NPR

By Mallory Yu, Juana Summers, Alejandra Marquez Janse, & Courtney Dorning

It’s a time of transition on Capitol Hill. In the House of Representatives, Democrats are ceding the majority offices to the Republicans. As departing lawmakers pack up their things, first-time lawmakers are unpacking their belongings and getting ready to settle in.

Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost and New York Republican Mike Lawler are two of them.

“It’s a surreal experience,” Frost tells NPR. “I feel like time’s been going by super fast since Election Day.”

Frost is the first Gen Z member of Congress, and he recently made headlines for tweeting about being rejected for an apartment because of his credit rating. Lawler made headlines of his own, when he beat incumbent Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who led the Democrats’ national campaign committee. And he wasn’t alone; Republicans flipped four seats in New York, a state known for being reliably Democratic.

“We’re the reason there is a Republican majority in the House,” Lawler tells NPR. “I think there’s an opportunity to really work with our colleagues in the Republican conference, but also find opportunity working across the aisle.”

Lawler and Frost spoke with NPR about the new balance of power on Capitol Hill come January and how that might affect the way they work.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview Highlights

Mike Lawler on where he sees himself fitting into the GOP’s ability to get things done

I think all of us have different experiences that shape our views, but it’s trying to weave those experiences together. My approach has always been as a legislator and as someone who’s been involved in politics for over 15 years, is to go build those personal relationships, sit down with somebody, get to understand what makes them feel the way that they feel about a certain issue and find the area of agreement and start to build on that. And so I think the question for both parties is, are there people within each conference that are really willing to do that work? It’s hard work and there’s going to be people pushing back from within. But you have to be willing to do that. I am. And certainly coming from New York and representing a district Joe Biden won by 10 points, you don’t get there by not being willing to meet people where they are.

Maxwell Frost on newly-elected House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the future of the Democratic party

I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Hakeem, our future leader, Jeffries, for the last several months. Even during my campaign, he’s been very helpful. And, you know, I see a lot of myself in him. He’s a younger Black man who’s been fighting for progressive policies in the world that he believes in.

He’s expressed that it’s important that we have everyone come to the table. And we’ve been seeing him do that, from ensuring that there’s the best representation amongst Democratic leadership in having younger people, folks from our LGBTQ plus community, Black and Brown folks, people from just all across the country. He’s made it a point to ensure that he’s making the caucus leadership look like the country. That’s something that really excites me. And for me, that’s really the way forward. And, you know, our caucus, like any other family, sometimes we have our debates and arguments and everything. But I’m really excited about the future of this party.

Both House freshmen on accomplishing their priorities despite the potential of logjam in Congress

Frost: Like I said before, a political party is just like a family, and there’s going to be debates. But I think the important thing is, at the end of the day, we come together as a family again. And we work on the agenda that we’ve set. So that way, we can deliver for our people and the people that have sent us there. I will say, though: Yes, there are extremes on both sides – and outside – of Congress, that’s just kind of the way our country works. But one extreme I do view as dangerous [is the] calling to question our democracy. It’s hard to equate that to what others would consider the other extreme, which is, I guess, ensuring everybody has health care and that vast resources are dedicated to the climate crisis and things like that. I just don’t see it being the same, even though a lot of times in these conversations we equate them. And I just think it’s important to keep that in mind, because we have to protect our democracy. We have to ensure that we’re electing people who actually want to work across the aisle.

Lawler: Listen, I appreciate Maxwell’s sentiments, but I think part of the problem is that everybody is so quick to ascribe adjectives to those that they disagree with politically or to immediately question their motives. And frankly, I think that’s part of the problem. I think that is part of what is destructive to finding bipartisanship and finding compromise. And I think it’s nice to say that our extremes are radical and crazy and your extremes are just sincere in wanting to push policies that help the world. That’s a little bit of a broad statement, if you will. There are extremes on all sides. For instance, I think Joe Biden won the election. I think January 6th was wrong. But I also understand when people raise concerns about election integrity, you don’t just immediately dismiss that there are legitimate questions that get raised in the course of an election, and you have to address them from a policy perspective and a forward looking perspective. And I think we’re just at such a toxic point in our politics. It’s so easy to immediately jump in and say that person’s evil or that party and those people are bad. And I just don’t see where that helps anybody in this conversation or this process.

