New York New Members 2023

Rep.-elect Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.-1)

DATE OF BIRTH: June 23, 1978
RESIDENCE: Amityville, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: chief of staff, Suffolk County Legislature
EDUCATION: B.A., U.S. Naval Academy; MBA, J.D., Hofstra University
FAMILY: wife, Kaylie LaLota; three children

• Republican Nick LaLota will be the new congressman for New York’s 1st District following his victory over Democratic challenger Bridget Fleming. The seat was left open after Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) became the nominee for governor.

LaLota comes from a family with a legacy of public service. LaLota continued this legacy, serving in the Navy.

Following his time in the Navy, LaLota has held leadership positions in local government since 2008. LaLota continued his public service, appointed to the Amityville Board of Trustees in 2013 and successfully running for election in 2014 and reelection in 2015.

Most recently, LaLota served as the chief of staff to the Suffolk County Legislature where he helps oversee Suffolk County’s $3.7 billion budget.

Legislatively, some of LaLota’s priorities include election integrity, expanding access to health care and tackling inflation and the economy.

— Camdyn Bruce

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.-3)

DATE OF BIRTH: July 22, 1988
RESIDENCE: Long Island, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: Business development executive, investor
EDUCATION: N/A
FAMILY: Husband, Matthew

Editor’s note: This guide was updated on Jan. 4 to reflect discrepancies in Santos’ resume.

• Rep.-elect George Santos will be the first openly gay person to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District after defeating his Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman, who is also gay.

The race for the 3rd District marked the first time in history two openly LGBT candidates went head-to-head in a federal general election.

The son of immigrants from Brazil, Santos has been an advocate for legal immigration pathways.

A New York Times review in December called into question Santos’ campaign biography. The lawmaker later admitted that he fabricated pieces of his work and education history.

Santos initially claimed he obtained a degree from Baruch College in 2010, but has since admitted that he has not graduated from “any institution of higher learning.”

Santos also admitted that he misrepresented his work experience after he’d claimed to have worked directly with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. He then said that he had done business with the groups while vice president of another company, LinkBridge.

— Brooke Migdon

Rep.-elect Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.-4)

DATE OF BIRTH: Feb. 22, 1982
RESIDENCE: Island Park, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: town councilman
EDUCATION: B.A., Hofstra University
FAMILY: single

• Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito is headed to Congress to represent New York’s 4th Congressional District.

He beat former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen to flip the seat toward Republicans and is set to succeed Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), who announced earlier this year she would retire at the end of her current term.

D’Esposito, a retired detective in the New York City Police Department, has in part focused his campaign on tax relief, public safety and making matters simpler for the middle class. On his campaign website, he also touted his experience “getting criminals off our streets and keeping families safe.”

After Superstorm Sandy, which tore through New York in 2012, D’Esposito was appointed to serve as a co-chairman of the state’s Community Reconstruction Program. He has also served as chief of the Island Park Fire Department and public information officer for the Village of Island Park.

— Mychael Schnell

Rep.-elect Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.-10)

DATE OF BIRTH: Feb. 26, 1976
RESIDENCE: Manhattan, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: former prosecutor
EDUCATION: B.A., Yale University; J.D., Stanford University
FAMILY: wife, Corinne Goldman, five children

• Democrat Dan Goldman will represent New York’s 10th Congressional District after defeating Republican Benine Hamdan.

As a result of redistricting, Goldman will be representing a newly redrawn district that covers parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Goldman will replace longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler (D), who has represented the district since 2013.

After redistricting combined Nadler’s and Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s (D) district, the pair were forced to take part in an unusual runoff for the state’s 12th Congressional District. Nadler defeated Maloney in the Democratic primary this summer.

Goldman was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York for 10 years.

Goldman also served as lead counsel to House Democrats during former President Trump’s first impeachment trial, an experience he leaned on in his congressional campaign.

— Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

Rep.-elect Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.-17)

DATE OF BIRTH: Sept. 9, 1986
RESIDENCE: Pearl River, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: New York state assemblyman
EDUCATION: B.S., Manhattan College
FAMILY: wife, Doina Lawler; one child

• Mike Lawler will represent New York’s new 17th Congressional District, north of New York City, after unseating Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D).

Lawler is coming to Washington, D.C., after serving in the New York State Assembly, where he represented the 97th District which covers most of southern Rockland County. 

During his time in the state Assembly, Lawler has fought hard against “one-party control,” to secure more funding for law enforcement as well as first responders and to lower the state’s tax burden, according to his campaign website.  

Before entering the Assembly, Lawler served as the deputy town supervisor in Orangetown, N.Y., and worked in the Westchester County executive’s office as an adviser to Rob Astorino. 

Lawler was also a district-level delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from New York. 

— Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

Rep.-elect Marcus Molinaro (R-N.Y.-19)

DATE OF BIRTH: Oct. 8, 1975
RESIDENCE: Red Hook, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: Dutchess County executive
EDUCATION: A.A., Dutchess Community College
FAMILY: wife, Corinne Molinaro; four children

• Republican Marcus Molinaro will represent New York’s 19th Congressional District, after defeating Democratic opponent Josh Riley in the tight race for the open House seat.

Molinaro ran for the 19th District earlier this year in a special election, after former Rep. Antonio Delgado (D) resigned to serve as the Empire State’s lieutenant governor. Molinaro narrowly lost the August election to Rep. Pat Ryan (D).

After redistricting, Ryan chose to run in New York’s 18th District in the midterm elections, leaving this competitive House seat open.

Molinaro previously ran for New York governor in 2018, securing the Republican nomination, but failed to oust former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Molinaro campaigned on inflation and crime, like many of his fellow Republicans. However, Molinaro also separated himself with his focus on increasing accessibility for Americans with disabilities and redesigning America’s mental health system.

— Julia Shapiro

Rep.-elect Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.-22)

DATE OF BIRTH: May 1967
RESIDENCE: Auburn, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: businessman
EDUCATION: B.A., Pepperdine University, MBA, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
FAMILY: wife, Stephanie Williams; two children

• Rep.-elect Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) defeated Democrat Francis Conole to capture New York’s 22nd Congressional District, a seat held by retiring longtime moderate Republican Rep. John Katko.

Williams originally hails from Dallas, Texas. He attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, before transferring to Pepperdine University in California and later embarking on a career in the military. 

According to his campaign website, Williams started out as a nuclear submarine officer in the Navy.

In addition to his military education and experience, Williams also has a business background and holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He also worked in banking in New York City, according to the Syracuse Post Standard. 

Williams and his family moved to New York state’s Finger Lakes region in 2010 and developed an agribusiness.

Williams has embraced the label of being an outsider throughout the campaign.

— Julia Manchester

Rep.-elect Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.-23)

DATE OF BIRTH: Feb. 27, 1981
RESIDENCE: Amherst, N.Y.
OCCUPATION: New York State Republican Committee chairman
EDUCATION: B.A., Niagara University
FAMILY: wife, Erin Langworthy; one child

• Republican Nick Langworthy beat out Democrat Max Della Pia to represent a swath of Upstate New York in the state’s 23rd Congressional District.

Langworthy currently serves as the chairman of the New York Republican Party. He became the youngest person ever to lead the Empire State’s Republican Party after he was “called on” by former President Trump to take up the position in 2019. Langworthy served on the executive committee of Trump’s presidential transition team after the 2016 election.

He will take over for Republican Rep. Joe Sempolinski, who won a special election in August to replace former Rep. Tom Reed (R). Reed resigned in May amid sexual misconduct allegations. Sempolinski declined to run in the November midterm elections, leaving the seat open.

Langworthy touted his ability to fight and win on his campaign website. He criticized inflation and “out-of-control” gas prices, while also emphasizing his support for law enforcement and guns.

— Julia Shapiro