Results: Republican George Devolder-Santos defeats Democrat Robert Zimmerman in New York's 3rd Congressional District election

• Republican George Devolder-Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in New York's 3rd Congressional District.
• The 3rd District is located in Nassau County.

Republican George Devolder-Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in New York's 3rd Congressional District. It was the first US House general election with two openly gay candidates running against each other.

Santos is the first openly gay elected representative to serve the 3rd District.

Polls closed in the state at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

New York's 3rd Congressional District candidates

Devolder-Santos is a Wall Street financier and investor. Prior to his time in Congress, he worked in real estate and capital markets for firms like Goldman Sachs and LinkBridge Investors.

In a 2020 interview with Island Now, he said, "I'm a gay Republican in New York State. I am probably a walking, living, breathing contradiction."

Zimmerman, Devolder-Santos' challenger, is also an openly gay person and longtime Democratic National Committee member who has advocated for Planned Parenthood, gay rights, Medicare for all, and gun violence prevention. Zimmerman, who clinched Hillary Clinton's endorsement, led the 2022 Democratic primary with 35.7% of the vote, defeating four opponents to clinch the nomination.

Either contender would have been the first openly gay person to serve the 3rd District.

Voting history for New York's 3rd Congressional District

New York's 3rd Congressional District is located in Nassau County on Long Island.

President Joe Biden had a 10 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to shift west in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly less Democratic.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Devolder-Santos had raised $2.7 million, spent $2.4 million, and had $447,575 on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Zimmerman, had raised $2.6 million, spent $2.3 million, and had $369,617 cash on hand, as of October 19.

Through early November, spending by super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups has been fairly light by competitive congressional race standards — about $3.8 million, including during the race's primary election phase. More than 70% of that spending has come from one source: Democrat-backing hybrid PAC House Majority PAC.

What experts say

The race between Devolder-Santos and Zimmerman was rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.