In a banner year for Republicans nationally, New York Democrats managed to flip three Republican-held congressional seats on Election Day — offering solace and perhaps a path forward for the party as they look to regroup.
The wins came in a state that was a rare black eye for the party just two years earlier. During the 2022 midterms, Republicans picked off a handful of congressional seats across New York, helping them win control of the U.S. House.
Fast forward to 2024, New York Democrats won GOP-held seats on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and in the Syracuse area.
Speaking with the press Friday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn touted the New York wins, saying “Democrats…the same day that Donald Trump narrowed the margins at the presidential level, defeated three — not one, not two — three Republican incumbents.”
The Democrats who flipped those seats credit, in part, their focus on communication with voters, arguing it helped shape their messaging. It’s an approach, they say, could be duplicated elsewhere.
“I don’t think this is that complicated,” said Josh Riley, who flipped a district in the Hudson Valley and Southern Tier, unseating incumbent Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro. “You just talk to people, you respect people, you give them the benefit of the doubt. That’s especially the case if they’re coming at it from the other side of the aisle.”
Laura Gillen, who ousted Rep. Anthony D’Esposito in Nassau County, said “We have to talk to voters, we have to meet voters where they are. Don’t lecture voters on what facts are. Understand what they care about, and tell them how you’re going to deliver the solutions for them.”
Both Riley and Gillen noted voters expressed concern about the southern border and the cost of living — issues they touched on during their campaigns.
“Almost all the conversations I had with people — whether they were Democrats or Republicans — they would say, ‘Look man, we just want somebody who’s fighting for us and not fighting for the political establishment and the special interests,’” Riley said.
Riley and Gillen also praised the state party’s new coordinated campaign infrastructure, arguing it provided a boost to their own outreach efforts.
As part of that initiative, which was created in light of the 2022 Republican gains, workers and volunteers knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors and made millions of phone calls to voters across the state.
Rep. Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand led the coordinated campaign. Gillibrand said there are possible lessons to be learned here, too.
“We need to be talking to voters two years in advance, not two months in advance,” she said. “That’s what we did in New York, and I think it's why we produced those seats.”
New York Republicans downplay what happened on Election Day, pointing in part to the influx of campaign cash into the state. The key battleground congressional districts, they argue, will remain battlegrounds.
“Democrats spent over $250 million in New York, with the stated goal to get the majority and elect Hakeem Jeffries the next Speaker of the House. That didn’t happen,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, who won reelection to his competitive seat in the lower Hudson Valley.
"I think that the race we ran was phenomenal. We were outspent," D'Esposito told Spectrum News. "The national Democrats dumped tons of money on lies and deceit and gaslighting."
Over the past week, top Democrats on Capitol Hill have been hosting meetings and listening sessions, getting an earful from members as they seek the best approach for 2026. What worked in New York is expected to be part of that conversation.