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News 12 Staff

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This morning we want to give you an expert opinion heading into the midterm elections tomorrow. And so joining us now, the former presiding officer of the Suffolk County legislature, Kevin McCaffrey is here this morning. Kevin, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Let's talk about the congressional midterms. Earlier we spoke to Kevan Abrahams, who said there could be a blue wave. Do you think that will happen and would It extend to Long Island congressional races? Well, I think it's going to be very interesting this year. You know, the polls are out there, and first of all, the polls have been notoriously wrong. It just came up right now that one poll among independents had Kathy Hochle up by 10 points. Another polls had Bruce Beikman up by 10 points for independents. So Most important poll is gonna be on Tuesday night when we count the ballots, but we've got some interesting races here in, in Nassau and Suffolk County congressional races. Uh, you have Nick Lalota running in full disclosure, he was my former chief of staff in, in, in the county legislature. I think, uh, Nick is in a good spot. He's worked very hard. Uh, he's a great campaigner, great message. He's been out there. Andrew Garburino similarly a, a good district for him. I, I think Andrew's gonna do well. I think the two really interesting races we're gonna have this year is gonna be, uh, Janine Driscoll and also and, and Laura Gillen and, uh, uh, further north you have. Uh, Tom Swazzi and Mike LaPetri, uh, I shared a district with Mike LaPetri when he was assemblyman and now he's the legislator. Uh, I can tell you he is a hard charger. He is out there. He's working hard. He's getting his message out there and, uh, Janine the same way. I think what they have going for them is that Bruce Blakeman is going to be on the ballot, and Bruce is going to do well in Nassau County and then also in Suffolk County as well. So I think he is going to be the X factor out there in terms of bringing out support for those congressional candidates. For a lot of people who are heading to the polls to vote tomorrow in midterm elections, maybe they don't think that their vote is so important, but if it goes Certain way with those congressional candidates that could change the shift of power and that's important for a whole lot of people's lives. Oh, absolutely. And look, we've seen the power go back and forth in on Long Island on the congressional districts, uh, but I, I can tell you that it's all about turnout. It's a matter of how many people are going to come out and, and vote. Uh, Bruce Blakeman, who is a popular Nassau County executive, he, he won, um, by, by a substantial margin when he ran. Of a county executive, is he gonna bring out more votes? Uh, are people gonna come out and vote? Uh, I, I, I think it's gonna be very interesting night. I think it's gonna be about turnout. All right, Kevin McCaffrey, we'll see you here tomorrow night. You'll be on our panel with us as we have our election night coverage. Thanks so much. Thanks, Kevin. Thank you. Look forward to it. And we're looking forward to that coverage tomorrow night. As we said, we'll have Kevin McCaffrey, Kevon Abrahams, Mike Dwiziak. They'll all be here in studio as we break down the results. Our special live election day coverage will begin tomorrow night at 9 p.m.

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Several of the candidates for Congress will be joining News 12 to make one last pitch before you cast your ballot Tuesday night.

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