Spectrum News

By Susan Arbetter and Tim Williams

Despite a nationwide “red ripple,” the Republican Party saw a wave election in the Empire State on the congressional level with freshman state Assemblyman Mike Lawler toppling the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Sean Patrick Maloney in New York’s 17th Congressional District.

Lawler credits redistricting and voters wanting balance in a country, state and region heavily controlled by Democrats as reasons for his win.

Come January, Lawler will represent the district which covers parts or all of Rockland, Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties. According to the political blog Five Thirty Eight, the district is “lean Democratic” and has a Democrat+7 rating.

Due to redistricting, the district, which was mostly represented by Democrat Modaire Jones, also included parts of the district that Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney represented. After some political jostling, Maloney ran in the 17th, which included a smaller portion of his current district, while Jones left to run in the 10th District, where he lost the primary to Dan Goldman, who went on to win last week.

There was some confusion created by the redistricting process this cycle. Democrats held a supermajority in both state legislative houses and tried to implement maps that favored their party and could give them safer seats to run in. Those maps were eventually thrown out after a legal challenge went all the way to the state’s highest court. Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said the Democrats “fumbled the ball” on this and true reforms are needed. Horner argues that a “truly independent” commission that has full power to draw legislative maps is needed in New York.

With the changing lines and districts, Lawler argues that Maloney lost the incumbency advantage. Lawler said that voters also wanted a balance on Democratic power in D.C., the state government, and in New York City, where many of his new constituents commute to for work.

Lawler said the Republican Party needs to shift its focus away from former President Donald Trump and focus on solving the problems the country faces. In terms of the 2024 election, Lawler says he wants to hear from new voices like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rather than former President Trump.

PBS NewsHour

While the GOP underperformed expectations nationwide in the election, stronger than anticipated performances in New York could ultimately make the difference when it comes to the control of Congress. Republican Representative-elect Michael Lawler won in a blue district just outside New York City, knocking out a Democratic leader in the process. He joined Judy Woodruff to discuss his victory.

Judy Woodruff:

While the GOP underperformed expectations nationwide in the election, stronger-than-expected performances in New York could ultimately make the difference when it comes to control of Congress.Republican representative-elect Michael Lawler won in a formerly deep blue district just outside New York City, knocking out a Democratic leader in the process.I spoke with him moments ago.Congressman-elect Michael Lawler, welcome to the “NewsHour.” Congratulations on your victory.We looked it up. It’s been since the early 1960s that New York state has been sending mostly Democrats to Congress, but just this week in this election, you flipped four seats from Democrats to Republicans. What’s going on in New York?Mike Lawler (R), New York Congressman-Elect: Well, we have seen a — certainly a surge in the number of Republicans. We flipped four seats on Tuesday night, and we’re going to end up sending 11 out of the 26 members of Congress in New York, which is certainly a big increase from where we have been.I mean, back in 2008, after that election, we were down to two members. So, over the last decade-plus, we have been steadily chipping away at it. And here on Tuesday night, we certainly made big gains. And a big part of that was the redistricting fiasco earlier this year in New York.Sean Patrick Maloney, my opponent, as chair of the DCCC, sent a memo to state Democrats demanding that they gerrymander New York’s congressional maps and knock Republicans down to three members. Ultimately, they did that. But the courts intervened, threw out the maps, declaring them unconstitutional, and appointed a special master.And, ultimately, the maps that we got were fair. And that’s why so many of these districts were competitive on Tuesday night.

Judy Woodruff:

Yes, no question redistricting had a lot to do with it.Was that the main thing?

Mike Lawler:

I would say redistricting, coupled with the fact that Democrats control everything in Washington, Albany and New York City for the first time in our nation’s history.And they created a mess, a 41-year record high on inflation, surging crime, skyrocketing energy prices, and a porous Southern border. And even in deep blue New York, voters were very frustrated with what was going on. And they wanted to restore balance and common sense.And that’s why we picked up four congressional seats. We picked up a number of state Assembly seats, and even flipped some state Senate seats. So voters really wanted to send a message in New York that one-party rule just does not work, and that we needed to ensure some balance.And I think that, in addition, Sean Patrick Maloney only represented 25 percent of this new 17th District. And so he didn’t have the built-in advantages of incumbency, because I represent 20 percent of the district in the state Assembly. And so we were running pretty much equal. And I was coming out of Rockland County, which was about 2 percent of the district, and I won it by 10 points, which really made the difference here.

