A little more than a year after losing his seat, former Democratic Congressman Max Rose is looking to make a comeback. 

Rose lost to GOP Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis by six percentage points in 2020 in what was a bruising and vicious battle over the city’s only swing seat.

And now he wants a rematch.

What You Need To Know

  • Max Rose represented the 11th congressional district from 2019 to 2021

  • He was unseated by GOP Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis

  • Rose is now poised to set up a rematch

In a video posted on Twitter on Monday, Rose declared he would once again run for Congress, likely setting up a rematch. He harkened back to an idealistic America, before partisanship drove massive divisions in the country. The announcement video used images of the insurrection on Jan. 6. 

“The alarm bells, they never stop ringing,” Rose says over a crescendo of classical music. "And the people we trust to fix it. They divide us. They lie to us, tearing America apart just to hold on to power.”

“The story of America is we do what others say is impossible,” Rose concludes, announcing his congressional bid.

Already Malliotakis is reusing some of her attacks from last year’s race. In a statement responding to Rose’s entry, she tried to align him with the left since he’s left office.

“Since then, Rose has further embraced the most radical elements of his party,” Malliotakis said, trying to connect Rose to the defund the police movement. "As an appointee of the Biden Administration, Rose has pushed Joe Biden’s disastrous agenda that has caused rising crime, run-away inflation, and a border crisis." 

Much of that are GOP talking points we expect to see during the midterms next year.

A source close to the Rose campaign told NY1 Rose could capitalize on the fact it’s a midterm race, and Donald Trump will not be at the top of the ticket, driving turnout for Malliotakis. He also could use Malliotakis’s vote for Biden’s infrastructure bill as a notch against her — potentially painting her as a flip-flopper or inconsistent.

That said, the district is in the process of being redrawn. Maps from the mapping service at the CUNY Graduate Center show one proposal under consideration could potentially make the district more red, not blue.

Already, in local elections this year, Republicans made inroads in the Brooklyn portion of the district.

“The partisan lean of the district doesn't seem to change that much,” said Steven Romalewski of the CUNY Graduate Center. "So again, what does that mean for the electoral outcome of the congressional race, who knows? We do know it doesn't look like the district will change appreciably as far as the demographics or voter enrollment."