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NEW YORK — Attorney Josh Riley clinched a crucial win for House Democrats on Tuesday night, unseating freshman Rep. Marc Molinaro in a nasty upstate New York showdown.
The upset came after Molinaro defeated Riley in 2022 by fewer than 2 points, a Republican triumph that helped them win the House majority. Democrats seeking redemption this cycle identified Molinaro as one of five vulnerable Republicans and targeted him with big spending and intensive voter outreach.
The slugfest of a race played out in a district where border security was a central issue.
Molinaro spent much of his reelection campaign hewing closely to the anti-migrant platform of former President Donald Trump, even though he’s one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress. He railed against Riley for his legal work supporting DACA and fighting Trump’s Muslim ban, alleging that it laid the groundwork for a porous southern border. Molinaro also spread the rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio ate pets and sought to link Riley to the euthanasia of a social media-famous squirrel, P’Nut.
But Molinaro’s embrace of Trump may have proven too much for swing voters in his district.
In the end, Riley prevailed with the consistent promise that he would work across the aisle to secure the border and stand up to members of his party who stood in the way.
He tarred Molinaro as a Trump sycophant who would green-light hard-right policies, including a nationwide ban on abortion. Molinaro and other battleground New York Republicans, however, pushed back on the abortion attack line as lies, with Molinaro even launching a TV ad clarifying his support of reproductive rights. The outgoing House member had said he does not support a federal ban and stressed he was the first Republican to sign on to a Democratic bill expanding access to IVF.
The district — which encompasses a sprawling swath a couple of hours north of New York City and south of Albany — was one of the most coveted in the country. Democrats and Republicans poured precious resources into the toss-up race, both understanding that the path to the House majority runs through New York.
Molinaro embarked on a “Hometown Priorities” tour of the district in the final stretch of the race and hit Riley with everything he had. He tied the Democrat closely to unpopular President Joe Biden and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“This president used the prosecutorial discretion argument that you made to catch-and-release, and then they come to New York where there’s a sanctuary state because of your allies, Kathy Hochul and others,” Molinaro charged of Riley at their sole debate this cycle, a contentious night that frequently left the Democratic challenger looking at the Republican in disbelief.
Riley, like other swing-district Democrats, tried to stress that Molinaro was part of a historically gridlocked Congress run by Republicans.
“He cares more about having a problem to campaign on than solving the problem,” Riley said of Molinaro at the debate, adding of border security: “The only thing he’s offered to the voters over the last two months on this issue: not solutions, not a plan, not a vision.”
Their race was a vicious one, with Riley attacking Molinaro as a “career politician” and Molinaro calling Riley a “D.C. insider.”
