Incumbent Rep. Pat Ryan (D) and Alison Esposito (R) are running in the general election for New York’s 18th Congressional District

Incumbent Rep. Pat Ryan (D/Working Families Party) and Alison Esposito (R/Conservative Party) are running in New York’s 18th Congressional District election on November 5, 2024.

The race is receiving attention from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee(DCCC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The DCCC named Ryan one of its frontline candidates. According to the DCCC’s website, the Frontline program “provides Democratic Members of Congress from competitive seats the resources to execute effective reelection campaigns.” The NRCC included the district as a target district, a Democratically-held district the committee hopes to win in November. The NRCC also named Esposito one of its young gun candidates, Republican candidates running for office in open or Democratic-held House districts.

In February 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a new congressional map into law. According to Politico’s Bill Mahoney, under the new congressional map, the 18th Congressional District trends more Democratic because it lost “the blue-friendly towns of Marbletown and Rosendale and gained the blue-trending Saugerties and the deep-blue Woodstock.”

LoHud’s Chris McKenna wrote “Republicans have one hopeful sign: though President Joe Biden won the district by nine points in 2020, voters swung to Republican Lee Zeldin over Gov. Kathy Hochul by two points in the 2022 governor’s race.”

Ryan was elected to represent New York’s 19th Congressional District in an August 2022 special election. Due to redistricting, he was re-elected to represent the 18th Congressional District in the November 2022 general election. From 2019 to 2022, Ryan was the Ulster County, New York executive. Ryan also served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2009. His professional experience included working as a business owner and an executive.

According to Ryan’s campaign website, his priorities include addressing inflation, protecting abortion access, public safety, and the environment. His website also said that as a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Ryan is running for re-election to bring the ethos of the academy’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country,” to Congress.

Esposito served in the New York City Police Department for 25 years. In 2022, she retired from the department as deputy inspector and commanding officer of the 70th Police Precinct. In 2022, she ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York on a ticket with gubernatorial candidate Zeldin. In the general election, Hochul defeated Zeldin 53.1% to 46.7%.

Esposito said her priorities include border security, improving education, and making the U.S. energy independent. Esposito said her experience in law enforcement inspired her to run for office: “I loved being a commander in the police department, but one day, I looked at the seat that I was sitting in and the hat that I was wearing, and I realized I was sitting in the wrong seat and wearing the wrong hat to be able to affect the type of change that New Yorkers so desperately needed. I had to walk away from the police department and throw my hat into this arena.”

Based on Q2 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Ryan raised $5.3 million and spent $1.8 million and Esposito raised $1.3 million and spent $0.5 million. To review campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.

Ballotpedia provides race forecasts from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. To see how each outlet rates the general election, click here.