2026 Midterms · U.S. House · New York Safe
New York — 23rd District
Democratic
Aaron Gies
Republican
Nick Langworthy
Incumbent
Incumbent Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy faces Democratic nominee Aaron Gies in the general election for New York's 23rd Congressional District on November 3, 2026. Nonpartisan race raters including The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, Inside Elections, and DDHQ/The Hill rate the seat as Solid or Safe Republican. The race hinges on differing approaches to cost of living and district priorities, with Gies focusing on public education, affordable housing, universal healthcare, and labor rights, while Langworthy emphasizes curbing government spending, expanding domestic energy production, border enforcement, and conservative social policies.
Economy and Cost of Living
high salienceGies advocates for raising wages, worker bargaining power, and ending corporate tax breaks, whereas Langworthy supports curbing federal spending, deregulation, and pro-growth tax policies.
Aaron Gies
Supports higher wages and worker protections
Gies focuses on making everyday life affordable for working families across Western New York. He advocates for raising wages, strengthening workers' collective bargaining power, and stopping tax breaks and deregulation for large corporations.
- Supports raising wages and strengthening collective bargaining power for workers.
- Opposes corporate tax breaks and deregulation in favor of working families.
- Focuses campaign on affordability and the common good for Southern Tier residents.
“A GOOD LIFE SHOULD BE AFFORDABLE”
“Instead of tax breaks and deregulation for large corporations, Aaron supports raising wages and strengthening workers’ bargaining power.”
Nick Langworthy
Supports spending cuts and deregulation
Langworthy advocates for curbing government spending to curb inflation and lower prices for groceries, gas, and housing. He supports pro-growth tax policies, deregulation, and shifting supply chains away from China to expand U.S. manufacturing.
- Curb wasteful federal spending to fight inflation and reduce national debt.
- Implement pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies to increase take-home pay.
- Move supply chains away from China to expand domestic manufacturing.
“Curb wasteful government spending that is raising the price of groceries, gas, cars, and housing, and growing our national debt.”
“Increase take-home pay, create good-paying jobs, and bring stability to the economy through pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies.”
Healthcare
high salienceGies supports universal healthcare and protecting federal health funding, while Langworthy advocates market competition, price transparency, and personalized care.
Aaron Gies
Supports universal healthcare coverage
Gies champions universal healthcare to protect families from medical debt and bankruptcy. He opposes federal funding cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs benefits, and rural healthcare systems that support local hospitals and nursing homes.
- Advocates for universal healthcare to eliminate medical debt.
- Opposes cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, and rural health systems.
- Protects rural hospitals and nursing homes in Western New York from budget reductions.
“Medical debt is now one of the most common causes of bankruptcy in America. At the same time, cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, and rural healthcare systems threaten hospitals and nursing homes across communities like ours.”
Nick Langworthy
Supports market-based healthcare reform
Langworthy promotes personalized healthcare options to improve care quality and lower prices through transparency, choice, and competition. He also pledges to save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare while expanding access to telemedicine.
- Personalize care and lower costs through choice, competition, and price transparency.
- Commit to saving and strengthening Medicare and Social Security.
- Expand access to telemedicine and invest in lifesaving cures.
“Lower prices through transparency, choice, and competition, invest in lifesaving cures, and improve access to telemedicine.”
“Save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.”
Education
medium salienceGies seeks to protect federal funding for rural public schools and higher education assistance, whereas Langworthy emphasizes parental choice, a Parents' Bill of Rights, and restricting women's sports participation.
Aaron Gies
Supports increased federal public school funding
Gies supports expanding federal investments in rural public schools, special education, Head Start, Job Corps, and Pell Grants. He emphasizes that local property tax burdens are high while public schools struggle to receive adequate resources.
- Defend federal investments for rural schools and special education.
- Protect Head Start, Job Corps, and Pell Grants from budget cuts.
- Relieve property tax burdens by strengthening federal public education support.
“Families are paying more in property taxes while many schools struggle to deliver the resources students need. At the same time, there are efforts to cut federal education investments that support rural schools, special education, Head Start, Job Corps, and Pell Grants.”
Nick Langworthy
Supports parental choice and sports sex restrictions
Langworthy advocates advancing a Parents' Bill of Rights, expanding parental school choice, and addressing pandemic learning loss. He also supports restricting participation in female athletic programs strictly to biological women.
- Advance the Parents' Bill of Rights and expand school choice.
- Voted Yea on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 (H.R. 28).
