Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes ends run for Congress

Former Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes announced she won’t seek to unseat Island Park Republican Anthony D’Esposito in New York’s 4th Congressional District, according to her posts Friday to the social media platform X.

Hughes, who grew up in Great Neck, said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "For those interested, I have decided not to run for Congress at this time."

"Like many Americans, I have become increasingly frustrated with the state of our politics and politicians over the last several years," she wrote. "I will continue to advocate for reducing healthcare costs, promoting the effective use of our tax dollars, and implementing pro-growth and innovative economic policies for our country."

Campaign filings showed in May that Hughes, a Democrat, was entering the race to unseat D'Esposito, a former police detective elected to Congress last year. The district comprises most of the Town of Hempstead. 

Neither Hughes nor her spokesman could be reached Saturday.

The election is next year.

Before D'Esposito won the seat last fall, it had been in Democratic hands for decades.

In a statement sent by D’Esposito’s office, he said: “If I were Sarah Hughes I’d withdraw as well since I wouldn’t want to campaign on Democrats’ dismal record of rising inflation, runaway federal spending, and the national migrant crisis.” 

When she was 16, Hughes won a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Hughes got a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 and spent three years as an associate at the law firm Proskauer Rose, where she worked on mergers and acquisitions. Her undergrad degree is from Yale.

A filing showed Hughes had entered the race less than a week after fellow Democrat Laura Gillen formally announced the launch of her own campaign.

Gillen, Hempstead Town's former supervisor, is vying for a second chance to challenge D’Esposito, a former town councilman, after losing to him last year by fewer than 10,000 votes.

Another contender for the Democratic nomination in the race is Patricia Maher, of Baldwin, who lost her 2014 campaign against then Rep. Peter King in the 2nd Congressional District. Lawrence Patrick Henry, of Baldwin, also is running, according to federal filings.

Also running: State Sen. Kevin Thomas of Levittown, who in July became the sixth Democrat, before Hughes dropped out, to seek D'Esposito's seat.

With Candice Ferrette 

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.