A 'grand young party' emerges on Long Island
Left, former Rep. Lee Zeldin, and right, LI Reps. Nick LaLota, Anthony D'Esposito and Andrew Garbarino. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams, Howard Schnapp
When Long Island Republicans gathered in Milwaukee last week, some familiar faces were missing from the Republican National Convention floor.
Most notably, neither former Sen. Al D’Amato, now 86, nor former Rep. Pete King, now 80 — two of Long Island’s defining politicians for a generation — attended.
King’s absence was a last-minute decision, but D’Amato said he didn’t miss being on the convention floor. Nonetheless, without them, eyes turned to a younger generation who could take the party’s reins for decades to come.
Their perspective will become especially important now that the likely Democratic presidential nominee will be Kamala Harris, who, at 59, represents an entirely different generational pull than 81-year-old President Joe Biden. As Democrats hope Harris will lure young voters and women, GOP leaders are priming their younger politicians to carry a message focused on affordability and security.
Even before Biden dropped out, the shifting Republican image reached the national stage, when former President Donald Trump chose 39-year-old JD Vance as his running mate.
Closer to home, Long Island’s 30- and 40-something GOPers argue their youth makes a particular difference when appealing to area voters, especially on pocketbook and safety-related issues.
At the top of the young Long Island leaders’ list is the only one to speak during prime time in Milwaukee last week: former Rep. Lee Zeldin. At last week’s Republican convention, Zeldin was everywhere, sponsoring lunches, speaking from an outdoor stage, sitting in Trump’s VIP box and holding court in the delegation’s front row on the floor. Even when he wasn’t present, his name hovered.
He is, said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a “national figure and a national leader.”
Joining Zeldin, now 44, is a trio of Republican congressmen who’ve already had moments in the spotlight: Rep. Nick LaLota, who, at 46, is the oldest member of the group, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, 42, and Rep. Andrew Garbarino, 39.
And while Long Island is older than much of the nation, its median age is 42 — right in line with those four Republican leaders.
“People under 40 are saying [of local politicians] ‘That guy, he understands what I’m dealing with. He’s going to take what we’ve done on Long Island and in New York State and bring it to the entire country,” D’Esposito said.
Off Long Island there’s Rep. Elise Stefanik, from Saratoga County the House Republican Conference chair, who just turned 40. Freshman Rep. Mike Lawler of Rockland County who has established a broad, and relatively moderate, public profile, is only 37.
The question is whether all of that will matter to voters. A New York Times/Siena College poll taken before Biden dropped out showed likely voters age 18-29 favored Biden by a margin of just 3 percentage points. Long Island GOPers think that vote’s still up for grabs, especially on down-ballot races, even with a Harris-led opposition.
Long Island’s GOP, meanwhile, is looking even further ahead, to an even younger crop of Republicans.
“As a kid in the Republican Party, we didn’t have a minor league team,” Garbarino said. “Now, if I were to leave Congress tomorrow, there are people who could take my place.”
And yet, the older GOP’s legacy lingers, too. LaLota said he often asks himself, “What would Peter King do?” Garbarino still calls King, who previously held his seat, for advice.
As for King?
“I vaguely recall when I used to be part of those stories,” King said with a laugh. “There’s definitely a changing of the guard... But don’t ever take it for granted. There’s always someone coming up behind you.”
n COLUMNIST RANDI F. MARSHALL’S opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
