New York - 1st District
Tossup
Updated Oct. 14, 2010
Bishop faces Republican Randy Altschuler, who won the competitive GOP primary last month. Another scenario might have created a three-way race and all but assured Bishop would return to Congress for a fourth term.
In this scenario, Bishop is forced to face a well-funded Republican challenger in an eastern Long Island district that only narrowly supported President Barack Obama in 2008.
Polling suggests this race will be close. And the national climate should help Altschuler, a wealthy businessman who has the ability to self-fund if necessary in this expensive New York media market.
Look for Democrats, who consider Altschuler one of their "top 5 most flawed challengers," to pound the Republican for his connection to an outsourcing company that sent American jobs overseas. Neither national campaign committee is expected to spend here, evidence of the expensive market but also a hint that Republicans don't consider this seat among their top targets.
District Information
District Profile from Politics in America
Covering the eastern two-thirds of Long Island's Suffolk County, the 1st reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean. Its western edge is home to small communities that have grown alongside the district's research facilities, while its eastern end takes in second homes for some of New York's wealthiest in the Hamptons and Shelter Island. Villages and hamlets line Route 27 on the way to Montauk at the rural end of the island, which retains its pastoral character with scattered fishing villages and farms.
Scientific research, attracted by local colleges and Brookhaven National Laboratory, dominates the district's economy. The education and health care sectors have provided jobs in the region even as the economy struggled -- Stony Brook University Medical Center is a renowned teaching hospital, and Brookhaven claims seven Nobel Prize projects. On a smaller economic scale, Suffolk County brings in the most agriculture money of any county in the state, and the 1st's portion of Long Island's wine industry also has a significant presence. In 35 years, the industry has grown from one vineyard to more than 30 wineries and 3,000 acres. Uncertainty in the retail and real estate sectors of the über-elite Hamptons has continued for several years.
The 1st takes in some blue-collar towns and areas that depend on fishing and tourism, where environmental issues rank high. The 1st's lingering rural temperament and small-town feel make it more likely to lean to the right than many other districts near New York City. As many liberal-leaning homeowners reside primarily in the Big Apple, voter registration favors the GOP. Republicans win at the local level, but Democrats make the 1st competitive at the federal level -- Democrat Barack Obama secured a slim majority of 51 percent in the 2008 presidential election four years after Republican George W. Bush won a narrow plurality here.
Major Industry
Higher education, research, health care, tourism
Cities
Coram (unincorporated), 39,113; Centereach (unincorporated), 31,578; Shirley (unincorporated), 27,854; Medford (unincorporated), 24,142
Notable
The Montauk Point Lighthouse, built in 1796, was the first lighthouse in the state.
District Election History
| Year |
Election |
Candidate |
Votes |
Percent |
| 2010 |
general |
Timothy Bishop (D) |
98,316 |
50.1% |
| Randy Altschuler (R) |
97,723 |
49.8% |
| 2008 |
general |
Timothy Bishop (D, INDC, WFM) |
162,083 |
58.4% |
| Lee Zeldin (R, C) |
115,545 |
41.6% |
| 2006 |
general |
Timothy Bishop (D, INDC, WFM) |
104,360 |
62.2% |
| Italo Zanzi (R, C) |
63,328 |
37.8% |
| 2004 |
general |
Timothy Bishop (D, INDC, WFM) |
156,354 |
56.2% |
| Bill Manger (R, C) |
121,855 |
43.8% |
| 2002 |
general |
Timothy Bishop (D, WFM) |
84,276 |
50.2% |
| Felix Grucci (R, C, INDC, RTL) |
81,524 |
48.6% |
| Lorna Salzman (GREEN) |
1,991 |
1.2% |
Vote For President
| Year |
Democrat |
Republican |
Independent |
| 2008 |
Barack Obama: 51% |
John McCain: 48% |
|
| 2004 |
John Kerry: 48.7% |
George W. Bush: 49.4% |
|
| 2000 |
Al Gore: 53% |
George W. Bush: 43% |
|
