TheHubNNY what to do and where to do it in NNY
CLARKSTOWN — U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, an incumbent Republican in one of New York’s most hotly contested swing districts, will represent the lower Hudson Valley in Congress for another term, giving the GOP a crucial win as it tries to retain control of the House of Representatives.
The Pearl River Republican declared victory in the 17th District shortly after 11:30 p.m. over Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones, walking out to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and doing one of the artist’s signature dance moves at an election watch party in the Rockland County hamlet of New City. Though the race has not been officially called, Lawler led by about 20,000 votes, or a margin of almost 12%, with 411 of 681 election districts reporting, according to the state Board of Elections.
The district includes all of Putnam and Rockland counties and part of southern Dutchess and northern Westchester counties. It was one of the most competitive and closely watched races in the country this election.
“What an absolute a– kicking,” Lawler told the crowd when he declared victory onstage with his family at the Paramount Country Club. “Folks, tonight the Hudson Valley told Mondaire Jones to ‘beat it.’”
As of 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Jones had not yet conceded the race. He was splitting the evening between local Democrats’ watch parties in Nanuet and White Plains.
Lawler, a former political consultant, state assemblyman and Michael Jackson superfan with deep Rockland County ties, won this district in an upset two years ago against Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who had represented the 18th Congressional District for five terms before redistricting placed his home in the 17th. Democrats had represented the district since the early 1980s before Lawler flipped it.
Lawler’s mother, Marie, told the Times Union that she was excited to see her son win another term.
“I’m very proud of him and his entire staff for all the hard work that they’ve done for all the constituents in his district,” she said.
While more than $10 million in outside spending poured into the race, polls showed Lawler gaining an edge in recent weeks, which reflected the freshman representative’s confidence in the run-up to Election Day. A late October Emerson College poll gave Lawler a 5-point lead over Jones, up from a 1-point lead at the beginning of the month.
Lawler has walked a tightrope few in the modern GOP have been able to balance: distancing himself from former President Donald Trump and touting his bipartisan bona fides while maintaining strong support from Republicans. He has been a regular on Fox News and earlier told the Times Union he would consider a gubernatorial bid in 2026 — if he won this race, and if Republicans wanted him to.
During his victory speech on Tuesday, Lawler referenced state-level issues he has brought up throughout his campaign, such as his desire to roll back bail reform and tank a plan to charge motorists a fee to travel enter Manhattan south of 60th Street referred to as “congestion pricing.”
“Here in New York, we have seen disastrous consequences from one-party rule,” he said, adding: “The reason we have been successful is because I have never, ever backed down from a fight and never, ever stood silent on issues that have harmed our community. And I will continue to be a voice of common sense and stand up against the stupidity that we see at every level of government.”
Maloney’s decision to run in the 17th District had the effect of pushing out Jones, who represented the district from 2021 to 2023 as one of Congress’s first openly gay Black members. He left during the last cycle to run in New York City’s 10th Congressional District after redistricting.
Last month, Jones told the Times Union he regretted his decision to leave the district and believed that if he had stayed, he could’ve kept the seat. This cycle, Jones drew flak from the progressive left for his endorsement of George Latimer over incumbent Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary in the neighboring 16th District. Jones was formerly seen as an ally of Bowman but distanced himself over Bowman’s vocal criticism of Israel for how it is conducting its war in Gaza.
As a result of Jones’ endorsement of Latimer, the Working Families Party, a small but influential progressive third party in New York politics, withdrew most of its support from Jones. Jones then lost the Working Families Party primary to Anthony Frascone, whom Jones and the party believe was being propped up by local Republicans to sap enough votes from Jones to give Lawler an edge in the general election.
As Election Day neared, the Working Families Party tried to boost Jones by telling voters in the 17th Congressional District to forsake the party’s ballot line and vote a straight Democratic ticket to avoid voting for Frascone. Frascone, who did not actively campaign, had only attracted about 2% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning.
Jones’ past progressive stances — including a call, in 2020, to defund the police — were bait for Lawler, who repeatedly brought up those comments on the campaign trail and in ads, despite Jones’ vociferous repudiations.
This race has been unique in that both candidates could run on past voting records in Congress. They each fought to convince voters they were the more bipartisan lawmaker and that their opponent was more radical. For Jones, preserving and restoring women’s reproductive rights, including the right to have an abortion, was central to his campaign, while Lawler focused his messaging on crime and immigration.
“We all must find ways to come together,” Lawler said during his victory speech. “We must listen to each other, understand each other and work to find common ground so that every family in our community has a chance to succeed. And that’s exactly what I’ve done and what I will continue to do as your representative in Washington.”
