New York Rep. Nick LaLota has taken a front-seat role in a pressure campaign to include higher limits on deductions for state and local taxes in the GOP’s budget reconciliation package. The Long Islander has teamed with fellow blue-state Republicans in calling for a higher cap than the $30,000 level approved in the measure by the Ways and Means Committee, raising questions over its future in the House. “We want to deliver for our middle-class constituents, but we need some breathing room from our friends in the Ways and Means Committee,” LaLota said last week after a roughly hour-long meeting in the office of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. He said he was pleased the committee’s legislation came in under the $4 trillion cost limit on tax provisions so that there was likely room to add a more generous SALT deduction.
Getting to Congress: Before his career in politics, LaLota was a Navy surface warfare officer with deployments across Asia and the Pacific. When he returned to civilian life, he landed a position with Democratic Rep. Steve Israel, helping New York constituents navigate the Veterans Affairs system. From there, LaLota went to the New York Senate, first as the chamber’s Long Island regional director and then as chief of staff for GOP state Sen. Phil Boyle. After running a successful campaign for Amityville Mayor James P. Wandell, LaLota was appointed to the village board of trustees. Two years later, LaLota took on an additional role as a Suffolk County elections commissioner and later served as chief of staff to the county’s top legislator. When GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin ran for governor in 2022, LaLota ran for the open seat, easily winning the GOP primary and defeating Democratic state lawmaker Bridget Fleming in the general.
His District: The 1st District roughly covers the eastern half of Long Island, from the North Shore out to the Hamptons. One of the wealthiest congressional districts in the U.S., it includes towns and villages where generations of well-heeled New Yorkers have gone to escape from the noise of the city. There are beaches, golf links and yacht clubs, as well as a thriving wine industry on the island’s North Fork. Population density increases further west, where residents include city commuters. Stony Brook University, one of the state university system’s flagship campuses, is located in the district and jointly manages Brookhaven National Laboratory with the Department of Energy. For blue-state New York, the district is fairly conservative, with LaLota winning by a margin of about 10 percent in both House elections. President Donald Trump also won the district by 10 points in 2024, according to election analysis by The Downballot.
What’s New: LaLota landed a seat on the Appropriations Committee in the 119th Congress after an unsuccessful attempt to lobby for a slot in his freshman term. He had previously argued that New York was the largest state without a Republican appropriator.
Point of Interest: During the 118th Congress, LaLota was a leading voice in calling for the expulsion of fellow New York Republican George Santos, who represented the nearby 3rd District. LaLota led one of several attempts to have the serial fabulist removed from office before Santos was finally expelled in December 2023.
Caitlin Reilly, David Lerman and Aidan Quigley contributed to this report.
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