By Dan Murphy
Hudson Valley Congressman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who is also the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DCCC, is facing intense opposition to his decision to “Big Foot” another Westchester Congressman, Rep. Mondaire Jones, in announcing immediately after new congressional district lines were released that he would run in the new 17th District.
The three NY Congressional districts that did include Westchester were the 16th, 17th and 18th. Now the 17th and 16th will include Westchester. Maloney lives in the new 17th but has represented the 18th for almost a decade.
But it is his role as DCCC Chair, and his decision to challenge a democratic house incumbent that has caused a backlash so severe that Maloney may have to reevaluate. NYC Congressmember Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who grew up in Westchester, called on Maloney to resign as DCCC Chair due to a conflict of interest of running against Jones.
“If he’s going to enter in a primary and challenge another Democratic member, then he should step aside from his responsibilities at the DCCC,” said AOC.
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes said, “And in the wake of this new map, we have seen action from one member of Congress that I have to say, it is among the most egregious political malpractice I have ever seen in my life.”
Hays then explained the rationale against Maloney. “Within half an hour of this new map being released, Sean Patrick Maloney announces on Twitter that if the maps are finalized, he will in abandon his current district, and run instead in the neighboring redrawn 17th district. But the 17th district already has a sitting Democratic member of congress.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered her support of Maloney, saying “We are very proud of Sean Patrick Maloney,” at her weekly press conference.
Rep. Jones moved from Rockland County to White Plains last year. But his lifetime experiences in Rockland make him more of a natural fit for the new 17th District.
Instead of Jones challenging another progressive, black democrat, Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the 16th district, a more likely scenario would have Jones running in the 17th district, forcing Maloney to either challenge Jones in a democratic primary or moving north to run in the new 18th district.
