NEW YORK – On Tuesday, Democratic voters on Long Island picked Greek-American, former CNN anchor John Avlon as the candidate who will challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in a district that’s been controlled by the GOP for a decade.

Avlon defeated retired chemistry professor Nancy Goroff in the Democratic primary. The Long Island congressional district has become a priority for Democrats as the party tries to flip suburban seats in New York as part of a strategy to win a House majority.

But winning the seat could be an uphill battle for Democrats in November, after Democratic state lawmakers changed its borders during redistricting to make it slightly more friendly to Republicans to improve their chances in other districts.

In central New York, Democrats picked state Sen. John Mannion as the party’s nominee to take on U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, a Republican who represents a recently reconfigured congressional district where President Joe Biden beat Trump by 11 points in the 2020 election. Mannion defeated Sarah Klee Hood, a town councilor in the Syracuse suburb of Dewitt.

In another race, incumbent U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney thwarted a primary challenge from Mario Fratto, an attorney and businessman who had previously lost to Tenney in the last primary election for the safely Republican seat located along Lake Ontario.