The Long Islanders will decide some major primary races next Tuesday.
The Republican election campaign could be determined by who former President Donald Trump endorses.
Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino of Sayville haunted Trump when he voted to prove the outcome of the 2020 election.
But former Congressman Pete King doesn’t think there will be much backlash against Garbarino.
King retired two years ago after serving nearly 30 years in Congress.
Garbarino is currently representing the district, and King says he expects Garbarino to win the primary.
“You want an independent person. When Andrew thinks it’s right for the district, he voted for Trump the way the ‘trumpets’ wanted it,” says King. There have been a few times when I thought I was going to do it but I didn’t, and there were some very conservative Republicans who voted as well, and I don’t think anyone wants a rubber stamp in Congress. .”
In the congressional district that covers eastern Suffolk County, three candidates are vying for the Republican nomination to replace Lieseldin, who is running for governor.
Nick LaRota has been heavily targeted in campaign ads by Michelle Bond, a former registered Democrat who heads a cryptocurrency trading group.
She is backed by a pro-Trump group known as the Long Island Loud Majority, which she says supports an “America First” agenda.
Suffolk County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Garcia dismissed attacks on party candidates as campaign rhetoric.
“I understand that everyone wants the next guy to ‘get out of Trump,'” says Garcia. “The problem is that our candidates, Nick LaRota and Andrew Garbarino, have the track record and good intentions of being there as Trump conservatives from day one.”
Nassau County also holds primary elections for seats in Congress. This includes his five-way race for the Democratic nomination for the constituency Tom Suozzi is leaving.