Olympic gold-medal figure skater Sarah Hughes running for NY congressional seat

NEW YORK — Sarah Hughes, who won a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has filed to run for Congress in New York, joining several other Democrats seeking to unseat Long Island Republican Anthony D'Esposito. Hughes, 38, will make a formal campaign announcement of her campaign for New York's 4th Congressional District "in the next few weeks," spokesperson Max Kramer said Tuesday. Hughes was just 16 when she scored her upset win over teammate Michelle Kwan at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. She later earned an undergraduate degree from Yale and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Hughes spent three years as an associate at Manhattan-based corporate law firm Proskauer Rose and is currently studying toward an MBA from Stanford. She made headlines in 2011 when she dated Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani. Hughes lives in Manhattan and is looking for a home within the 4th Congressional District in southern and central Nassau County, Kramer said. Hughes grew up in Great Neck, which is in the adjoining district now represented by Republican George Santos, who pleaded not guilty last week to a 13-count federal indictment that accused him of duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress about his finances. D'Esposito and Santos both flipped seats previously held by Democrats, part of a strong 2022 showing by New York Republicans in the suburbs surrounding New York City. Other candidates who have filed for the Democratic nomination for the 4th Congressional District include Laura Gillen, a former Hempstead town supervisor who lost narrowly to D'Esposito in 2022; Patricia Maher, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Peter King in the 2nd Congressional District in 2014; and Lawrence Patrick Henry. The last name of Republican Rep. Anthony D'Esposito has been corrected.