As we prepare for the 2020 elections, Yesh Ginsburg and Steen Kirby will give a general overview of all 435 United States House of Representatives races. This is a basic overview to introduce you to the major candidates. All Partisan Lean numbers are taken from the Cook Partisan Voting Index. We will update this page as the races progress if anything noteworthy arises.
New York is too large a state to put all in one article. We will be splitting the Empire State’s 27 districts into three articles. One article contains the first nine districts, which have two of the six Republican districts in the state. All nine of this group of districts have Democratic representatives, while four of the last nine have Republicans.
New York’s 10th Congressional District
Incumbent: Jerry Nadler (Democratic, 14th term)
Partisan Lean: D+26
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Jerry Nadler (D) | 173,095 | 82.15 |
| Naomi Levin (R) | 37,619 | 17.85 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Jerry Nadler (D) | 192,371 | 78.13 |
| Philip Rosenthal (R) | 53,857 | 21.87 |
Republican Candidate:
Cathy Bernstein (campaign website)
An Orthodox Jew from the Upper West Side has challenged Nadler in every election since he supported the Iran Deal, and this year is no different. The long-term goal is clearly to get Republicans competitive in New York City. Bernstein is campaigning mostly against New York City issues that residents are upset about (including the recent bail reform) and blaming them on the Democrats.
Democratic Candidate:
Jerry Nadler (campaign website)
Nadler is campaigning on his record in the Democratic Party and on fighting President Trump. In this district, he doesn’t need to do more than that.
New York’s 11th Congressional District
Incumbent: Max Rose (Democratic, first term)
Partisan Lean: R+3
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Max Rose (D) | 101,823 | 53.02 |
| Dan Donovan (R) | 89,441 | 46.57 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Dan Donovan (R) | 142,934 | 61.58 |
| Richard Reichard (D) | 84,257 | 36.74 |
| Henry Bardel (G) | 3,906 | 1.68 |
Republican Candidate:
Nicole Malliotakis (campaign website)
Malliotakis is well-funded and trying to swing this district back to Republicans. She is running against Mayor de Blasio’s unpopular move to close Riker’s and against New York’s bail reform, and is relatively moderate on other issues. Malliotakis is pretty conservative on immigration. She also focuses on her support for animals.
Democratic Candidate:
Max Rose (campaign website)
Rose flipped this seat two years ago, and is campaigning on the positions he has taken during his two years in Congress. He has a mixture of moderate and somewhat progressive positions, and looks to be in a tough fight to keep this seat.
New York’s 12th Congressional District
Incumbent: Carolyn Maloney (Democratic, 14th term)
Partisan Lean: D+31
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Carolyn Maloney (D) | 217,430 | 86.42 |
| Eliot Rabin (R) | 30,446 | 12.1 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Carolyn Maloney (D) | 244,358 | 83.18 |
| Robert Ardini (R) | 49,398 | 16.82 |
Republican Candidate:
Carlos Santiago-Cano
Santiago-Cano is not spending any money and seems to be campaigning sparsely, mostly on social media.
Democratic Candidate:
Carolyn Maloney (campaign website)
Maloney has represented this district for decades, and has a long liberal Congressional record. She barely held off a primary challenge from progressive Suraj Patel, but she won’t have any trouble in the general election here.
New York’s 13th Congressional District
Incumbent: Adriano Espaillat (Democratic, second term)
Partisan Lean: D+43
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Adriano Espaillat (D) | 180,035 | 94.6 |
| Jineea Butler (R) | 10,268 | 5.4 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Adriano Espaillat (D) | 207,194 | 88.77 |
| Robert Evans Jr. (R) | 16,089 | 6.89 |
| Daniel Rivera (G) | 8,248 | 3.53 |
Republican Candidate:
Lovelynn Gwinn (campaign website)
Gwinn is running on fiscal conservatism, including repealing the 16th Amendment. She also is pushing school choice and fixing government-run housing in NYC.
Democratic Candidate:
Adriano Espaillat (campaign website)
Espaillat is a liberal Democrat, though somewhat more moderate than what you’d expect from a district this blue. He is focusing on his record and his opposition to President Trump, not that he actually needs to campaign.