- Recover lost learning resulting from pandemic school closures.
“Advance the Parents’ Bill of Rights, recover lost learning from school closures, and expand parental choice so over a million more students can receive the education their parents know is best.”
“Defend fairness by ensuring that only women can compete in women’s sports.”
Energy and Environment
medium salienceGies views small family farms as key stewards of the environment, whereas Langworthy focuses on maximizing fossil fuel production and cutting permitting times.
Aaron Gies
Supports environmental stewardship via family farms
Gies integrates environmental stewardship into his agricultural platform, advocating support for family farms as essential caretakers of local land, food security, and rural economies.
- Promotes family farms as vital stewards of the local environment.
- Links agricultural support to food security and environmental conservation.
“Family farms are essential to local economies, environmental stewardship, and food security.”
Nick Langworthy
Supports maximizing domestic energy production
Langworthy advocates maximizing production of domestic energy resources—including oil, gas, and coal—to achieve energy independence and lower utility prices. He supports cutting permitting timelines in half and voted for the Lower Energy Costs Act.
- Maximize production of American energy resources to cut reliance on foreign sources.
- Cut environmental permitting timelines in half to prevent rolling blackouts.
- Voted Yea on the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1).
“Maximize production of reliable, cleaner, American-made energy and cut the permitting process time in half to reduce reliance on foreign countries, prevent rolling blackouts, and lower the cost of gas and utilities.”
Agriculture
medium salienceGies highlights family farms as explicit core priorities for local food security, while Langworthy points to his committee record and federal agricultural appropriations.
Aaron Gies
Supports protecting local family farms
Gies places saving family farms among his top platform priorities, arguing small farms are essential to food security, environmental stewardship, and the Southern Tier economy.
- Prioritizes federal policy to support and save family farms.
- Emphasizes the role of family farms in rural economic stability and food supply.
“Family farms are essential to local economies, environmental stewardship, and food security.”
Nick Langworthy
Supports agricultural funding and rural development
Langworthy served on the House Agriculture Committee during the 118th Congress and supported federal funding for agricultural programs and rural infrastructure.
- Served on the House Committee on Agriculture (118th Congress).
- Voted Yea on H.R. 5371 funding federal agriculture and rural programs.
Immigration and Border Security
medium salienceNick Langworthy
Supports strict border enforcement and deportation
Langworthy supports fully funding physical border barriers, advanced technology, and law enforcement personnel to curb illegal crossings. He voted for the Laken Riley Act, Secure the Border Act, and measures making DUIs grounds for deportation.
- Fully fund border infrastructure, enforcement technology, and law enforcement.
- Require legal status verification for employment and eliminate welfare incentives.
- Voted Yea on the Laken Riley Act (S.5) and the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2).
“Fully fund effective border enforcement strategies, infrastructure, and advanced technology to prevent illegal crossings and trafficking by cartels.”
“End catch-and-release loopholes, require legal status to get a job, and eliminate welfare incentives.”
Housing
medium salienceAaron Gies
Supports expanded affordable housing development
Gies frames housing as a fundamental human need rather than just an investment vehicle. He supports policies to make Western New York and the Southern Tier 'housing-ready' to tackle high prices and scarce supply.
- Views housing as a basic human need rather than an investment asset.
- Advocates making Western New York and the Southern Tier a housing-ready region.
“Across Western New York and the Southern Tier, housing is scarce and increasingly unaffordable. Housing is not just an investment; it is a basic human need.”
Abortion and Social Issues
medium salienceNick Langworthy
Opposes abortion and protects gun rights
Langworthy maintains a conservative position on social and constitutional issues, pledging to protect unborn children, safeguard the Second Amendment, and defend religious freedom and free speech.
- Pledges to protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers.
- Safeguards Second Amendment gun rights against federal restrictions.
- Defends free speech and religious liberty.
“Uphold free speech, protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers, guarantee religious freedom, and safeguard the Second Amendment.”
Election Integrity and Governance
low salienceNick Langworthy
Supports voter ID and strict voting rules
Langworthy supports federal election integrity measures including voter ID requirements, accurate voter roll maintenance, and observer access. He voted for the SAVE Act to mandate documentary proof of citizenship for federal voting registration.
- Advocates for voter ID laws, accurate voter rolls, and poll observer access.
- Voted Yea on the SAVE Act (H.R. 22) requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote.
- Opposes proxy voting in Congress to increase legislative accountability.
“increase accountability in the election process through voter ID, accurate voter rolls, and observer access.”