Judy Woodruff:

Right.You mentioned inflation. You also mentioned what you call surging crime. What is the crime situation in your district? We know that Sean Patrick Maloney accused you of blowing it out of proportion. I mean, how unsafe are the people of your district?

Mike Lawler:

Well, number one, in New York state, and in New York City, specifically, which is neighboring to my district, we have seen crime increase.And since cashless bail took effect, indexed crimes are up 36 percent in New York City. And, statewide, 40 percent of those released on nonmonetary bail for felony offenses have been rearrested. Crime is relatively stagnant in my particular district, but 50 percent of households in my district have a cop, a firefighter, a first responder or a veteran living in them.And many of those folks work in New York City as part of the NYPD or the FDNY. And so crime was a major issue of concern. A lot of our residents commute into the city to work. So it’s not just a function of the crime rate in my district specific. Crime in New York City impacts everybody, and especially in the immediate suburbs.

Judy Woodruff:

Tell us what — in a nutshell, what are your — that is clearly a priority. What are your other priorities?And, as we know, Republicans are picking up seats in the House. It appears they are going to have the majority, but not by as big a margin as had been expected. How much do you think you can get done with a small majority in the House?

Mike Lawler:

Look, we’re going to obviously have to work together to pass an agenda.But Kevin McCarthy laid out a Commitment to America. Many of those issues were issues that I campaigned on. Obviously, we need to tackle the cost of living and the rising inflation. We need to increase domestic production of energy, if we want to help bring down the cost of gas and home heating, as well as groceries. We need to secure our Southern border and stop not only the massive inflow of illegal immigration, but fentanyl pouring into our communities.And, at the end of the day, to me, we have an obligation to ensure that every American, regardless of their political party, can afford to live here. And that is my primary focus. That is why I ran in the first place. And that is my objective. One of the things that I want to tackle is lifting the cap on SALT.I think, for areas like mine, where we pay among the highest property taxes in America, we — our residents have been negatively impacted by the cap on state and local tax deductions on your federal income tax. That’s a priority.

Judy Woodruff:

Two — just two very quick questions.How much do you expect you are going to be able to work with Democrats, work across the aisle?

Mike Lawler:

Well, in Albany, I have among the most bipartisan voting records in the state legislature. I voted with the Democratic speaker 81 percent of the time and my Republican leader 91 percent of time.So I worked across the aisle extensively. I have every intention of doing that here. It doesn’t work when we just go from one extreme to the other and back and forth, we go. We need to get things done on behalf of the American people and the residents of each of our districts who sent us here. That’s my objective.I think the president and Democrats will also have to make some compromise. And I think there’s got to be a willingness on all sides to tackle these issues. The American people are suffering right now, especially when it comes to the cost of living, with record inflation and skyrocketing energy costs.And we have to get that under control. That’s my priority. That’s my focus. And I have every intention of working across the aisle to get things done.

Judy Woodruff:

And last question. You said in another interview today that you think the Republican Party needs to move forward beyond Donald Trump.But, as you know, many Republicans still support him. Do you think that’s realistic? And who are you supporting in 2024?

Mike Lawler:

Look, the former president will make his decision with respect to whether or not he runs in 2024. And, ultimately, the voters will decide.I think there’s a lot of great rising stars within the party. And I think, as we look forward to the future, it’s important to have new voices in that process. But we will see how the — how that process plays out in the coming weeks and months ahead.

Judy Woodruff:

Representative-elect Michael Lawler from New York, thank you very much. And, again, congratulations.

Mike Lawler:

Thank you.

The Hudson Independent

By Bar­rett Sea­man

De­cid­edly mel­lower and less com­bat­ive than he of­ten ap­peared to be as a can­di­date, Re­pub­li­can Con­gress­man-elect Mike Lawler stood in front of the Rock­land County Cour­t­house be­fore a crowd of sup­port­ers and an ar­ray of cam­eras Wednes­day af­ter­noon and pro­nounced him­self “hon­ored and hum­bled” by his elec­tion vic­tory over De­mo­c­rat Sean Patrick Mal­oney.

De­scrib­ing his phone con­ver­sa­tion that morn­ing, in which Mal­oney con­ceded the race, as “a very pleas­ant con­ver­sa­tion,” he asked his sup­port­ers to give the out­go­ing in­cum­bent a round of ap­plause—and thanks for his decade of ser­vice.

