Pat Ryan (New York)

Pat Ryan (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New York's 18th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 3, 2025.

Ryan (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 18th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. The Democratic and Working Families Party primaries for this office on June 25, 2024, were canceled.

Pat Ryan (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New York's 18th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 3, 2025.

Ryan (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 18th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. The Democratic and Working Families Party primaries for this office on June 25, 2024, were canceled.

Biography

Pat Ryan was born in Ulster County, New York, and lives in Gardiner, New York. Ryan graduated from Kingston High School in 2000. He served in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2009. Ryan earned a B.S. in international politics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2004 and an M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University in 2013. Ryan's career experience includes owning a business. He served as the Ulster County Executive.^[1]^[2]

2024 battleground election

See also: New York's 18th Congressional District election, 2024

Ballotpedia identified the November 5, general election as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.

Incumbent Rep. Pat Ryan (D/Working Families Party) and Alison Esposito (R/Conservative Party) are running in New York's 18th Congressional District election on November 5, 2024.

The race is receiving attention from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The DCCC named Ryan one of its frontline candidates. According to the DCCC's website, the Frontline program "provides Democratic Members of Congress from competitive seats the resources to execute effective reelection campaigns."^[3] The NRCC included the district as a target district, a Democratically-held district the committee hopes to win in November. The NRCC also named Esposito one of its young gun candidates, Republican candidates running for office in open or Democratic-held House districts.

In February 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a new congressional map into law. According to Politico's Bill Mahoney, under the new congressional map, the 18th Congressional District trends more Democratic because it lost "the blue-friendly towns of Marbletown and Rosendale and gained the blue-trending Saugerties and the deep-blue Woodstock."^[4]

LoHud's Chris McKenna wrote, "Republicans have one hopeful sign: though President Joe Biden won the district by nine points in 2020, voters swung to Republican Lee Zeldin over Gov. Kathy Hochul by two points in the 2022 governor's race."^[5]

Ryan was elected to represent New York's 19th Congressional District in an August 2022 special election. Due to redistricting, he was re-elected to represent the 18th Congressional District in the November 2022 general election. From 2019 to 2022, Ryan was the Ulster County, New York executive.^[6] Ryan also served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2009.^[6] His professional experience included working as a business owner and an executive.^[6]

According to Ryan's campaign website, his priorities include addressing inflation, protecting abortion access, public safety, and the environment.^[7] His website also said that as a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Ryan is running for re-election to bring the ethos of the academy's motto, "Duty, Honor, Country," to Congress.^[8]

Esposito served in the New York City Police Department for 25 years.^[9] In 2022, she retired from the department as deputy inspector and commanding officer of the 70th Police Precinct.^[9] In 2022, she ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York on a ticket with gubernatorial candidate Zeldin. In the general election, Hochul defeated Zeldin 53.1% to 46.7%.

Esposito said her priorities include border security, improving education, and making the U.S. energy independent.^[10] Esposito said her experience in law enforcement inspired her to run for office: "I loved being a commander in the police department, but one day, I looked at the seat that I was sitting in and the hat that I was wearing, and I realized I was sitting in the wrong seat and wearing the wrong hat to be able to affect the type of change that New Yorkers so desperately needed. I had to walk away from the police department and throw my hat into this arena."^[11]

Based on Q2 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Ryan raised $5.3 million and spent $1.8 million and Esposito raised $1.3 million and spent $0.5 million. To review campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.

As of September 4, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball each rated the general election Lean Democratic and Decision Desk HQ and The Hill rated it Likely Democratic.

Key votes

See also: Key votes

Ballotpedia monitors legislation that receives a vote and highlights the ones that we consider to be key to understanding where elected officials stand on the issues. To read more about how we identify key votes, click here.

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023

The 118th United States Congress began on January 3, 2023, at which point Republicans held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-212), and Democrats held the majority in the U.S. Senate (51-49). Joe Biden (D) was the president and Kamala Harris (D) was the vice president. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023

Vote

Bill and description

Status

Yea

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 2670) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 22, 2023, authorizing Department of Defense activities and programs for fiscal year 2024. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to pass the bill as amended by a Senate and House conference report.^[12]

Passed (310-118)

Nay

To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes.

H.R. 185 (To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes.) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to nullify a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order restricting the entry of foreign citizens to the United States unless the individual was vaccinated against the coronavirus or attested they would take public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[13]

Passed (227-201)

Nay

Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023

The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to raise the federal debt limit before a June 5, 2023, deadline. The bill also sought to repeal certain green energy tax credits, increase domestic natural gas and oil production, expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and nullify President Joe Biden's (D) proposed student loan debt cancellation program. This bill was not taken up in the Senate, and the debt limit was instead raised through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[14]

Passed (217-215)

Yea

Denouncing the horrors of socialism.

H.Con.Res. 9 (Denouncing the horrors of socialism.) was a resolution approved by the House of Representatives denouncing socialism and opposing the implementation of socialist policies in the United States. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[15]

Passed (328-86)

Nay

Lower Energy Costs Act

The Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to increase domestic energy production and exports by increasing the production of oil, natural gas, and coal, reducing permitting restrictions for pipelines, refineries, and other energy projects, and increase the production of minerals used in electronics, among other energy production-related policies. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[16]

Passed (225-204)

Nay

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights".

H.J.Res. 30 (Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights".) was a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) passed by the 118th Congress and vetoed by President Joe Biden (D) on March 20, 2023. This was Biden's first veto of his presidency. The resolution sought to nullify a Department of Labor rule that amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow retirement plans to consider certain environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors in investment-related decisions. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[17] Click here to read more.

