Democrat Laura Gillen promises bipartisan approach as she heads to GOP-controlled House

Democrat Laura Gillen heads to Washington, D.C., next month to start her first term representing the 4th Congressional District looking to form alliances with Republicans — critical to holding on to the seat, experts and fellow lawmakers say.

Gillen, 55, an attorney and former Hempstead town supervisor from Rockville Centre, defeated incumbent Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-Island Park), flipping the South Shore congressional seat back to blue in November.

In a recent interview in the district, Gillen told Newsday that she will work with Republicans, joining committees that will help bring the most federal dollars back to Long Island for infrastructure projects, particularly those that will protect the shoreline and clean drinking water. 

She started with a two-week orientation for new U.S. House members where, in addition to selecting her office and housing on Capitol Hill, she reveled in joining events that had her mixing with those outside her party.

"Those were great because it gave us an opportunity to meet some colleagues on the other side of the aisle, share a meal with them, share conversation with them and start to form friendships that will hopefully make it easier to reach across the aisle when we are trying to get things done," Gillen said over tea at The Pantry RVC, a local restaurant about two miles from her house.

Experts say her primary political task over the next two years, similar to all lawmakers in swing districts, is to continue to separate herself from the perception that her party doesn't understand the needs of centrist voters.

With the Republican stronghold in Nassau, for Gillen to hang on to the seat in 2026 she would need to separate herself from Democrats "who are still suffering from being tied — fair or not — to progressive policies emanating from New York City and Albany," said Lawrence Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

"She needs to take a page out of Tom Suozzi’s political playbook and chart a middle course so that she is seen as a voice of reason," Levy said, referring to the Democratic House member in the neighboring 3rd Congressional District. "She also needs to make sure people get to know her, and that may mean spending more time in her district than in Washington." 

Gillen won this year by a narrow margin of 8,603 votes in a high turnout, presidential election cycle after losing to D'Esposito two years earlier. Her campaign stressed bipartisanship, embracing a tougher stance on border security than most Democrats. 

Gillen bucked a trend in Nassau in which a majority of voters chose Donald Trump, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since 1988.

The 4th district spans the central and southern section of the county from Floral Park, Five Towns and Elmont across the South Shore to include Long Beach, Uniondale, Freeport, Merrick, Roosevelt, Hempstead, Garden City and Rockville Centre. According to recent U.S. Census figures, there are about 767,000 residents, with nearly 45% holding at least a bachelor's degree and about 200,000 owning a home.

The district had been held by Democrats for nearly three decades before 2022 when D'Esposito had benefited from the strength of the Republican ticket, experts had said. That year, former Rep. Lee Zeldin saw major gains in Nassau and Suffolk in challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul and all of Long Island's Republican congressional candidates were elected.

Democrats vowed after the 2022 election that the seat would be "on loan" to D'Esposito. Gillen's campaign started working as early as 20 months before Election Day 2024 to unseat D'Esposito. She had lost by fewer than 10,000 votes in 2022 and was considered the front-runner even as several other candidates mulled a primary challenge against her. 

Both candidates, longtime rivals from when they were public officials in the Town of Hempstead, stepped up their spending in 2024 over 2022 as their race became a closely-watched toss-up.

Their campaigns appeared to gain the national spotlight in the final weeks of the race: Trump held a September rally at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale aimed to boost D'Esposito; while Gillen likely benefited from news reports that D'Esposito had put his girlfriend and fiancée's daughter on the congressional payroll as well as family members of his political allies.

Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) adopted a bipartisan style in Washington that fellow Democrats say might have helped him win two elections in 2024 to represent the neighboring 3rd Congressional District encompassing the northern section of Nassau County and a small section of Queens. In February, Suozzi beat Republican Mazi Pilip in a special election after the seat was vacated by George Santos, a Republican, who was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2023. In November, Suozzi won again, defeating Republican Mike LiPetri.    

Suozzi called Gillen "a true public servant" and said he believes she will "be focused on representing the people, not representing the party." 

As the first Democratic supervisor of the Town of Hempstead in 100 years, Gillen's attempts at bipartisanship, such as naming then-councilman Bruce Blakeman her deputy, were often overshadowed by other battles with the Republican majority. 

Befriending Republicans in other states might be easier than those on Long Island, Suozzi suggested.

"In Washington, D.C., she's not going to have to deal with local party politics and she will be able to build relationships with Republicans who serve on the committees with her and other freshmen on both sides of the aisle and identify those who are interested in her same interests," said Suozzi, one of 62  members on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. 

Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. said he believes that if Gillen can allocate more federal money to parts of the district D'Esposito overlooked her political party will likely not matter in two years anyway. 

"It doesn't make a difference Democrat or Republican," said Hobbs, even as his 60,000-plus community leans heavily Democrat. "When people elect you to represent them, they are expecting you to deliver the funding and services that they deserve — that's going to be key."

Hobbs said that with a major downtown revitalization project underway the representative who can deliver the most federal infrastructure dollars would gain the most support in his section of the district.

"Everybody wants the same thing," he added. "We want safe communities, good roads and clean water." 

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.