New York’s 14th Congressional District
Incumbent: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democratic, first term)
Partisan Lean: D+29
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) | 110,318 | 78.17 |
| Anthony Pappas (R) | 19,202 | 13.61 |
| Joseph Crowley (WF/WE) | 9,348 | 6.62 |
| Elizabeth Perri (C) | 2,254 | 1.6 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Joseph Crowley (D) | 147,587 | 82.85 |
| Frank Spotorno (R) | 30,545 | 17.15 |
Republican Candidate:
John Cummings (campaign website)
Cummings is a former NYPD officer running on an anti-Socialism platform. Usually for Republicans that is used as a tactic against what voters fear is the extreme of the Democratic Party. In this case, though, Ocasio-Cortez actually is a (Democratic) Socialist. Cummings is spending a ton of money in this race, though it’s hard to imagine an actual upset here.
Democratic Candidate:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (campaign website)
Ocasio-Cortez is the most visible and well-known progressive in Congress, championing Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, a federal jobs guarantee, and a plethora of other progressive policies.
New York’s 15th Congressional District
Incumbent: Jose Serrano (Democratic, 15th term)
Partisan Lean: D+44
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Jose Serrano (D) | 124,469 | 95.99 |
| Jason Gonzalez (R) | 5,205 | 4.01 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Jose Serrano (D) | 165,688 | 95.27 |
| Alejandro Vega (R) | 6,129 | 3.52 |
Republican Candidate:
Orlando Molina
Molina does not seem to be actively campaigning.
Democratic Candidate:
Ritchie Torres (campaign website)
Torres is a very liberal Democrat who came through a tough primary. He should have no trouble winning easily in November.
New York’s 16th Congressional District
Incumbent: Eliot Engel (Democratic, 16th term)
Partisan Lean: D+24
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Eliot Engel (D) | 182,044 | 100 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Eliot Engel (D) | 209,857 | 94.67 |
| Derickson Lawrence (PCC) | 11,825 | 5.33 |
Republican Candidate:
There is no Republican in this race. Patrick McManus is the Conservative Party candidate.
Democratic Candidate:
Jamaal Bowman (campaign website)
Bowman unseated long-time representative Engel in a heated primary. Bowman is a progressive Democrat who finally beat the establishment Engel. He does have the most detailed policy proposals on a variety of issues of any progressive House member, so it will be very interesting to see what he can accomplish in Congress.
New York’s 17th Congressional District
Incumbent: Nita Lowey (Democratic, 16th term)
Partisan Lean: D+7
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Nita Lowey (D) | 170,168 | 88.02 |
| Joseph Ciardullo (Reform) | 23,150 | 11.98 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Nita Lowey (D) | 214,530 | 100 |
Republican Candidate:
Maureen McArdle-Schulman (campaign website)
McArdle-Schulman is a moderate Republican running in this district that is theoretically competitive but hasn’t been in House races in a long time. She’s not really spending here, as Republicans aren’t currently trying for this D+7 district.
Democratic Candidate:
Mondaire Jones (campaign website)
Jones is a progressive Democrat championing Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and he should easily win this election, taking over after Lowey retired.
New York’s 18th Congressional District
Incumbent: Sean Maloney (Democratic, fourth term)
Partisan Lean: R+1
2018 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Sean Maloney (D) | 139,564 | 55.47 |
| James O’Donnell (R) | 112,035 | 44.53 |
2016 Results:
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Sean Maloney (D) | 162,060 | 55.61 |
| Phil Oliva (R) | 129,369 | 44.39 |
Republican Candidate:
Chele Farley (campaign website)
Farley has some money left over from her 2018 challenge to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, so she is trying to make this a competitive race. Farley is a relatively moderate Republican, though she takes a somewhat hard-line anti-Democratic Party stance in general. She is also campaigning on appealing to issues with local importance.
Democratic Candidate:
Sean Maloney (campaign website)
Maloney is a moderate Democrat, focusing on relatively centrist solutions to local issues. He focuses on his record, and is trying to close tax loopholes for the wealthy.
Overview
Republicans control none of these nine districts. One or two might manage to be competitive in November, but the only one that is expected to be a November battleground is the 11th.
Interested in the rest of our primers for other House races? We have them all listed on our primer home page.
