John Avlon (D) won the Democratic primary in New York’s 1st Congressional District on Jun. 25, 2024. As of Jun. 26, Avlon received 70.4% of the vote to Nancy Goroff’s (D) 29.6%.

According to Spectrum News, Avlon and Goroff differed in their strategy for the general election. Avlon said he would try to appeal to swing voters: “You need candidates who can energize people, inspire the base, but also win over independent voters and that reasonable edge of Republicans.” Goroff said she would focus on boosting turnout: “We need to give voters a reason to show up. We need to give them a reason to vote for the Democrat. That means providing a real contrast with Nick LaLota.”

Avlon was a former CNN anchor who earlier served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast and as speechwriter to then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R). Avlon said he was running because “now is one of those times in our nation’s history when we’re all called to stand up for something bigger than ourselves…it’s time for us all to put country over party.” Referring to Goroff’s 2020 campaign in the district, Avlon said he was the better candidate because Goroff had lost once before.

Goroff was the former chairwoman of the chemistry department at Stony Brook University and the founder of a local nonprofit that opposed Moms for Liberty in school board elections. Goroff said she was running “to cut costs for Long Islanders, ensure local public safety and social services have the resources they need to keep us safe, stand up to the extremists who want to take away a woman’s right to choose, and put an end to senseless gun violence.” Goroff said she was the better candidate because of Avlon’s past work for Giuliani and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Avlon will face incumbent Nicholas J. LaLota (R) in the general election. As of Jun. 24, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated the general election Likely Republican and Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rated it Lean Republican.

John Avlon (D) completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey.

John Avlon advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 1.

All 435 seats are up for election. Republicans have a 218 to 213 majority with four vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 48.5% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 50.3%.

New York conducted redistricting between the 2022 and 2024 elections. As a result, district lines in this state changed.