New York: who should earn your vote for Congress in 2026
Opinion · The paper’s scorecard
New York: every race for Congress on the 3 November 2026 ballot, and how the candidates measure up against our standards.
Sitting and former members are scored on the same key votes, read from the official House and Senate roll calls; each vote links to the record. Candidates who have never served in Congress have no votes to score, and outside the battlegrounds we have not researched them, so they are marked as not scored. Where only one candidate could be measured, the mark rates that record on its own; it is not a verdict on the opponent. How the marks work · All states
District 1 R+4
✓ Meets our standards: Nick LaLota
Chris Gallant
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Nick LaLota
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 21 key votes · total +3
- ✓Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (11)
Against us (10)
- Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source
- Voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which civil-liberties groups opposed as a limit on campus speech. Source
- Voted against the amendment requiring a warrant to search Americans' communications under FISA Section 702 (it failed 212-212). Source
District 2 R+6
✓ Meets our standards: Andrew Garbarino
Meets our standards

Andrew Garbarino
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total +3
- ✓Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (16)
Patrick Halpin
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 3 EVEN
No mark
Mike LiPetri
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Tom Suozzi
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 22 key votes · total +0
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ~Hard on violent crime
With us (10)
District 4 D+2
✓ Meets our standards: Laura Gillen
Jeanine Driscoll
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Laura Gillen
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 11 key votes · total +5
- ✗Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ?Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ?Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (9)
District 5 D+24
No mark
George Marsh
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Gregory Meeks
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -3
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ~Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (9)
District 6 D+6
No mark
Joseph Chou
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Grace Meng
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -1
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ~Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (11)
District 7 D+25
No mark
Nydia Velázquez (D): incumbent retiring.
Melvin Rivera
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Claire Valdez
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 8 D+24
No mark

Hakeem Jeffries
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -3
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ~No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (9)
Lewis Mizrahi
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 9 D+22
No mark
Joel Anabilah-Azumah
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Yvette Clarke
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 26 key votes · total -1
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ~Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (11)
District 10 D+32
No mark
Dan Goldman (D): incumbent lost renomination.
Brad Lander
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Jennifer Moore
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 11 R+10
✓ Meets our standards: Nicole Malliotakis
Michael DeCillis
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Nicole Malliotakis
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total +3
- ✓Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (15)
District 12 D+33
No mark
Jerry Nadler (D): incumbent retiring.
Micah Lasher
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Caroline Shinkle
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 13 D+32
No mark
Adriano Espaillat (D): incumbent lost renomination.
Darializa Avila Chevalier
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Jomo Williams
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 14 D+19
No mark
Diamant Hysenaj
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total +0
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ✓Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (13)
District 15 D+27
No mark
Stylo Sapaskis
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Ritchie Torres
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -1
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ~No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (10)
District 16 D+18
Leans our way: George Latimer
Joseph Cinquemani
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Leans our way

George Latimer
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 11 key votes · total +1
- ✗Smaller government
- ✗Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ?Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ?Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (6)
District 17 D+1
No mark

Cait Conley
Democrat
No votes in Congress: scored on platform and record, promises at half weight · total +1.5
- ~Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ~Light touch on tech
- ~Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ~Hard on violent crime
With us (5)
- Platform says 'corporate giants have squeezed out small businesses' and pledges 'Cutting red tape, expanding access to affordable capital', ending pharma 'pay for delay' deals and holding utility monopolies accountable. Source
- Platform calls for 'Passing clear data privacy laws to give consumers control over personal data', 'strict standards for how federal agencies use AI, including transparency and human oversight', and an end to masked ICE agents. Source
- Platform pledges 'Ending military escalation with Iran and pursuing diplomacy to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon'; she told The Nation that Trump 'has not made America safer' and urged 'using soft power, reinvesting in USAID, diplomacy, partnerships and alliances'. Source
Against us (2)
- Giffords PAC endorsed Conley; its profile says she 'supports commonsense gun safety measures like universal background checks and red flag laws' and 'will also work to ban assault weapons like the ones she carried in combat that have no place on civilian streets, crack down on dangerous, untraceable ghost guns'. It describes her as a gun owner. Source
- NRA-PVF grades Conley 'F' for the 3 November 2026 general election (its lowest grade, defined as 'a consistent anti-gun candidate'); incumbent Mike Lawler is graded B. The page does not list the positions behind the grade. Source

Mike Lawler
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 19 key votes · total +2
- ✓Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ?Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (10)
Against us (9)
- Voted for the 2024 law forcing TikTok's sale or ban. Source
- Voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which civil-liberties groups opposed as a limit on campus speech. Source
- Voted against the amendment requiring a warrant to search Americans' communications under FISA Section 702 (it failed 212-212). Source
District 18 D+2
✓ Meets our standards: Pat Ryan
Jacqueline Auringer
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Pat Ryan
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 23 key votes · total +2
- ✗Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (13)
District 19 D+1
✓ Meets our standards: Josh Riley
Peter Oberacker
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Josh Riley
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 11 key votes · total +3
- ✗Smaller government
- ✗Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ?Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ?Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (8)
District 20 D+8
No mark
Ralph Ambrosio
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Paul Tonko
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -2
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (10)
District 21 R+10
No mark
Elise Stefanik (R): incumbent retiring.
Anthony Constantino
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Blake Gendebien
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
District 22 D+4
✓ Meets our standards: John Mannion
Kailee Buller
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

John Mannion
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 11 key votes · total +3
- ✗Smaller government
- ✗Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ?Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ?Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (8)
District 23 R+10
✓ Meets our standards: Nick Langworthy
Aaron Gies
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Meets our standards

Nick Langworthy
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 19 key votes · total +5
- ✓Smaller government
- ✓Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (13)
District 24 R+11
Leans our way: Claudia Tenney
Alissa Ellman
Democrat
No congressional voting record; not scored
Leans our way

Claudia Tenney
Republican · incumbent
Scored on 26 key votes · total +1
- ✓Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✗Live and let live
- ✓Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✗Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ✓Right to bear arms
- ✓Hard on violent crime
With us (14)
District 25 D+10
No mark
Virginia McIntyre
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Joseph Morelle
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 27 key votes · total -4
- ✗Smaller government
- ~Small business over giants
- ✓Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ✗Free speech
- ✗No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ~Checks on power
- ✗Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (8)
District 26 D+11
No mark
Dennis Hannon
Republican
No congressional voting record; not scored

Tim Kennedy
Democrat · incumbent
Scored on 11 key votes · total -1
- ✗Smaller government
- ✗Small business over giants
- ?Live and let live
- ✗Light touch on tech
- ?Free speech
- ✓No surveillance state
- ✓Home first, open trade
- ✓Checks on power
- ?Right to bear arms
- ✗Hard on violent crime
With us (5)
Photo credits. Official congressional portraits are works of the U.S. government and in the public domain. Others:
- Cait Conley: DHSgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (file)
