votes, we want to be sure every absentee and affidavit is counted,” he said. “I’m so grateful to my family, friends and supporters, and will have more to say in the coming days.”
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