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New York Republicans walk into a bar

Episode 3 of
Episode 3 of “The Bellwether” on Rep. Peter King, longserving NY Republican. Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin

With only weeks to go before Election Day, New York’s congressional races are getting more attention and becoming more energized, particularly where Democrats have a chance to knock off a Republican incumbent.

But even with a potential wave election, some of the Democrats face uphill battles given the stature and longevity of their opponents. One such Republican incumbent is Long Island Rep. Peter King, one of the subjects of our congressional election podcast “The Bellwether,” whose third episode is available on iTunes and online.

King, seeking his 14th term, has built in-advantages. There’s his nearly $3 million warchest. Plus the Republican committee men and women who do “walk throughs” most weekends around the district just to the east of New York City. The formidable party apparatus drops campaign literature for members in good standing, a reliable alternative to the throngs of volunteers that challengers labor to turn out.

Then there’s King’s reputation as someone who’s willing to buck party lines on occasion in support of his constituents.

For the Seaford Republican, that can mean wrangling Republican votes to get funding for a “plume” endangering Long Island’s sole supply of drinking water. The pollution came from the U.S. Navy-Grumman facility that once made airplanes and parts for the lunar program. The legislation was for freshman Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi, who was thankful for King’s help.

Even some New York City Democrats have been thankful in the past for King, who was born in Queens and whose dad served in the NYPD. In the years after 9/11, King fought to continue funding for the Zadroga Act, which provided medical monitoring and treatment, along with victim compensation benefits, to first responders.

His daughter recalls him meeting with Democrats in the Dubliner, a DC watering hole, to chat about the Irish peace process during the 1990s — a process that helped him become friends with President Bill Clinton.

All of the above is part of the middle-of-the-road reputation that King holds dear, like his typically high rankings from Georgetown University’s McCourt School-Lugar Center Bipartisan Index.

It’s a pattern recognizable in other New York Republicans, such as Rep. Dan Donovan of Staten Island, who voted against the 2017 tax bill and has at times taken moderate positions on immigration.

But Democratic challengers from Staten Island to Long Island are trying to make the case that even when their challengers diverge from their party, they aren’t protecting New Yorkers from Republican majority rule. And even incumbents with an eye toward moderate voters also have supported plenty of things that are total non-starters for Democrats.

King’s history with Muslim issues is a good example. This episode of “The Bellwether” includes a conversation with Dr. Faroque Khan, an immigrant from India who built a career in the United States in the 1990s even as he and other immigrants came together to create the Islamic Center of Long Island.

For some time, Khan was close to King — donating to his campaign, inviting him to his son’s wedding. That changed after 9/11, when King felt Khan didn’t speak out clearly enough against terrorism and conspiracy theories (Khan, a leader of an interfaith initiative, gives examples of how he did).

It was the beginning of a pattern with King. There was a real fear of terrorism in those years and plenty of room for political exploitation. In 2011, King held controversial congressional hearings on Muslim radicalization, the culmination of his contentions that the majority of American mosques were run by extremists.

This thread continued for King, who supported President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily halting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

That support was the subject of a protest outside King’s district office in 2017 — a protest organized in part by Liuba Grechen Shirley, then King’s constituent, now his Democratic challenger.