With­out notes, he thanked by name more than a dozen peo­ple who worked on his cam­paign or sup­ported him as elected Re­pub­li­can of­fi­cials in the dis­trict. He ac­knowl­edged that it had been a rough and tum­ble cam­paign—one in which $20 mil­lion was spent by both sides at­tack­ing the other. He did not un­der­play the sig­nif­i­cance of his win. “This is a dis­trict Joe Biden won by ten points,” he said, “and we were run­ning against the chair of the DCCC (De­mo­c­ra­tic Con­gres­sional Cam­paign Com­mit­tee, which doles out the par­ty’s funds to its can­di­dates).

Ex­press­ing a mag­na­nim­ity more eas­ily voiced in the flush of vic­tory, Lawler said, “I will do every­thing in my power to rep­re­sent all of the peo­ple of this dis­trict—from every com­mu­nity, from every walk of life, whether you voted for me or not, whether you agree with my pol­i­tics or not. I will do my level best.”

Still, he re­peated the charges he made all through­out the cam­paign: one-party con­trol of Wash­ing­ton, Al­bany and New York City has re­sulted in a 41-year record high in­fla­tion rate, sky­rock­et­ing prices, a porous south­ern bor­der, crime—and a coun­try in which par­ents “are la­beled as do­mes­tic ter­ror­ists for dar­ing to ask ques­tions about their chil­dren’s ed­u­ca­tion.”

He ac­cepted the grow­ing as­sump­tion that his party would be in the ma­jor­ity in the House. “I look for­ward to be­ing a strong voice in that ma­jor­ity. I’m not go­ing down there to be one of 435 or a rub­ber stamp.”

When asked whether he would join with those in his party call­ing for in­ves­ti­ga­tions—of the FBI, of Hillary Clin­ton, of Hunter Biden, Lawler em­ployed a bit of dry hu­mor as a de­flec­tion: “As Hillary Clin­ton’s new con­gress­man [she and Bill live in Chap­paqua], I am not look­ing to im­me­di­ately com­mence in­ves­ti­ga­tions. If, at the end of the day,” he went on, “there are in­ci­dents or in­for­ma­tion that war­rant over­sight or in­ves­ti­ga­tions, of course; that is a role of the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives. But we’ve seen what hap­pens with these par­ti­san food fights, and I don’t think it nec­es­sar­ily serves the coun­try well to go from one to the other, back and forth. My po­si­tion is, when war­ranted? Ab­solutely. When po­lit­i­cal? I’m not look­ing to do that.”

He would, how­ever, use “the full force and weight of the fed­eral gov­ern­ment” as lever­age to get newly elected Gov­er­nor Kathy Hochul to make changes in the state’s cash­less bail law.

Bent on curb­ing gov­ern­ment spend­ing, which he blamed on both par­ties, Lawler nonethe­less promised to pro­tect and sta­bi­lize So­cial Se­cu­rity, Medicare and Med­ic­aid. And he will work to get the SALT cap lifted—a po­si­tion New York can­di­dates of both par­ties em­braced.

If taken at his word, the new rep­re­sen­ta­tive of Dis­trict 17 will be more of a tra­di­tional Re­pub­li­can than many of the par­ty’s cur­rent crop of hard­lin­ers. “This dis­trict that I was just elected to has 70,000 more De­moc­rats than Re­pub­li­cans,” he cited as a mo­tive for mod­er­a­tion. His model as a con­gress­man? Pe­ter King, the for­mer rep­re­sen­ta­tive from Long Is­land, a re­spected au­thor­ity on the bud­get as well as on mat­ters of in­tel­li­gence, who re­tired be­fore the 2020 elec­tion, many be­lieve be­cause he dis­ap­proved of the di­rec­tion Don­ald Trump was tak­ing the party.

Lawler said with­out hes­i­ta­tion that he will sup­port Kevin Mc­Carthy as Speaker of the House. It re­mains to be seen how he will fit in with the party of Jim Jor­dan and Mar­jorie Tay­lor Greene.

National Review

By Brittany Bernstein

Representative Sean Patrick Maloney conceded Wednesday morning to New York state assemblyman Michael Lawler in New York’s 17th congressional district, making Lawler the first Republican to defeat a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman in 40 years.

The concession, first reported by NBC News, comes after a closely fought race: As of Wednesday morning, with 95 percent of the vote counted, Maloney trailed Lawler 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, according to the New York Times.

Lawler has dealt Democrats an embarrassing loss in an area that President Biden won by 10 points in 2020.

