The race for the new NY-23 was Carl Paladino’s to lose, and he did. On Wednesday, the bombastic businessman and candidate in the primary for NY-23 conceded to his opponent, Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy.

In November, Langworthy will go on to challenge Democrat Max Della Pia for the open seat.

Langworthy spoke with Capital Tonight about the race.

“It’s a different feeling being on this side of the equation versus leading as party chairman, but it was a very fulfilling victory,” he said.

The new NY-23 is a seven-county swath that includes Erie County, five counties that border Pennsylvania, including Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben and Chemung counties, and Schuyler County. It’s considered the reddest district in the state of New York.

While Erie County went for Paladino, Langworthy — who won the other six counties — said his campaign strategy was deliberate.

“Our strategy from the very beginning was based on map analysis, and what I understood very quickly is that this was a Southern Tier district that happened to include Erie County, not the other way around,” he said.

As chairman of the Republican State Committee since 2019, Langworthy had already crisscrossed the state multiple times, meeting county leadership and forging the relationships that would help him on Election Day.

Since announcing his candidacy, he’s built on those relationships. Additionally, he held several town halls over the summer in each of the counties he is hoping to represent, getting to know the voters.

“They don’t want bombast,” Langworthy said in a reference to his blustering primary opponent. “They don’t want somebody who wanted to be an internet celebrity. They wanted someone who’s going to be a serious legislator for the needs of the Southern Tier.”

When asked if he thought Paladino’s penchant for dropping racist statements made a difference in the election, Langworthy said yes.

“I feel it is absolutely the reason the numbers came in the way they did,” he said.

Langworthy acknowledges that his dual roles as GOP chair and congressional candidate will lead to criticisms should gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin lose to Kathy Hochul in November, but he said he’s handling both jobs.

“Anytime after an election, there’s going to be prognostication and analysis. (But) we are in the best position in two generations to win the governor’s office,” he said. “And there isn’t a day that’s goes by that I’m not in touch with the Zeldin campaign.”