The candidates in the race for New York’s 19th Congressional District battled it out during a fiery, live debate in the Albany area Thursday evening.
The incumbent, Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, and his Democratic challenger Josh Riley are vying for the seat for the second time. Riley lost by less than 2 percentage points in 2022.
Over the course of the hour-long debate, the candidates consistently argued with each other on the issues of immigration and abortion.
Molinaro attacked Riley’s work at private legal firms that were hired in some high-profile immigration-related cases.
"We have 10-and-a-half million people who have entered into this country, with 600,000 known criminals," Molinaro said. "At the end of the day, this administration abandoned the southern border and the northern border using your legal argument."
Riley strongly criticized both the Republican and Democratic parties’ approach to border security. He also went after Molinaro, arguing he should have supported a bipartisan immigration bill that was in the Senate earlier this year.
"I think both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have completely failed us with respect to the border," Riley said. "I think it is the worst of politics to have all of these politicians just playing around with the issue because they think that's what's best for their political career."
Molinaro said the Senate’s bill did not go far enough, and that he supported a bill in the House that was “the strictest border security legislation in generations.”
Riley also went after Molinaro on the issue of abortion. He said the congressman has signaled support in the past for a nationwide ban on abortion.
"For 30 years he's been a politician and every single step of the way he's been anti-choice," Riley said. "Now he realizes it's election season and that's not a popular position to have, and now all of a sudden, he's saying that he thinks things differently."
Molinaro said he does not support a national ban, though he also does not support a bill that would codify abortion access. He argued federal legislation could interfere with the laws around access that states like New York already have.
"I believe, and have always believed, that the decision... should be left to a woman and a physician, not Washington," Molinaro said. "I oppose a national abortion ban, and I will continue to work to expand access to the treatment, support and care necessary, no matter the choice a woman makes."
The race is considered one of the most competitive in the country and it could determine whether Republicans keep control of the House. According to recent reporting from Politico, the race is the most expensive in the country, with a combined $35 million spent on ads and digital spots so far.
