Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Laura Gillen, Democratic nominee for Congressional District 4, went head-to-head during a News 12 debate, discussing issues they will focus on if they win the November election.
The 4th Congressional District includes most of the Town of Hempstead, Long Beach and a small portion of the Town of North Hempstead.
The Oct. 15 debate featured pre-submitted questions from News 12 viewers. Key issues discussed during the debate included alleged corruption, D’Esposito’s response on ethics question, rising antisemitism, abortion rights, immigration reform, climate change and the SALT tax. This debate is ahead of the Nov. 5 rematch between the candidates.
A New York Times article was published alleging D’Esposito hired his mistress and fiancee’s daughter. This would be in violation of House ethics rules. During the debate, D’Esposito said these reports are untrue.
“My hiring practices were done above board and there was absolutely zero ethics violated in any of my decisions,” D’Esposito said.
D’Esposito accused Gillen of hiring over $2 million patronage jobs from the Nassau County Democratic party during her tenure as supervisor. He also cited a New York Post article claiming that Gillen helped hand a $1.5 million contract to renovate the area around Nassau Coliseum to a political donor.
“This is a ridiculous, baseless attack and Congressman D’Esposito knows that,” Gillen said. “The contract that he’s talking about is the contract to have the coliseum and renovate the coliseum. That contract was given out by the Republican-controlled Nassau County legislator.”
Moderator Rich Barrabi asked both candidates about the recent rise in antisemitism. A resident from West Hemstead, Avi Rosman, expressed fear for children’s safety due to an increase in anti-semitic incidents.
“This isn’t about what you’re going to do. For me, it’s what I have done and what I will continue to do,” D’Esposito said. “I have been at the forefront in calling and rooting out antisemitism. I was chosen by the speaker of the House to sit on the National Holocaust Museum board, which allows me to bring resources to combat antisemitism to communities not only here on Long Island, but across the United States of America.”
D’Esposito said he is on the first-ever parliamentary working group, a bipartisan group between the House Knesset in Israel and the House of Representatives in the U.S. He said he shares intelligence with them and talks about the rise in antisemitism.
Gillen said she agrees with D’Esposito that addressing the rise in antisemitism is crucial. She outlined her antisemitism action plan, which includes leveraging federal dollars to enforce codes of ethics and responsibility in colleges, sending more resources to the Office of Civil Rights and addressing hateful language on social media.
Donna M., a Lynbrook resident, asked the candidates how they would vote on a national abortion bill.
“We must protect reproductive freedom in this country,” Gillen said. “It is not a state’s right. It’s a human right.”
Gillen said she will always vote for reproductive freedom, including the Women’s Health Protection Act and access to IVF.
“I made it very clear that I would never, ever support a nationwide abortion ban,” D’Esposito said. “I have co-sponsored four bipartisan bills to protect access to IVF.”
Gillen said “action speaks louder than words” and D’Esposito isn’t doing enough to fight for reproductive rights. She said he didn’t vote for the Women’s Health Protection Act and would not sign a discharge petition to bring a bill about IVF legislation to a vote.
Barrabi asked the candidates what they will do to address border concerns if elected.
“The only party who’s done anything to secure our border in the House of Representatives are the Republicans,” D’Esposito said. “We, back in April, passed H.R. 2 to secure the border. It’s the most comprehensive border bill that this country has seen.”
Gillen said the bill was “hyper-partisan” and the Republicans knew it had a zero percent chance of becoming law, so they used it as a talking point. She said the House was working on a bill that had bipartisan support, but said former President Donald Trump told D’Esposito and his colleagues not to “solve the crisis so they can campaign on it.”
“First, we should point out what I wouldn’t do and that is to just haphazardly accept every green energy policy that comes across our desks,” D’Esposito said in response to a resident, who said he is worried about the effects of climate change on the district.
D’Esposito said he would focus on ensuring the funding of the National Flood Insurance Program, continuing to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on potential floodgates, continuing to fund projects along the south shore to replenish the shoreline and providing funding to communities to ensure they have the hazard mitigation funding.
“I was proud of the work I did as supervisor to make sure that we are addressing the impacts of these storms and preparing ourselves for the next one,” Gillen said. “We did storm stabilization projects in Valley Stream, in Point Lookout by rebuilding the dunes and working with the Army Corps of Engineers by creating living barrier reefs.”
D’Esposito responded to a question about what he has done to repeal the SALT Cap to reduce federal taxes by using state and local deductions in his first term in office. He said he has worked every day to restore the SALT deduction for taxpayers who itemize. He said he is being stonewalled by Democrats, which is why it hasn’t been restored.
“He doesn’t need one single Democrat,” Gillen said. “He’s in the majority. If he was an effective congressman, he could bring this bill to the floor and get a vote on it. He said Democrats didn’t deliver, but Tom Suozzi got this passed in the House. He (D’Esposito) has failed.”
“The 4th Congressional District needs a bipartisan leader who has delivered results. I am that person,” D’Esposito said in his closing statement.
“In Congress, I will reach across the aisle and start delivering bipartisan solutions for your family and for mine,” Gillen said in her closing statement.
Early voting for Nassau County residents will begin on Oct. 26 and end on Nov. 3. The Nassau County Board of Elections website has information about local early polling places and times.
Polling will continue Nov. 5 on Election Day.
