Following the defeat, Israel served as an aide to the Suffolk County executive for three years and launched his own public relations and marketing firm. Remaining in politics, he made his next run for office in 1993, winning a special election race for a seat on the Huntington Town Board, which was dominated by Republicans.

Run For Congress

Israel has said that he "spent his whole life dreaming of coming to Congress," but it was far from clear that 2000 would be his year. In May, however, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) dropped his longstanding bid for the Senate, and New York Republicans turned to the incumbent congressman from the 2nd district, Rep. Rick Lazio (R), to run in Giuliani's stead. With Lazio not running for re-election to the House, Israel entered the open race for his House seat.

Israel faced off in a close primary against a member of the Suffolk County legislature, David Bishop (D), who denigrated Israel's role as a councilman in Huntington and accused him of giving raises to town employees who worked on his campaign. The two men even argued over whether Israel had been Bishop's boss years earlier when they worked in the Suffolk County executive's office.

After winning the September 2000 primary by just four percentage points, Israel advanced to a general election campaign against Joan Johnson, a local town clerk who was seeking to become the first black Republican woman in Congress.

The race drew national attention, as Republicans entered the 2000 campaign clinging to a five-seat House advantage. Israel touted his business credentials and championed his work reducing the town debt in Huntington. He pledged his support for reducing the deficit and paying down the national debt, and he vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare. Israel was helped by stumbles from Johnson, who had to pull a TV ad that accused the Democrat of voting for tax hikes that he had opposed. He won by a comfortable margin, 48%-35%.

Redistricting

Israel avoided a difficult re-election fight for his second term in 2002 when Lazio, who had lost his Senate race to Hillary Rodham Clinton, decided against trying to win back his old House seat. Partnering with Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Israel worked to solidify his political future during the redistricting process in 2002 by swapping Republican-leaning areas in his district for a swath of King's 3rd district with more Democratic voters. The move helped turn a Republican voter registration advantage of 19,000 in Israel's district into a Democratic advantage of 6,000 voters.

New York Senate Race

In November 2008, Israel jumped into a Democratic free-for-all when word leaked out that President Obama would select Clinton as his secretary of state. Gov. David Paterson (D) would pick Clinton's replacement, and Israel joined several members of the state's House delegation in publicly acknowledging his desire to be selected. But the scramble among House members was quickly overshadowed by the entry of Caroline Kennedy into the race.

Israel struggled to gain attention for his bid; when he traveled to Buffalo to meet with the city's mayor and other upstate Democrats, his trip was treated as an afterthought. Israel did receive an audience with the governor when the two traveled to Iraq together in December 2008, but it was unclear how seriously he was considered for the post.

Although Israel said in the days before Paterson announced his choice that he would not run against the governor's pick in 2010, he soon backed off those statements after Gillibrand's selection drew criticism from many liberal Democrats. Always known for his fundraising skills, Israel continued to aggressively raise money in preparation for a possible Senate bid in early 2009, and he told Newsday in April that he had "been encouraged by more and more people across New York to take on a larger mission. With over a year and a half until the next election, I haven't ruled anything out."

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