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NYC Democrat Max Rose Concedes House Race to Republican Challenger

Nicole Malliotakis is 1 of 7 Republican women to flip House seats

Nicole Malliotakis speaks at a rally in May / Getty Images
November 12, 2020

After holding out for more than a week, Democratic New York City congressman Max Rose conceded Thursday to Staten Island challenger Nicole Malliotakis.

A longtime New York assemblywoman, Malliotakis bested Rose in New York's 11th District by a nearly 16-point margin with about 85 percent of the votes counted, according to the New York Times.

Despite Rose's best efforts to distance himself from such radical Democrats as New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Marine veteran fell far short of winning reelection.

"As we continue to count every ballot and are on track to dramatically narrow the gap by tens of thousands of votes to a 4-5 point margin, it is now clear that we will fall short of 50.1%," Rose's official statement reads. "I have called to to congratulate Congresswoman-elect Malliotakis on her win and concede the race."

Even before Rose's concession, local outlets speculated that the Democrat is considering running for New York City mayor.

Malliotakis is one of over 20 women in the next Congress's Republican conference and 1 of 7 who have flipped House seats. The daughter of Cuban and Greek immigrants, Malliotakis will join an ascendant GOP class with a major increase in ethnic diversity.

Fellow New York Republican Elise Stefanik has championed electing more GOP women to national office since 2018. Her E-PAC has built up female Republicans' campaign infrastructure, secured endorsements from prominent party leaders, and requested donations to push these candidates across the finish line.

"One interesting theme in my early conversations with these women candidates on the Republican side is that [they said] the party of Nancy Pelosi does not represent the vast majority of women in America," Stefanik told the Washington Free Beacon. "The Democratic Party does not have a monopoly on women candidates or women voters."

Of the seven remaining House races not yet called in New York, ballot returns show Republican candidates up in five, including two districts that would flip.

New York also showed significant improvement in presidential returns for Republicans.

With only 80 percent of the vote in, Trump has collected more votes in New York than he did in 2016, reducing his margin of loss to Democratic challenger Joe Biden to about 13 points. That's a closer margin than the one Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.) enjoyed in his Kentucky race, in which Democrats spent tens of millions to support losing candidate Amy McGrath.