Rep. Mike Lawler
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones
Mike Lawler vs. Mondaire Jones in NY-District 17 Mid-Northern Westchester
By Dan Murphy
In 2022, republicans scored five election victories in Congressional races in Westchester, the Hudson Valley and Long Island that helped elect a Republican Speaker of the House, now Speaker Mike Johnson. And the upcoming November elections in New York in 2024 will once again likely determine which party will control the House in 2025.
One of the wisest monitors of House elections is David Wasserman, Senior Editor for the Cook Political Report. Wasserman appeared on the Capitol Tonight show with Susan Arbetter. “The routes to the House majority runs through New York,” said Wasserman, who added that the House Democratic Majority Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, from NYC, has to flip some of those five House seats won by republicans in New York two years ago if he wants to be Speaker Jeffries in 2025.
When asked is there a competive race in NY that is especially intriguing to you, Wasserman said, “the one that stands out to me is the 17th District-where republican congressman Mike Lawler is being challenged by former Congressman Mondaire Jones.”
For most of Northern Westchester, Congressman Mike Lawler is their representative in Congress. Lawler, who is from Pearl River in Rockland, also part of the district, upset Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney in 2022, winning by just 2100 votes. Two years later, Lawler has a record of serving as a moderate-republican in a far right Republican majority in Congress.
But his challenger, former Congressman Mondaire Jones, is also popular in the district. Jones represented some of those same Westchester constituents that Lawler now represents, when he served in the House from 2020-2033. But as Wasserman points out, “The question here is can a fairly progressive democrat (Jones) win in a district where President Biden won by 10 points (in 2020) yet its also a place where Kathy Hochul and Joe Biden are underwater (below 50%) and Lee Zeldin won the district in the mid term elections. (for Governor). Can Lawler turn this into a referendum on democrats going to far left and lump Mondaire Jones with the squad? “
The campaigns of Lawler and Jones are pointing to each other as being too far left in the case of Jones, or too far MAGA right, in the case of Lawler.
Both campaigns are already well funded, with both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DCCC, and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) already investing in the race, with millions more to come. Prepare for the barrage of Cable TV ads and mailers in April, May and June.
“‘They will try to incite fear of me,’ said Jones. “The problem that Mike Lawler and his billionaire donors are going to have is that people in this district know me and my record of pragmatism and of results.”
Jones has been moderate in his stance on Israel and the war in Gaza. “I am disgusted by the horrific, antisemitic graffiti written on Jewish-owned businesses in Westchester. The perpetrator must be held accountable. With antisemitism on the rise, we must redouble our efforts to root out this hatred. I stand with the Jewish community now and always.”
Lalwer is a strong supporter of Israel, and has cricized New York Democrats, including Governor Kathy Hochul and NY Mayor Eric Adams, for the spike in crime and the influx of migrants due to the crisis at the border.
In social media ad, Lawler’s campaign has already begun to lable Jones as a “radical progressive,” and remind voters that Jones submitted legislation to expand the US Supreme Court, and that he has the support of AOC. “Mondaire is a radical extremist endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Their far-left agenda does not represent the needs of NY-17.” specifically on cashless bail reform, said one ad.
Lawler has the support of Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson; Jones has the support of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Jones has been focusing on Lawler’s votes on what Jones called “Anti-choice bills.” I am disgusted, yet not surprised, that Congressman Mike Lawler voted for two anti-abortion bills. These pieces of legislation put forth by the extreme MAGA Republicans would bring us several steps closer to the national abortion ban Mike Lawler and his party want to enact. These bills are part of a coordinated effort to strip away reproductive freedom from women in this country,” said Jones.