He told National Review last week that three things had helped make the race so tight: his time spent on the campaign trail with targeted messaging about issues that matter, redistricting, and a “significant amount of money” spent by outside groups.

“Whether you’re talking about inflation, whether you’re talking about crime, whether you’re talking about education, those are what folks are concerned about,” Lawler said.

The lower Hudson Valley district is a “pure suburban district” and “very much a blue-collar working class” area, where 50 percent of households have a cop, firefighter, first-responder, or veteran living there, he said. Lawler believes his messaging on public safety and cost of living had been resonating in the area, where he said national issues are “amplified” in many respects.

Maloney was hard hit by an ad focused on comments he made in 2018 while running for state attorney general that he “absolutely” backs ending the cash bail system and that he’d “make it a top priority.”

Redistricting means that Maloney only currently represents 25 percent of the residents that will be in the newly drawn district, stripping him of the typical incumbent advantage. Lawler represents about 20 percent of the district in the state assembly as a first-term assemblyman.

Maloney currently serves in New York’s 18th congressional district, but chose to run in the newly drawn 17th district, which encompassed most of Representative Mondaire Jones’s district. Jones chose to run in New York’s 10th congressional district in New York City but was defeated in a crowded primary.

Republicans spent nearly $8.8 million on the race in NY-17, including $4.7 million from the Congressional Leadership Fund and $1 million from the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). The NRCC recently announced plans to dump another $867,000 into the race.

The DCCC, meanwhile, scrambled to spend more than $600,000 on tv ads to boost Maloney in the race’s final stretch.

Democratic lawmakers told NBC News Maloney was caught in a tricky balancing act, trying to save Democrats’ razor-thin House majority while also looking out for his own reelection prospects. Maloney told the outlet he has recused himself from making the decision to spend DCCC money on his own race.

The Journal News

By David McKay Wilson

Congressman-elect Mike Lawler declared victory Wednesday afternoon in front of the Rockland County Courthouse, vowing to work across party lines, oppose politically motivated Congressional investigations, and deliver for the families of Rockland.

He did so just two hours after Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, the embattled chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, conceded to Lawler, ending a decade representing the Hudson Valley in Congress.

Lawler, R-Pearl River, made his remarks, surrounded by Rockland, Westchester and Putnam County Republican leaders, members of the Orthodox Jewish community, Rockland supporters, and representatives of police unions whose support the Pearl River state assemblyman had courted.

He thanked Maloney for his service, and reprised his stump speech, which touched on public safety, parents’ rights, illegal immigration and the state of New York’s much-maligned bail reform policies. He also noted a bipartisan approach is essential in the 17th District, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 70,000 voters.

“I can assure everyone that I will do the best to represent all of the people from every community, from every walk of life, whether you voted for me or not and whether or not you agree with my politics,” Lawler said. “I will do my level best to fight for your family, fight for your children, to make sure your voices are heard.”

He will take office as national Republicans, depending on how several closely contested races turn out, could take control of the House of Representatives. Several Republicans have already announced their intentions to commence investigation of Hunter Biden, impeach President Biden, or launch an inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

Lawler, who has a quick political wit, noted he will, in fact, become Hillary Clinton’s representative in Congress, as the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua lies within the 17th Congressional District.

“I am not looking to immediately commence investigations,” he said. “At the end of the day, if there are incidents or information that warrants oversight, of course that is a role of the House of Representatives and it should be utilized. But we’ve seen what happens with these partisan food fights. I don’t think it necessarily serves the country well.”

Lawler made his comments after Maloney had called Lawler Wednesday morning, pledging to cooperate with the Rockland Republican during the transition while insisting it’s too early to say that Democrats will lose their U.S. House majority.

“My opponent won this race, and he won it fair and square,” said Maloney, speaking on Zoom from the DCCC headquarters in Washington, D.C. “That means something. So I’m going to step aside. I’ve had a good run, and I have an incredible husband who has been with me for 30 years, including right now. And we have three great kids and we have been blessed beyond anything I could imagine for this young man.”

Maloney, who served five terms, said he wasn’t going to “whine” about his defeat.

“I’m going to do this the right way,” he said. “And the right thing to do is to say that the other guy won, and to wish him well.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauded Maloney for his representation in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties.

“Over his decade in the House, Congressman Maloney has represented upstate New York families with distinction,” she said. “As a valued voice on the Intelligence Committee, he has helped strengthen our national security. On the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he has been an outspoken advocate for the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As a Member of the Agriculture Committee, he has been an unwavering ally of farmers in upstate New York and beyond.”

