The Village of Nissequogue was treated to an esteemed guest: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R, LA-04). Johnson was in Smithtown last weekend to headline a fundraiser for Congressman Nick LaLota (R, NY-01).
The fundraiser, held by Steve and Carolyn Louro, is part of the ongoing “Defend the Majority” series, which aims to help Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives ahead of the 2024 elections and defend incumbents.
LaLota won his first term by over ten points over then-Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) in 2022. After mid-decade redistricting shuffled the lines slightly, LaLota is now running on mostly unchanged, albeit somewhat more Republican-leaning turf. NY-01 contains the entire townships of Smithtown, Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, East Hampton, and South Hampton, as well as most of Huntington and northern and eastern Brookhaven.
Johnson ascended to the speakership after the unprecedented October ousting of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R, CA-20). After several rounds of voting, Congressmen LaLota, Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), and Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) coalesced their votes around Johnson, someone whom they felt was not only appropriate to be Republicans’ highest-ranking officeholder in the nation, but also one sympathetic to Long Island values and needs.
The three Long Island Republicans held their ground in waiting for a qualified nominee to come around, staking claims in environmentalism, protecting the Long Island Sound, fiscal conservatism, unifying the House Republican Caucus, and, most importantly, fighting the battle on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions.
Johnson’s visit to Long Island not only highlights the importance of retaining the incumbent, but also in retaining the House overall, as New York proved to be an unlikely provider of a tenuous House majority amidst an underwhelming national environment.
