While all eyes are on the presidential race and Super Tuesday, the high-stakes race for a coveted congressional seat locally is heating up.

Yehudis Gottesfeld, a 25-year-old Republican in a mostly blue district, says she believes she can win the seat soon to be vacated by Democratic powerbroker Rep. Nita Lowey in the 17th District.

The Chestnut Ridge resident is a chemical engineer with a bachelor's degree. She doesn't have a political background, but says she has experience writing policy in the nuclear-energy space. 

Gottesfeld says it’s that work that propelled the Rockland native to enter the race after she says she saw politicians pushing forward what she calls "socialist" agendas.

“That's driven me to take a stand and say we want to help other people, we don't want to push communism forward,” she says.

Gottesfeld has the endorsement of the Rockland County Republican Party. She's facing only one other Republican in the primary, retired firefighter Maureen McArdle Schulman, who has the nod from the Westchester GOP.           

If elected, Gottesfeld says she'll fight for less federal government.

One big question for the young Republican is if Gottesfeld supports President Trump.

“I think his policies have been great for the country,” she says.

About a dozen Democrats are also running for the congressional seat. Primaries for both parties will take place June 23.

The Democratic candidates for the 17th Congressional District squared off in their first televised debate last week: