Westchester Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney was defeated for re election on Nov. 8 by Republican Mike Lawler, in NY-17. Four other republican congressional candidates won on Nov. 8, including three from Long Island, and Mark Molinaro further north in the Hudson Valley, NY-19.
While Maloney, who served as Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DCCC, was unable to stave off republican challengers in his district and in New York State, he was able to hold off an expected republican Red Wave across the rest of the country.
With some House races yet to be determined, it is expected that republicans will hold a narrow 221-214 majority. And the 5 republican victories in the Hudson Valley and Long Island will make the difference for Speaker of the House–elect Kevin McCarthy.
But what happened in New York State? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is blaming NYS Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Maloney. “NYS Dem party leadership, which was gutted under [former New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, stuffed with lobbyists, works to boost GOP, and failed to pass a basic state ballot measure to protect NY redistricting, must be accountable,” Tweeted AOC.
Maloney fired back at AOC, saying “I didn’t see her one minute of these midterms helping our House majority.” In an interview with the NY Times, Maloney didn’t hold back, saying “Let’s be clear, she had almost nothing to do with what turned out to be an historic defense of our majority,” Maloney said. “Didn’t pay a dollar of dues. Didn’t do anything for our frontline candidates except give them money when they didn’t want it from her.”
Maloney pointed out, or blamed, the poor performance of Governor Kathy Hochul at the top of the ticket for the congressional losses down ballot. “The Governor is losing the Long Island seats by double-digits, so out candidates would have to outperform the Governor by 10 or 15 points. That’s a lot to ask…Voters are concerned about public safety. It’s a problem.”
While AOC, a graduate of Yorktown High School in Northern Westchester, blames Jay Jacobs and Andrew Cuomo, other NY Dems concur with Maloney, and go a bit farther in saying that if Cuomo were still Governor, NY democrats would not have lost House seats.
