NEW YORK — New York Democrats looking to unseat vulnerable House Republicans are flipping the script on border security, attacking their GOP rivals on their signature issue.
Republicans show no signs of relinquishing their command of the conversation, especially as they blast Kamala Harris’ appointed role as “border czar” in the Biden administration.
But in battleground districts surrounding New York City, where tens of thousands of migrants live in taxpayer-funded shelters, Democratic House candidates are condemning violent incidents linked to the new arrivals. They argue the southern border is too porous and blame those in government — including fellow Democrats.
It’s reminiscent of the campaign playbook used by Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who won an off-cycle House race on Long Island in February.
“Any candidate running for office this year who doesn’t address border security — and have a solid position and plan on it — is at peril of turning off voters,” Suozzi senior adviser Kim Devlin said in an interview.
Despite getting pummeled in public opinion polls over the issue, which is top of mind for voters, Democrats are making border security a central focus of their campaigns.
Josh Riley upstate and Laura Gillen on Long Island, both of whom are locked in rematches against House Republicans seeking a second term, are speaking unencumbered on the issue and railing against inaction by Republicans in Congress while also scrutinizing President Joe Biden.
Their rivals, Reps. Marc Molinaro and Anthony D’Esposito, have long spoken against the dangers they say Democratic border, immigration and bail laws pose to New Yorkers. The two introduced the Illegal Offender Registry Act earlier this month with fellow vulnerable New York House Reps. Mike Lawler and Brandon Williams, both Republicans.
Taking the fight to Republicans worked for Suozzi; Riley and Gillen say they’re responding to voters’ concerns. Additionally, the districts they seek to represent lean politically moderate-to-conservative, such that ignoring or sidestepping the issue would be campaign malpractice.
“Democrats don’t always do great on the issue of immigration. It’s obviously a go-to attack for Republicans most of the time,” Lanae Erickson of the center-left think tank Third Way said in an interview. “It’s more like trying to get back to even with voters on who can handle immigration, and showing that we actually care about the issue.”
The number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border has fallen as Biden tightens asylum restrictions.
Still, Republicans are renewing their argument that his policies leave the country susceptible to threats like drug cartels, while portraying Democrats as opportunistic for now putting the border front and center. Democrats are targeting elected Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan Senate border deal earlier this year, following Suozzi’s successful messaging.
The swing districts are close enough to New York City to see how Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has struggled to care for an influx of migrants in the past two years, when the movement of newcomers around the country and state became points of political tension.
The Riley-Molinaro and Gillen-D’Esposito face-offs are among the six New York House races that could determine which party controls the chamber next year.
Democrats hope to reverse a red tide that flipped four seats to Republicans in 2022. But as they stress the importance of border control, their candidates face the pointed challenge of conveying sincerity.
In upstate New York several weeks ago, Riley, a former Senate counsel, called a news conference to lump Biden, his fellow Democrat, with Molinaro, his Republican rival, on failed efforts to secure the border, reiterating a case he’s been making since at least September.
Molinaro’s campaign found the attack laughable. And the freshman House member said in an interview, “Josh Riley was one of the leading legal activists — 34 submissions to the United States Supreme Court — that led to the dismantling of the Trump border security policies.”
Riley as an attorney had helped challenge Trump’s ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries.
“The fact that Molinaro is attacking me for that just shows how desperate he is to pass blame to other people instead of doing his job,” Riley responded in an interview, adding, “The career politicians on both sides of the aisle have completely failed us.”
For Gillen and D’Esposito, competing again in a Long Island district that abuts New York City, it’s about linking their rivals to their party’s standard-bearers on border security. Gillen, the Democratic former Hempstead Town supervisor, stressed that the border is of top importance to voters.
“We know what happened,” she said in an interview. “Trump said, This is a political issue, let’s exploit it and let’s not fix the problem. And my opponent has gone along with him 100 percent.”
D’Esposito fired back, “If Laura Gillen actually cared about securing America’s borders instead of playing politics, she would demand accountability from Kamala Harris for her failure to end the migrant crisis while serving as the administration’s ‘border czar.’”
Former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair and Long Island Rep. Steve Israel said going on the offensive about the southern border and immigration is about being responsive.
“A fundamental rule in politics is you have to meet voters where they are. If you’re in a district where they’re telling you they’re concerned about immigration, you’ve got to have something sensible to say about it,” Israel said in an interview. “Whether it’s opportunistic or just what a good representative does is almost irrelevant.”
