Most of the contests on the ballot are on the Democratic side, but there's at least one republican race worth keeping an eye on, and that is Congressional District 11.

In that race, two republican candidates believe they are the best option to represent the people of Staten Island and south Brooklyn.

New York's 11th Congressional District is currently represented by Congressman Max Rose, the first Democrat to hold the position since district lines were redrawn in 2012.

It's a district that political experts say can swing either way, with voters in the district supporting President Trump four years ago.

Now two Republicans are going head to head in the June 23 primary, hoping to be the one to try to take the district back to the Republicans in November. Nicole Malliotakis and Joe Caldarera are the two Republicans looking to take the position.

"Ms. Malliotakis is a step to the right of Max Rose, what I'm offering is a complete conservative alternative to both Ms. Malliotakis and Max Rose,” says Caldarera.

State Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakisis is looking to turn the 11th District red once again, relying on her experience not only in the state legislature, but as a seasoned political candidate. She ran against Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017. If elected, she plans to work toward getting the economy back to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic.

"The number one priority needs to be restoring American jobs and putting our economy back on track...we had before this crisis, the lowest unemployment rates across the board. We need to get back to that level and I think that President Trump is the only one that can really do that, and I want to work with him,” says Malliotakis.

Her opponent, Caldarera, the former Brooklyn prosecutor, isn't worried about his lack of political experience and is claiming it as a strength. If elected, he wants to tackle not just the opioid crisis but fight for more autism and disability services as well.

"We don't have any elected officials pushing for a federal study to first figure out why are the rates of autism so high in our district as compared to elsewhere. And secondly, once we determine what the cause of this high rate of autism is, we need to focus on getting people, children, and their families the services that they need,” says Caldarera.

Whomever emerges from the primary will take on the incumbent, Rep. Max Rose, this November.
In his first-term, the congressman co-sponsored legislation to make the 9/11 victim compensation fund permanent, and says he increased funding to fight the opioid epidemic.

"We went to Washington, D.C. and kept our word, stood up to both parties, always considering what it is that could most serve the people back home and we got things done,” says Rose.

The congressman also touts legislation he worked on to reinstate two-way tolling on the Verrazano Bridge, something Assemblymember Malliotakis has issues with.

"It's going to create more traffic, going to create more congestion, very little improvement in the morning, and on top of that, they're allowing the MTA to keep that surplus, not giving it back to the toll payers,” says Malliotakis.

That's not the only issue Rose's potential opponents have.

"What we've seen is he's gone down to Washington and voted with Nancy Pelosi more than 95% of the time,” says Caldarera. "Max came in here saying he wasn't going to support Nancy Pelosi, then he voted 96% of the time with her."

The Republican challenger for the hotly-contested seat will be decided on June 23, then will go on to face Congressman Rose in the general election in November.

Many political publications listing this New York race as one of the top 10 to watch nationally.