Maloney’s concession came after Lawler, New York Republicans, and big money from national political action committees made Maloney one of the GOP’s biggest targets nationally.

When the dust settled Wednesday morning, Lawler led by 3,250 votes, according to the state Board of Elections and county boards of election, with Lawler taking 50.5% of the vote, compared to 49.5% for Maloney.

Westchester Board of Elections Commissioner Doug Colety said only about 500 absentee ballots remained uncounted.

Lawler estimated as much as $20 million was spent on the race − by both campaigns and independent political action committees.

Maloney faced an onslaught of negative campaign ads, funded by more than $8 million from national Republican political action committees, and Lawler’s unrelenting focus on public safety and inflation. Though a deficit of more than 20,000 votes for Maloney trimmed overnight, he still trailed Lawler Wednesday morning, and there weren’t enough outstanding ballots to change the result.

Lawler climbed up the ranks

Lawler, 36, who runs a Rockland County political consulting firm, grew up in Suffern, and graduated from Suffern High. He served as an aide to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, worked on Astorino’s campaigns, and later served as executive director of the New York State Republican Committee. He voted Tuesday with his wife, Doina, and infant daughter.

Lawler opted to run for Congress instead of seeking a second term in the state Assembly. He ran an aggressive campaign that tapped into voters’ concerns with inflation, rising energy prices, undocumented immigrants, and crime in New York City. He backed a proposed federal bill that would let crime victims sue New York state if they were injured by someone charged with a crime, and not required to post monetary bail.

Lawler, a former lobbyist for the natural gas industry, called on New York to open up fracking in the state and criticized President Joe Biden for using the nation’s strategic petroleum reserves to moderate the rise in gasoline prices at the pump.

He appeared on national cable television networks, with frequent interviews on FOX News to push his narrative that Maloney had failed to deliver for the 18th Congressional District.

He told FOX News Tuesday voters in the district should elect a Republican to provide a check on one-party rule, with Democrats now in control in Washington, D.C, Albany and New York City.

“They want balance and common sense restored to every level of government,” Lawler said.

He echoed the campaign rhetoric of Rep. Lee Zeldin in his failed battle against Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“We need to get crime under control,” said Lawler. “People don’t feel safe in New York because they are not safe. The Democrats have failed to do anything about it. They own this mess.”

On Wednesday, he vowed to push forward with a federal bill that would allow crime victims to sue the state of New York if they were injured by someone who had been charged with a crime but released before trial without having to post cash bail.

“If New York state does not take its responsibility seriously to protect its citizens, then I will use the full force of the federal government to force them to make change to their bail laws,” he said.

Big money flowing through race

Maloney, 56, has spent the last two years working to maintain the Democrats’ slim majority in the House of Representatives. On Election Night, Maloney was in Washington, D.C., overseeing the national results as the Democrats clung to hope they would retain their slim House majority in the midterms.

It was the region’s most expensive race, with Maloney spending about $5 million from his campaign and receiving more than $1 million from political action committees. Lawler, meanwhile, spent $1 million from his campaign committee, and received an estimated $8 million in support from GOP political action committees, which filled district mailboxes with a slew of negative mailings and targeted Maloney with tv ads as well.

Both Lawler and Maloney triumphed in August primaries before facing off in the November election. Maloney survived a challenge from a candidate from the political left in an August primary while Lawler romped in a five-candidate GOP field for the nomination.

Lawler wins northern areas

The district includes Rockland and Putnam counties, Westchester County north of I-287 and three towns in southern Dutchess County. The district includes a large community of Hasidic Jews, whose votes were courted by both candidates.

Lawler won the district’s three towns in Dutchess by 63% to 37% and all of Putnam, 59% to 41%. He won his home county of Rockland, 55% to 45%. Westchester went to Maloney by 58% to 42%.

The highest voter turnout came in Dutchess, at 59%, followed by Putnam and Westchester at 57% and Rockland at 52%.

Challenging term, race

Maloney, who was New York’s first gay Congressman, portrayed himself as a family man, with his husband, three young adult offspring, and his first grandchild on the way.

He championed his record during his fifth term, which unfolded during the COVID pandemic, with historic stimulus bills passed in large part by Congressional Democrats. There was the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus initiative to address the impact of the COVID pandemic; the $670 billion Inflation Reduction Act, with the nation’s biggest investment ever in efforts to combat climate change that also levied a minimum 15% income tax on corporate profits; and the bipartisan $550 billion Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which provided funding to repair our nation’s road and bridges, mass transit, as well as sewer and water systems.

