 Kathleen Rice, the incumbent Democrat, who won election to her first term in 2014 with 51%, was challenged in the general election by the Republican candidate, David H. Gurfein.The 5th district is mostly located entirely within Queens in New York City, but also includes a small portion of Nassau County.The incumbent was Democrat Gregory Meeks, who has represented the district since 2013 and previously represented the 6th district from 1998 to 2013.