- Rep. Andrew Garbarino is running against Democrat Jackie Gordon in New York's 2nd Congressional District.
- The 2nd District, covering parts of Suffolk and Nassau counties, is one of the wealthiest in the state.
Republican incumbent Rep. Andrew Garbarino faces off against Democrat Jackie Gordon in a rare 2020 rematch in New York's 2nd Congressional District.
In 2020, Garbarino defeated Gordon by a near-7-percentage-point margin in a race to replace longtime Republican Rep. Peter King.
New York's 2nd Congressional District candidates
Garbarino, who won his first term in Congress in 2020, sits on the House Committees on Homeland Security and serves as a ranking member on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation.
He has leaned on inflation and rising gas prices to appeal to voters.
Prior to his time on Capitol Hill, Garbarino served in the New York State Assembly for four terms.
Gordon, who is seeking to unseat Garbarino, is a former Babylon town councilmember and combat veteran.
During her near three decades of service in the Armed Forces, Gordon served as a platoon leader in Germany during Operation Desert Storm, an operations officer at Guantanamo Bay, a battle captain in Baghdad during the US-led invasion of Iraq, and a commander of a military police battalion in Afghanistan in 2012.
Gordon, who also worked as a public school teacher for more than three decades, has been vocal about gun violence prevention and advocates for universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
Voting history for New York's 2nd Congressional District
New York's 2nd Congressional District includes the South Shore of Suffolk County and a section of Nassau County. It's one of the wealthiest districts in New York.
Then-President Donald Trump had a 4 percentage point margin of victory over Joe Biden under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before the once-in-a-decade redistricting process following the 2020 Census made it slightly less Republican The new district would have still had Trump winning, but only with a 1.5 percentage point margin.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Garbarino has raised $3.3 million, spent $2.75 million, and has $672,000 cash on hand, as of October 19.
His challenger, Gordon, has raised $1.6 million, spent $1.57 million, and has $56,000 still left to spend, as of October 19.
As of November 4, 18 super PACs, hybrid PACs, traditional political action committees, and a politically active nonprofit group have spent money in this race to advocate for or against the candidates, including during the race's primary phase.
But the groups have only spent about $800,000 combined — a modest amount compared to other competitive US House races where outside spending has soared well into the millions of dollars.
What experts say
The race between Garbarino and Gordon is rated as "lean Republican" by Inside Elections, "likely Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "likely Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.