While Lawler railed against the state’s bail reforms, Maloney spoke of delivering $7 million to local police departments and his support for a ban on assault weapons.

After casting his ballot with his husband Tuesday morning, Maloney said the infusion of outside money from the national Republicans changed the dynamic in the Hudson Valley election. He said the Congressional action on gun safety and prescription drug pricing earned him some deep-pocketed enemies.

“When you take on big drug companies and big gun companies and you take on the most powerful political interests in the country, you are going to get a lot of money into your race,” he said. “So what’s  different is that you’ve got $10 million coming into this race in dark MAGA money, and that’s made it harder, for sure.”

As for Lawler’s college friends and colleagues, they recall May 2009 valedictorian’s speech at Manhattan College in the Bronx, which has played out on the political stage, 13 years later. In that speech, he told his classmates running for public office “with conviction and integrity” was a way to live out the Lasallian ideals taught at the college.

“Let’s go make history!” he declared.

And with the election now decided, that’s exactly what he did.

Jewish Press

By Editorial Board

U.S. House of Representatives

Note: Given the anti-Israel efforts in Congress led by “the Squad” (Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar), we have made a special effort to identify those Congressional candidates who have gone out of their way to publicly affirm their support for Israel.

17th Congressional District (Rockland and Westchester Counties):
Lower Hudson Valley

In the 11th CD we endorse Michael Lawler (Republican). While he certainly has embraced virtually all of our criticisms about the woke agenda, we were taken by his commitment if elected to propose legislation that would strip the University of California-Berkley of its public funding over a student resolution that would bar pro-Zionist speakers on campus. He said, “I’m speaking out on something happening in California because what happened there is becoming a norm everywhere.” His is the kind of voice we need in Congress.

The Daily Caller

By Arjun Singh

Democratic donors are rushing to spend money to save Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s chairman, as he looks poised to lose re-election for his New York City suburban seat.

Our Hudson, a Super PAC created in the summer to help Maloney during his primary race against left-wing challenger Alessandra Biaggi, a New York State Senator, has reactivated and begun spending money on attack ads against Republican State Assemblyman Mike Lawler. So far, over $140,000 has been spent, according to Politico.

Maloney has represented the area – formerly the 18th district until New York’s court-mandated redistricting this year – since 2013. Recent opinion polling in the district shows Maloney losing by up to 6% to Lawler, according to surveys by McLaughlin & Associates, which are graded “B/C” by FiveThirtyEight for reliability.

The uptick in polling for Lawler has led to a massive influx of GOP funds in an effort to defeat Maloney, whose own loss – despite being in charge of winning races for House Democrats – would be a crowning achievement for House Republicans as they appear set to retake the chamber in November’s midterms. In the last week alone, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, has spent $4 million on the race against Maloney.

Dan Conston, the fund’s president, told the NYP that “Sean Patrick Maloney’s hubris is catching up with him. We have a real shot to beat him in November.”

The spending comes in addition to Maloney’s own spending of $2 million on upcoming television ads, while Lawler himself has spent $380,000. The sums being spent are unusually high in a district that, until 2021, had a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D+8, and voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election by a margin of 10%.

“The economy, crime, and New York’s punitively high taxes are key drivers in the race. Another factor is Maloney’s constant absence from his district. He was on a 10-city tour that included Paris, London, and Geneva last week, for example, while his constituents struggled to buy groceries. That’s been going on for years; it’s no surprise that voters have had it with him,” said William Francis Buckley O’Reilly, a Lawler spokesman.

The newly-drawn district includes parts of Westchester County and Rockland County, which includes affluent suburbs inhabited by many who commute to work in New York City. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are among the district’s notable residents.

Maloney’s candidacy created a furor among House Democrats earlier in the year when he displaced Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, who represented the previous 17th district, from running in the seat, even though Jones previously represented more areas in the new district than Maloney. Jones was instead forced to run in New York’s 10th congressional district, encompassing Lower Manhattan and parts of Northwestern Brooklyn in New York City, and lost his primary.

Maloney and Lawler participated in a virtual debate on Oct. 13, where Maloney accused Lawler of being a “MAGA Republican” and for “being in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies and the fossil fuel industry.” Lawler, in response, said that Maloney “can’t de­fend his own record on any­thing in this cam­paign, so he has spent his en­tire cam­paign ly­ing about mine.”

