Garbarino Takes Lead In NY 2nd Congressional District Race

Last updated: 11:00 a.m.

Results:

Andrew Garbarino - 157,001 votes

Jackie Gordon - 111,204

Harry Burger - 2,565

Find the results of all local races on our Long Island Election Hub.

LONG ISLAND, NY — With most of the unofficial votes in, Republican candidate Andrew Garbarino took an early lead against Democratic candidate Jackie Gordon in the race for New York's 2nd Congressional District. Official results won't be in for the next few days, as mail-in and absentee ballots still need to be counted.

On Election Day, voters got the chance a new representative for the 2nd District for the first time in 28 years after Republican Rep. Peter King, who has served since 1992, announced his retirement.

During the primary in June, Garbarino and Gordon defeated several candidates to win their party's nomination. The third hopeful was Green Party candidate Harry Burger

Garbarino, 36, of Sayville, is an attorney and assemblyman for New York's 7th District. Gordon, 55, of Copiague, was a former Army Reservist and Babylon councilwoman and currently works as an educator. Burger, 37, of Deer Park, has worked as a mechanical design engineer for 15 years.

When asked what is the most pressing issue facing the nation, the three candidates gave very different responses.

For Gordon, she said that access to quality, affordable health care is the top concern.

"Too often, career politicians advance the agendas of the corporate special interests that fund their campaigns, even when it hurts the rest of us here on Long Island," she told Patch. "Even as we face the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians in Washington are attempting to take away health care from thousands of Long Islanders with preexisting conditions."

Garbarino told Patch after seeing what has been happening in New York City and Long Island recently, he believes public safety is of utmost importance.

"Criminals are being released onto the streets every day and crime is through the roof," he said. "Now, Democrats in Washington want to take New York's failed criminal justice reforms nationwide. We have seen the destruction in New York state, and we can't let that happen nationwide."

Watch all three candidates debate in a virtual forum hosted by the League of Women Voters here.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for grabs in Tuesday's election.

During the 2018 election, King was challenged by Democratic nominee Liuba Grechen Shirley, who received a total of 113,074 votes, while King received 128,078 votes.

According to BallotPedia, the district has 724,053 residents. Out of those residents, 512,037 are eligible to vote in this year's election.

New York's 2nd Congressional District includes the Nassau County communities of Bethpage, Levittown, North Wantagh, Seaford, Farmingdale, South Farmingdale, Massapequa Park, North Massapequa and Massapequa. Suffolk County communities include Amityville, Bay Shore, Bayport, Blue Point, Copiague, Lindenhurst, Gilgo, West Babylon, Wyandanch, North Babylon, Babylon, Baywood, Brentwood, Brightwaters, Cedar Beach, Central Islip, Deer Park, Dix Hills, East Islip, Islip, Islip Terrace, Great River, Hauppauge, Holbrook, Islandia, Nesconset, Ocean Beach, Oakdale, Oak Beach, Patchogue, West Sayville, Bohemia, West Islip, Wheatley Heights and Ronkonkoma.