New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy is drawing intraparty criticism for holding on to his current job while seeking a new one, running for the state’s newly redrawn 23rd Congressional District.
Langworthy is running in the Aug. 23 Republican primary for the GOP nomination in the western New York seat. The 23rd Congressional District, when it comes into existence in January 2023 after redistricting scrambled New York’s political maps, will take in southern Erie County and the Southern Tier.
The seat is a Republican bastion in an otherwise Democratic-dominated state, meaning the GOP primary winner is virtually assured of winning in November. It’s open because GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs bowed out of the race after backlash from local Republicans over the congressman’s support of some gun control measures following the mass 2022 Buffalo, New York, shooting and the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Langworthy is running for the Republican nomination against Carl Paladino, a wealthy real estate developer who was the GOP gubernatorial nominee. Paladino drew considerable press attention from a series of politically incorrect statements. But even in a Republican wave year, Paladino lost to Democratic gubernatorial rival Andrew Cuomo. Paladino went on to be a member of the Buffalo Public School Board of Education from 2013 to 2017.
Langworthy is running for the House while still working full-time for the GOP Republican Committee. Critics contend Langworthy has neglected his primary responsibility, which is to help the state party elect Republicans, by spending a considerable amount of time on the campaign trail. As a result, several county leaders have called on Langworthy to resign from his post, with others potentially mulling legal action.
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But Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for the New York GOP, said Langworthy is not violating Federal Election Commission rules.
“In everything we do, we take painstaking care to ensure we are in compliance with both the spirit and the letter of all laws. Full stop,” Proud said.
Langworthy critics, though, insist it’s more a matter of having their party chairman being distracted from helping Republicans in New York win races in what’s shaping up to be a strong GOP year. President Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to sink, due to stubbornly high gas prices, the worst inflation in 40 years, and other factors.
Several Republicans began calling on Langworthy to resign shortly after he announced his campaign on June 10, decrying the move as something that would distract from his job as GOP chairman.
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” said Rockland County GOP Chairman Lawrence Garvey in a tweet. “Our State Chairman should be cris crossing the state today GOTV. Instead he is raising money for himself … Nick Langworthy needs to resign!!!”
Langworthy began scheduling several campaign events in the weeks after his announcement, including a fundraiser on June 28, the same day as the state’s Republican primary for governor. This prompted backlash from other state Republicans who argued he was neglecting his job as state party chairman.
The race had already wedged a sharp divide among the party after Paladino announced his candidacy in early June because the Republican candidate’s history of incendiary remarks has made some in the GOP uneasy.
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Paladino had apologized for remarks he made in February when he said he was impressed with how Adolf Hitler’s followers were “hypnotized” by him, prompting widespread backlash. However, the firebrand candidate has garnered the support of several high-profile Republicans in the state, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, who represents a northwest New York district and is chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.
It’s unusual, but not unprecedented, for House members to be state party leaders. Rep. Nikema Williams, elected to the House in 2020, has been chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party since January 2019. She has continued in that role while representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, covering about three-fourths of the city of Atlanta.
Rep. Robin Kelly has been chairwoman of the Illinois Democratic Party since March 2021. Though, unlike Williams, Kelly assumed the second job long after first winning her seat in Chicago’s south suburbs in an April 2013 special election.
And Rep. Ken Buck was chairman of the Colorado Republican Party for two years, starting in March 2019. Buck had first been elected to an eastern Colorado House seat in 2014.
