Longtime GOP Rep. Pete King told Newsday last week that he had not yet decided if he’d seek another term in New York’s competitive 2nd Congressional District. The paper’s question came after King’s daughter and long-rumored successor, Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, announced that she was moving to North Carolina for family reasons.
Newsday asked King if King Sweeney’s departure could impact his own 2020 plans, and he responded, “Right now, I fully intend to run for re-election,” and he noted that he was about to hold a campaign fundraiser. However, the congressman continued, “This is all just part of a new world for me,” and added, “I’ll have to think everything over.” The only definitive thing King would say is that, while he and his wife hoped to visit King Sweeney and her family as often as possible, “I’m never moving to North Carolina.”
This southern Long Island seat, which is home to Babylon and most of Islip, swung from 52-47 Obama to 53-44 Trump, but it lurched back to the left last fall. While Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 60-36 statewide win was very similar to Hillary Clinton's 59-37 victory, Cuomo carried King's seat by a 51-47 margin. King himself beat Democrat Liuba Grechen Shirley 53-47, which was the first time he'd failed to win by double digits since his first campaign 26 years ago. Babylon Town Councilwoman Jackie Gordon is seeking the Democratic nod to take on King, while Grechen Shirley expressed interest in another campaign back in the spring.