Former Suffolk County Executive Pat Halpin is jumping into the race for New York’s 2nd Congressional District.
Running as a Democrat, Halpin is aiming to unseat Republican Andrew Garbarino, who first won the district in 2020.
“I’ll be your go-to congressman, no matter if you’re a Democrat, Republican, independent, short, tall, young or old,” said Halpin. “You got a problem; I’ll work to find a solution.”
The 2nd Congressional District spans much of the South Shore in Suffolk County and Levittown, North Wantagh, Seaford, South Farmingdale and Massapequa in Nassau County. It has been represented by a Republican since 2013.
Halpin has flipped a race in Suffolk before. In 1982, he was elected to a seat in the state Assembly that had been held by Republicans for over 100 years.
In 1987, Halpin was voted in as county executive, serving one term before losing his re-election bid.
As county executive, Halpin installed the D.A.R.E. anti-drug program in Suffolk schools and instituted a policy mandating arrests in most domestic violence cases.
More recently, he served on the Suffolk County Water Authority, first as board secretary from 2006 to 2018, and as chairman from 2018 to the present.
Under his leadership, Halpin said that the water authority has raised safety standards for drinking water and increased transparency for the utility.
“I’ve spent years fighting to protect our drinking water,” he said. “I’m proud of the results.”
Halpin took shots at Garbarino in his campaign announcement, pointing to the congressman’s nap during voting for the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in May, which passed by only one vote. Garbarino later released a statement that said he would have voted for the legislation and was celebrating its passage.
“Our congressman, Andrew Garbarino, is asleep at the wheel—literally,” said Halpin.
“He’s been caught snoozing while voting to gut hospitals, slash food assistance, and hand billionaires more tax breaks.”
Garbarino’s campaign hit back following the announcement.
“For over 60 years, Pat ‘High Tax’ Halpin never saw an appointed government job he didn’t like,” said Anthony Pileggi, a senior campaign aide for Garbariono. “He tried to ruin Suffolk County before he was thrown out of office after one term, and now he wants to ruin the country by voting for progressive policies in Washington, D.C.”
Halpin faces an uphill battle in a district that has not sent a Democrat to the House of Representatives since Steve Israel in 2010. Garbarino has won the last two general elections by close to 20 points.