Early voting in New York elections opens on Oct. 29.

New York Post

By Carl Campanile

House Republicans are pouring $4 million into broadcast TV ads to help Mike Lawler defeat Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the race for New York’s 17th Congressional district.

The GOP-run Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC believes it has the New York congressman — a close pal of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who chairs the Democrats’ fundraising arm — on the ropes.

“Sean Patrick Maloney’s hubris is catching up with him,” CLF President Dan Conston said Tuesday. “We have a real shot to beat him in November.”

The Super PAC — run by allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — is airing a 30-second spot of Maloney saying he backs controversial bail reform during a 2018 debate.

“Do you believe in ending cash bail?” the interviewer asks.

“Absolutely and I’d make it a top priority,” Maloney answers.

The outcome of the Maloney-Lawler contest in the Hudson Valley — along with a half dozen other competitive races in New York — could determine whether Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.

Lawler’s campaign has released internal polls claiming he’s slightly ahead of Maloney, who was first elected in 2012 and is running for a sixth term.

Lawler, a state assemblyman representing Rockland, formerly served as executive director of the state Republican Party.

Maloney said he’s confident he’ll win re-election despite the GOP onslaught, and sought to portray Lawler as a toady of former President Donald Trump.

“Republicans have spent millions against me and their numbers still say MAGA Mike Lawler is losing. CLF can light another $4 million on fire and peddle open racism in an attempt to rescue their loser candidate — it won’t work,” Maloney said.

“I’ve won 5 times in a Trump district and I didn’t need to play footsie with insurrectionists to do it. Lawler is just another Trump errand boy who will be too busy taking away your reproductive rights to deliver for the Hudson Valley.”

Maloney’s campaign said efforts to paint him as soft on crime won’t work because he’s delivered more than $7 million in funding for local police departments and opposed the defund the police movement.

His campaign also insisted that he “consistently demanded” that the bail reform law first approved by Democratic state lawmakers in Albany in 2019 have safeguards to keep dangerous people off the streets, while not keeping poor defendants locked up simply because they lacked cash to post bail.

An ethics complaint filed against Maloney in August claimed he potentially misused a staffer for personal services, a dual role first exposed by The Post.

The new ad blitz comes on top of the $2 million that the CLF already spent on ads in the 17th CD — bringing the total to $6 million.

With New York State losing a seat following redistricting, Maloney decided to run in the reconfigured 17th District, currently represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones, instead of the 18th CD, which he now represents.

That triggered Jones to unsuccessfully seek election in the 10th CD covering brownstone Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. Jones lost in a primary to Dan Goldman, the Levi Strauss Co. heir who served as the House Democrats’ chief impeachment lawyer during Trump’s first impeachment proceeding.

NBC News

By Ben Kamisar

New York Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney faces his own tough race, not to mention the task of helping Democrats keep the House.

The top House super PAC working to win back the body for Republicans says it’s dropping $4 million in television ads aimed at upping the pressure on Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the New York Democratic congressman who also leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign.

Congressional Leadership Fund’s new ad focuses on crime, criticizing 2018 comments Maloney made on opposing cash bail — during his attorney general bid that year, he said he would make ending cash bail a top priority.

“Sean Patrick Maloney’s hubris is catching up with him,” CLF President Dan Conston said in a statement about Maloney, referencing the redistricting-related shift that now has him running in a different district.

“Maloney made a grave miscalculation in giving up incumbency and we have a real shot to beat him in November.”

Maloney told The Journal News that he supports ending cash bail in some cases as an issue of fairness.

And Maloney criticized the effort in a statement to NBC News: “Republicans have spent millions against me and their numbers still say MAGA Mike Lawler is losing. CLF can light another $4 million on fire and peddle open racism [the statement referenced this link] in an attempt to rescue their loser candidate — it won’t work. I’ve won 5 times in a Trump district and I didn’t need to play footsie with insurrectionists to do it. Lawler is just another Trump errand boy who will be too busy taking away your reproductive rights to deliver for the Hudson Valley.”

The big investment from CLF down the stretch takes aim at Maloney as he faces a competitive election against Republican state Assemblyman Mike Lawler, who has made crime a big issue in his bid. But it also comes as Maloney, who chairs the DCCC, has his eyes on the Democratic efforts to hold the House majority after November’s elections.