Carolyn Maloney Re-Elected To Congress In NY's 12th District

Nick Garber
Updated ·2 min read
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This story was last updated 10:07 p.m. Tuesday.

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Carolyn Maloney soundly defeated two challengers Tuesday to win another two-year term in Congress, NY1 projected.

Maloney, a Democrat, has served in Congress since 1993, currently representing the 12th District, which covers parts of the Upper East Side and Midtown Manhattan, as well as Astoria and Long Island City in Queens.

She was challenged this year by Carlos Santiago-Cano, who ran on the Republican and Conservative lines, and Libertarian Steven Kolln.

With 91 percent of in-person voting precincts reporting as of 11:18 p.m., Maloney led with 80.1 percent of the vote, trailed by Santiago-Cano with 18.5 percent and Kolln with 1.4 percent. New York will not begin counting absentee ballots until next week.

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Maloney, 74, survived a competitive primary challenge in June from Suraj Patel, who did not concede defeat until August amid delays and confusion surrounding the counting of absentee ballots.

In a Patch candidate profile in June, Maloney touted her accomplishments in more than two decades in Congress, saying she'd worked to expand paid family leave, fought for pay equity and helped secure healthcare protections for 9/11 first responders.

"It's not easy to get big things done in Congress - but I have the relationships, knowledge and experience to pass strong, bipartisan legislation on the issues that matter most to the people of this country," she wrote.

Calling the coronavirus pandemic the most pressing issue in the U.S., Maloney, who also chairs the House Oversight Committee, said she had led early hearings that showed the scope of the crisis.

Santiago-Cano, the Republican challenger, is a Queens native who lives in Astoria. His professional experience includes owning a property management company and a coffee company.

In his Patch candidate profile, Santiago-Cano said his top priorities included affordable health care and increasing the capacity of indoor dining in order to help small businesses. He said he opposed a nationwide mask mandate.

Santiago-Cano also took aim at Maloney's long tenure in Congress, describing himself as a fresh face for the 12th District.

"We need to vote out career politicians that have become representatives of lobbyist and not the people in their districts," he wrote.

Patch candidate profiles:

Previous coverage of the 12th Congressional District election:

This article originally appeared on the Midtown-Hell's Kitchen Patch