Here We Go Again

Last week, Democrat Kara Hahn, the deputy presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, tossed her hat into the ring to run in 2022 for the 1st District congressional seat, held by Republican Lee Zeldin since 2014.

Noyac Democrat Bridget Fleming, also a county legislator and a Democrat, announced her intention to run for the seat early last month, apparently hoping to secure an early nod from county Democrats for the 2022 race. During her announcement, she was flanked by party leaders demonstrating their support.

Here we go again. Let the long, drawn-out and expensive Democratic primary season begin!

Ms. Fleming ran a failed campaign for the nomination two years ago in a field of three Democrats seeking the nomination. The eventual winner of the primary, Stony Brook University chemistry professor Nancy Goroff, lost to Mr. Zeldin in November, having defeating Ms. Fleming and Perry Gershon of East Hampton in a costly primary. In 2018, there were five Democratic candidates in the party’s primary.

Time will only tell who else will seek a seat at the primary table in 2022. It seems that hard-fought primaries have become typical for local Democrats of late — in the race for the nomination for retiring State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle’s 1st Senate District last year, five Democrats sought the nomination, to the Republican’s lone candidate — and the eventual victor — Anthony Palumbo.

While certainly it is anyone’s right to wage a primary for their party’s nomination for an elected seat, those primaries typically exhaust financial and other resources, and split fundraising efforts, all of which might be better spent in the general election.

Ms. Fleming, at a press conference last month, said outright that her early announcement to run was made because “we need to spend the time raising the millions to beat the others.” Wouldn’t those funds be better spent fighting the Republican candidate instead of other Democrats?

Mr. Zeldin is sitting on a multimillion-dollar war chest, which will easily outmatch any Democratic campaign following a costly primary — if Mr. Zeldin is even in the race next year himself. With Mr. Zeldin’s desire to seek the GOP nomination for New York governor, the congressional seat may be up for grabs — if he wins the nod to run for the governor’s race, he won’t be allowed to seek reelection in the congressional race.

While no Republicans have stepped up to the plate announcing their intent to seek the position, it’s probable that party leaders already have a short list of possible candidates. The difference between the two parties, however, is that it’s unlikely that a drawn-out primary race for the GOP nomination would ensue. The party appears to be much more cohesive (compared to the often fractured Democrats) with a singular mission of winning the seat.

If Mr. Zeldin is truly going to take himself out of the picture to focus on the governor’s race, that creates a tremendous opportunity for Democrats to wrest control of the seat — if they can pull together and get out of each other’s way, rather than expending all their time, energy and fundraising dollars on a costly and drawn-out primary that will only end up further tearing at the fabric of the party, creating rifts that never seem to heal.

Given the national political climate, a Democratic victory in the 1st Congressional District, while difficult, could be achieved next year, if the Democrats can pull together to win the race.

Democrat Tim Bishop of Southampton was able to seize the seat from former GOP Congressman Felix Grucci in 2002 (due in large part to a campaign gaffe on Mr. Grucci’s part) and held the seat until being defeated by Mr. Zeldin in a red wave in 2014. The demographics of the district, which extends west to GOP heavy sections of Brookhaven and Smithtown, work in the favor of Republican candidates like Mr. Zeldin and help to account for his continued reelections (combined with his endorsement by Trump supporting party members).

With the elimination of much of the Trump wave, now would seem an opportune time for a coordinated and unified Democratic campaign for the 1st District seat. Positions between the Democrats aren’t that far apart — surely they can find common ground.

But that’s just not business as usual for the Democrats, whose history of in-fighting and fractured party politics have cost them numerous races, local and regional, over the years. Rather than lobbing grenades at each other for the next year and a half, party members and leaders need to focus on the overall goal — a victory in November 2022.