U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, will make appearances in several of New York’s competitive districts at the end of the week as the campaign season enters its final days with New York potentially being decisive in which party controls the chamber.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, will campaign on Thursday in Rockland County with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in his reelection bid in New York's 17th Congressional District, which is made up of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and southern Dutchess counties.
Also on Thursday, Johnson will also appear with Alison Esposito, the Republican candidate in New York's 18th Congressional District, at a get-out-the-vote event Thursday in Orange County. Esposito is running against Rep. Pat Ryan in that district, which is made up of parts of Orange, Dutchess, and Ulster counties.
Johnson on Friday will then appear with Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro in Binghamton. Later in the day, he will join Molinaro for an event dinner in Catskill. Molinaro is running for reelection in New York's 19th Congressional District, which stretches from Rensselaer and Columbia counties in the east to Tompkins County, and includes the cities of Binghamton and Ithaca.
Johnson is scheduled to be in Onondaga County as well on Friday to rally with Rep. Brandon Williams, who is running for a second term in Central New York's 22nd District.
Also in attendance for all these events will be former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP nominee for governor in 2022 who since then has been working in get-out-the-vote efforts for the party.
Jeffries, the Democratic leader who is poised to become the next speaker if Democrats take control of the House, will rally in Binghamton on Friday with Rep. Molinaro’s opponent, Josh Riley, in the 19th District race. Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and state Sen. Leah Webb also will be there.
The 17th, 18th and 19th and 22nd districts are some of the House races in New York that were very close in 2022 that are expected to be competitive again this cycle and both major parties are spending heavily on them.
Early voting is underway in New York and runs through Sunday, Nov. 3. Election Day is Nov. 5.
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