In Tuesday’s primary, three Republican candidates fight to be Zeldin’s successor – RiverheadLOCAL

Three contenders hoping to succeed Rep. Lee Zeldin are fighting to win the Republican nomination in the First Congressional District in the GOP primary election Aug. 23.

Nick LaLota of Amityville, Michelle Bond of Port Jefferson and Anthony Figliola of East Setauket are the three candidates on the ballot for the seat being vacated by Zeldin, a four-term incumbent. Zeldin is the nominee of the Republican and Conservative parties for governor seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul this November.

LaLota is the Republican committee endorsed nominee for the seat. He is a former Suffolk County election commissioner, current chief of staff to the Suffolk County Legislature and a Navy veteran.

He has the endorsement of elected officials across Suffolk County, including State Senator Anthony Palumbo, Assembly Member Jodi Giglio and Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar.

Bond is the CEO of a cryptocurrency trade organization named the Association for Digital Asset Markets, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and former senior counsel to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to her Linked-In page.

Bond has endorsements from prominent national figures: Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Jr., the son of the former president. She also received the endorsement of the Suffolk County Police Conference and the conservative activist group, the Long Island Loud Majority.

Figliola is a lobbyist and former deputy supervisor of Brookhaven Town. He has the endorsement of Giuliani, a Republican gubernatorial primary candidate who lost against Zeldin and was a special assistant during the Trump administration, according to Figliolas Facebook page. Giuliani is also the son of Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City Mayor and lawyer to Trump who peddled the former presidents false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

He also has the support of other local conservative groups like the America First Warehouse group and the Suffolk County chapter of Moms for Liberty, according to his Facebook page.

All the candidates present themselves as the America First candidate in the race, echoing the slogan used by former President Donald Trump. The candidates have similar viewpoints on issues including the economy, inflation, taxes, law enforcement, immigration and election integrity.

There is no Democratic primary in the First Congressional District. Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming of Sag Harbor secured the nomination after her last primary opponent dropped out of the race in May.

There are also no primary elections for the Republican or Democratic nominations for State Senate. Democrat Skyler Johnson will attempt to seat one-term incumbent Republican Senator Anthony Palumbo in November.

Novembers election will decide control of a U.S. Congress narrowly held by Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This is also the first election held after reapportionment, which resulted in New York losing one congressional seat.

Reapportionment also resulted in a newly drawn First Congressional district, which is set to be a swing district split 50-50 between voters for Biden and Trump in the 2020 election, according to the website redistrictingandyou.org, developed by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The final redistricting map for the First Congressional District was drawn by a court-appointed special master after a lawsuit successfully challenged Democrat-drawn maps earlier this year.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters can check the location of their polling place using the New York State Board of Elections website.

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In Tuesday's primary, three Republican candidates fight to be Zeldin's successor - RiverheadLOCAL