Incumbent Laura Gillen (D) defeated Jeanine Driscoll (R/Conservative Party) and Blay Tarnoff (L) in the general election to represent New York's 4th Congressional District on November 3, 2026.

Newsday's Billy House wrote, "Enrolled Democratic voters still outnumber Republicans in Gillen's district, located just outside New York City. But it's been moving more competitively to the right, and swing voters can be election deciders. The congressional seat she holds has flipped in successive elections from blue-to-red-to-blue again, leaving a purplish haze."

In 2024, Gillen defeated freshman incumbent Anthony D'Esposito (R) 51.1%-48.8%. D'Esposito first won election in 2022, defeating Gillen 51.8%-48.2%. Incumbent Kathleen Rice (D) did not seek re-election that year.

Commenting on D'Esposito's decision not to run in 2026, The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos wrote, "The decision was a setback for Republicans who viewed the suburban swing seat as a rare pickup opportunity as they fight to retain control of the House." Fandos also said that "Republicans bucked national trends last fall when the party swept local elections in Nassau County." According to election forecasters, the district remained competitive with Driscoll as the Republican nominee, with ratings of Likely Democratic and Tilt Democratic as of November 3, 2026.

Gillen was first elected to Congress in 2024. Before, she was a lawyer with Cahill Gordon & Reindel, LLP and Westerman Ball. Gillen also served as the supervisor of Hempstead from 2018 to 2020. Gillen's website said, "She’s focused on lowering costs, protecting taxpayers and delivering results for working families. ... the choice couldn’t be clearer between common-sense leader Laura Gillen and Jeanine Driscoll, a tax-hiking insider who continues to demonstrate her loyalty is to the party bosses, not the people."

Driscoll was the receiver of taxes for Hempstead. She was elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2023. Before entering politics, Driscoll was an attorney.[7] Driscoll's campaign website said, "Jeanine is running for Congress to build upon her record of protecting Nassau taxpayers. She will continue fighting to lower the tax burden by restoring the full State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction and providing additional relief for Nassau County families and seniors. In Congress, Jeanine will stand up for Nassau taxpayers, support law enforcement and ensure the southern border can never be opened again."

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 120th Congress. All 435 U.S. House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans had a 219-214 majority with two vacancies in the U.S. House.