On Long Island, Republicans defend an unlikely stronghold as races could tip control of Congress

It’s a 2024 election battleground where millions of dollars are being spent and some of the biggest names in American politics are sure to pop up. But it’s not in the Rust Belt. And it isn’t Georgia or Nevada. It’s Long Island, a suburban span east of New York City, home to some 3 million people who might have an outsized and unexpected role in choosing which party controls Congress. The island, just a train ride from Manhattan, has emerged as an improbable stage for some of the most contested House races this year — and as an unlikely center of Republican power in deep blue New York.