As the only Republican in New York City’s congressional delegation, Representative Nicole Malliotakis has taken certain positions that would make her an understandable outlier in a deeply Democratic city.
Just days after taking office in early 2021, she voted to reject the legitimate 2020 election results, vote for a debunked conspiracy theory who claimed that President Donald J. Trump had actually won the election. She followed by voting against Second impeachment of Mr Trump as a result of the deadly Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.
But while seeking re-election in November, Ms. Malliotakis has tried to walk a finer line around guns and abortion, two polarizing social issues that have received additional attention in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. (In June, the court overturned the federal right to abortion, as well as a New York law regulating concealed weapons.)
On arms, for example, Mrs Malliotakis has expressed some support for new regulations, even vote for various democratic gun laws offered in the wake of the Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas massacres. However, she later voted against the omnibus bill, claiming it was “constitutionally suspect” and “represented a biased override”.
Ms. Malliotakis is against abortion rights and is in favor of restrictions on the use of taxpayers’ money for the procedure and on late abortions. But she has said she believes abortion should be allowed under certain circumstances, such as when the mother’s life is at stake.
But Ms. Malliotakis has also tried to keep some distance from the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, who brought down Roe v. Wade and said in a recent interview she “didn’t get into it.” But earlier this month, the congressman voted against a pair of bills that would prohibit states from restricting abortions and blocking them from accessing abortion services outside of the state.
Republicans, expected to do well in November’s midterm elections, have long fought to overthrow Roe. Still, some of the party candidates have not rushed to embrace the Dobbs ruling, wary of voter alienation who, according to polls, could be influenced by social issues in ways that help democrats.
Ms. Malliotakis is a good example. Her district includes Staten Island and part of southwestern Brooklyn, some of the city’s most conservative areas. Yet New York remains a predominantly Democratic city, and recent Supreme Court rulings were very unpopular here.
So, like many of her Republican colleagues, Ms. Malliotakis, a first-term congressman, is trying to steer the conversation toward bottom-line issues like inflation and high gas prices.
“People are struggling to get gas in their tanks, put food on their table and pay their bills,” Ms Malliotakis said in a recent interview.
New York 2022 elections
As prominent Democratic officials try to defend their records, Republicans see opportunities to break into general election races.
“For some people who are single-issue individuals, it could potentially have an impact,” she added, of her statements about guns and abortion. “But I know that crime and wallet issues are the most important issues for the people I represent.”
Ms. Malliotakis is expected to easily win her Republican primaries next month against John Matland, a heavily underfunded rival, likely making her a rematch against Max Rose, the former Democratic congressman she dethroned in 2020.
Rose, a veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan and was awarded the Bronze Star, has sought to tie Ms. Malliotakis to the extreme elements of the Republican Party, including Mr. Trump, and to the Capitol uprising by the president’s supporters. he runs to protect ‘the soul of America’.
“Everything our country was built on wasn’t just spat on: they were trying to destroy it,” he said during a July 11 campaign tour in Bay Ridge. “And even after — even after — Nicole and everyone else in Congress who were nearly killed, they still voted for decertification.”
He also openly mocks Ms. Malliotakis’s apparent duality over some hot-button issues, mocking, for example, her limited embrace of gun control as nothing more than “a few ceremonial voices.”
“When it came time to vote on the package, as always, she played both sides,” he said, referring to the omnibus law. “I voted for it before she voted against it. Who knows what’s going on here?”
mr. Rose has also loved a handfull of public events following the Supreme Court ruling on abortion — including one in Mrs. Malliotakis’ Brooklyn district office in Bay Ridge — to portray her as out of touch with her district, even on Staten Island, saying the congressman is “on the wrong side of history.”
“I generally believe that when it comes down to it, people are on the side of women who have the ability to make those decisions for themselves,” he said.
In recent weeks, Mr. Rose continued that attack, saying the congressman had “tweeted more than 180 times and issued 13 press releases” since the Dobbs decision, but “has said nothing about millions of women losing control of their bodies.” .”
When asked specifically about the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe, Ms. Malliotakis protested.