Passed (219-200)

Yea

Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.

H.J.Res. 7 (Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.) was a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on April 10, 2023. The resolution ended the national coronavirus state of emergency, which began on March 13, 2020. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[18] Click here to read more.

Passed (229-197)

Yea

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on June 3, 2023. The bill raised the federal debt limit until January 2025. The bill also capped non-defense spending in fiscal year 2024, rescinded unspent coronavirus relief funding, rescinded some Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding, enhanced work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF), simplified environmental reviews for energy projects, and ended the student loan debt repayment pause in August 2023. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[19] Click here to read more.

Passed (314-117)

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Speaker of the House election (January 2023) - 15th vote

In January 2023, the House of Representatives held its regular election for Speaker of the House at the start of the 118th Congress. Voting began on January 3, and ended on January 7. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected speaker of the House in a 216-212 vote during the 15th round of voting. In order to elect a Speaker of the House, a majority of votes cast for a person by name was required.^[20] Click here to read more.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (216-212)

Yea

Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.

H.Res. 757 (Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that removed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position as Speaker of the House. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[21] Click here to read more.

Passed (216-210)

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Speaker of the House election (October 2023) - 4th vote

In October 2023, following Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) removal as Speaker of the House, the House of Representatives held another election for the position. Voting began on October 17 and ended on October 25. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected Speaker of the House in a 220-209 vote in the fourth round of voting. In order to elect a Speaker of the House, a majority of votes cast for a person by name was required.^[22] Click here to read more.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) (220-209)

Nay

Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

H.Res. 918 (Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that formally authorized an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden (D). The inquiry focused on allegations that Biden used his influence as vice president from 2009 to 2017 to improperly profit from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[23] Click here to read more.

Passed (221-212)

Yea

Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives.

H.Res. 878 (Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that removed Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from office following a House Ethics Committee investigation that determined there was substantial evidence that Santos violated the law during his 2020 and 2022 campaigns. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[24]

Passed (311-114)

Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress

Key votes(click to expand)

Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023

The 117th United States Congress began on January 3, 2021 and ended on January 3, 2023. At the start of the session, Democrats held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-213), and the U.S. Senate had a 50-50 makeup. Democrats assumed control of the Senate on January 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden (D) and Vice President Kamala Harris (D), who acted as a tie-breaking vote in the chamber, assumed office. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023

Vote

Bill and description

Status

Yea

James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (H.R. 7776) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 23, 2022, authorizing Department of Defense activities and programs for fiscal year 2023. The bill required a 2/3 majority in the House to suspend rules and pass the bill as amended.^[25]

Passed (350-80)

Yea

Respect for Marriage Act

The Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 13, 2022. The bill codified the recognition of marriages between individuals of the same sex and of different races, ethnicities, or national origins, and provided that the law would not impact religious liberty or conscience protections, or provide grounds to compel nonprofit religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[26] Click here to read more.

Passed (258-169)

Yea

Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023

The Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 6833) was a bill approved by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on September 30, 2022. It provided for some fiscal year 2023 appropriations, supplemental funds for Ukraine, and extended several other programs and authorities. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[27]

Passed (230-201)

Yea

Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022

The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act was a bill passed by the 117th Congress in the form of an amendment to a year-end omnibus funding bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 23, 2022. The bill changed the procedure for counting electoral votes outlined in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Elements of the bill included specifying that the vice president's role at the joint session of congress to count electoral votes is ministerial, raising the objection threshold at the joint session of congress to count electoral votes to one-fifth of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, identifying governors as the single official responsible for submitting the certificate of ascertainment identifying that state’s electors, and providing for expedited judicial review of certain claims about states' certificates identifying their electors. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[28] Click here to read more.

Passed (225-201)

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2023-2024

Ryan was assigned to the following committees:^[Source]

Elections

2024

New York's 18th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)

New York's 18th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)

General election

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for U.S. House New York District 18

Incumbent Pat Ryan and Alison Esposito are running in the general election for U.S. House New York District 18 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Pat Ryan (D / Working Families Party)
		Alison Esposito (R / Conservative Party)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Pat Ryan advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 18.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Alexander Saulino (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Alison Esposito advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 18.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Lovelynn Gwinn (R)

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Alison Esposito advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 18.

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Pat Ryan advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 18.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.^[29] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."^[30] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

The links below show polls for this race aggregated by FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, where available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation.

FiveThirtyEight

Campaign finance

Name

Party

Receipts*

Disbursements**

Cash on hand

Date

Pat Ryan

Democratic Party, Working Families Party

$5,284,805

$1,775,817

$3,544,699

As of June 30, 2024

Alison Esposito

Republican Party, Conservative Party

$1,306,820

$577,360

$729,460

As of June 30, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[31]^[32]

If available, satellite spending reports by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and OpenSecrets.org are linked below. FEC links include totals from monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual reports. OpenSecrets.org compiles data from those reports as well as 24- and 48-hour reports from the FEC.^[33]

Details about satellite spending of significant amounts and/or reported by media are included below those links. The amounts listed may not represent the total satellite spending in the election. To notify us of additional satellite spending, email us.

By candidate	By election
Pat Ryan Alison Esposito	Open Secrets Federal Election Commission

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[34]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[35]^[36]^[37]

Race ratings: New York's 18th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	September 10, 2024	September 3, 2024	August 27, 2024	August 20, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.