“My constituents know that nothing is going to change in New York,” she said. “The Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, so we have to accept the Supreme Court’s decision no matter what.”
Ms Malliotakis’s comments have also given fodder to her opponents on the right, including: Mr. Matlanda health worker who lost his job for refusing to be vaccinated, and who is trying to oust Ms. Malliotakis in the Aug. 23 primary with a low-budget, anti-establishment campaign.
Mr. Matland, who is running for public office for the first time, said Ms. Malliotakis has “often alienated the Republican base,” and that she was voted into office solely because of her name recognition — she served five terms in the state Assembly and ran. unsuccessfully for New York City mayor in 2017 — and her district’s distaste for Democratic candidates.
“People say ‘I only voted for her’ – and I am guilty of that myself – ‘because I thought she was a much better option than Max Rose,'” said Mr Matland, adding: “And that is exactly the reason we have primaries: so we can get a better option.”
Given the likelihood of a tough year for Democrats nationally, most observers think Mr. Rose will have an uphill battle in November, assuming he wins his primary in August against two challengers: Brittany Ramos DeBarrosa progressive community activist, and Komi Agoda-KoussemaMorean educator.
The campaign of Mr. Rose also suffered a setback earlier this year when… a state judge threw out new congressional lines drawn by the Democrats that could have tipped the neighborhood heavily in its favour. The revamped lines, drawn in May by a regrading expert, left the district looking much the same, although the Brooklyn section — about half as populated as the Staten Island portion — favored President Biden over Mr. Trump by about 12 points in the 2020 election.
Ms Malliotakis accused Mr Rose of entering the race only “because he thought they would change the lines in his favor.”
“The good news about reruns is that we know how they end,” Ms. Malliotakis said of her rematch against Mr. Rose.
Vito Fossella, the Republican who serves as the Staten Island borough president, echoed that sentiment, saying he didn’t “see how the dynamics” of the race has changed much since 2020, suggesting abortion and guns wouldn’t be a big problem for states. Island voters.
“On balance, what people care about is ‘Are we safe? Are we economically comfortable? Do we have a better future?’” said Mr Fossella, who is a supporter of Ms Malliotakis.
A path to reelection for Ms. Malliotakis, 41, will likely see a big win on the island’s South Shore, a Republican stronghold, to offset the more liberal neighborhoods to the north. And for South Shore residents like Edward Carey, a retired bank manager who hibernates in Florida but owns a house in the Eltingville neighborhood, Mrs. Malliotakis is already certain. He noted Mr Fossella’s support, as well as other factors.
“She’s a Republican, she’s a woman, she’s young,” said Mr. Carey, 83, a registered Republican who said the last Democrat he voted for was John F. Kennedy. “That’s good enough for me.”
Still, state senator Diane J. Savino, a moderate Democrat who has represented northern Staten Island for nearly two decades, said “you can’t locate voters on Staten Island.”
“It’s not that they’re Republican or Democrat, leaning left or right: it’s about whether that candidate speaks to what affects Staten Islanders,” she said, pointing to the island’s recent history of vacillating between parties. “Anyone who thinks they can put their finger on the pulse of the Staten Island voters doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
She also criticized Ms. Malliotakis for being sloppy on critical issues, but noted that voters don’t seem to care.
“So far Nicole has shied away from this,” said Ms. Savino, referring to Ms. Malliotakis’ anti-abortion voices in Washington and Albany. “No one ever holds her accountable. So I don’t think that’s going to drive voters. What is going to drive voters is whether or not they think they will have someone to fight for them in Washington.”
Vin DeRosa, a patron at Jody’s Club Forest, a popular bar near the North Shore where: Mister Rose is known to drinkis a registered Democrat, but said he considers himself an independent who “votes for the person” rather than the party line.
Mr. DeRosa, a retired telecommunications professional, said he voted for Mr. Rose in 2020 and that he likely would again, if only because of Ms. Malliotakis’ association with Mr. Trump.
“I’m not sure I want a congressman to call Mar-a-Lago,” Mr. DeRosa said, “to know what to do.”