Journal News reporter Chris McKenna found Lawler had nothing to do with approving Orangetown’s data centers. Bloomberg and JPMorgan Chase got the go-ahead under Democratic Supervisor Andy Stewart, who now works for Nyack Mayor Joe Rand, Conley’s canvass partner today in Orangeburg, where Stewart approved the building of multiple data centers.

Pearl River, NY — October 10, 2026 —  Cait Conley keeps telling voters Mike Lawler is the reason Rockland has data centers. Today at 10 a.m. she’ll be in Orangeburg with Nyack Mayor Joe Rand, canvassing on the “effects of unregulated Data Centers in Orangetown.” She might want to read her hometown paper first.

Here’s what Chris McKenna of The Journal News found: “There are no obvious links between Lawler and the data centers built in his town. Lawler served on no Orangetown boards that granted approvals for the projects, and he had no say over them as a state assemblyman and then a U.S. House member since 2021.”

In fact, some of Conley’s biggest supporters were the ones responsible. In May 2013, Andy Stewart, then Orangetown’s Democratic supervisor, sent a note to residents announcing that Bloomberg was building a $435 million data center in the town’s corporate park, and thanked the town’s engineers and building inspectors for moving it along. Four years later, his Town Board voted unanimously to let JPMorgan Chase build another one. Stewart told the Nyack Free Press that landing the Chase data center was one of the things he was proudest of as supervisor.

And, since March of 2022, Andy Stewart has been Nyack’s Village Administrator, the staff job that runs the village day to day and reports directly to the mayor and trustees. The mayor is Joe Rand, also the Democratic candidate for State Senate in the 38th District, and one of Cait Conley’s closest allies. Funny how one of Cait Conley’s strongest supporters is employing the guy who’s responsible for the explosion of data center development, and no wonder she wants to deflect.

“Cait Conley has based much of her campaign on a lie, and The Journal News just called her on it,” said Lawler for Congress Campaign Manager Ciro Riccardi. “Mike Lawler never had a say on any of these projects. The guy who did, and who bragged about it, now works for the same mayor Cait is knocking doors with today. So is she going to ask Joe Rand about his village administrator being responsible for the data center development in Orangetown, or is she just going to keep lying to voters?”

###

In “My Dad,” Congressman Lawler talks about losing his father to cancer and the reforms he voted for to keep Medicaid there for the families who depend on it. New limits on federal Medicaid for non-citizens took effect October 1, preventing abuse of the system by those in the country illegally. Does Cait Conley support President Biden’s position on the matter, which covered 90% of expenses for illegal immigrants?

Pearl River, NY — October 9, 2026 —  Lawler for Congress today released “My Dad,” a 30-second ad in which Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) talks about his family’s battle with cancer and his work to protect Medicaid from fraud and abuse so other families have the resources they need in their own health battles.

Lawler opens with images of him and his father. “When my dad was dying of cancer, Social Security kept my parents afloat,” Lawler says. “So I know firsthand how health care costs can bankrupt a family.” That, he says, is why he strengthened Medicaid for the people who need it most and stopped “illegal immigrants and other scam artists from ripping off the system.” He closes on his dad: “I’m Mike Lawler, and I approve this message, and so would my dad.”

Watch “My Dad” here

Federal Medicaid now covers only U.S. citizens and green card holders. Illegal immigrants were still receiving benefits as the federal government, thanks to President Biden’s policies, was still paying 90 percent of the cost of emergency Medicaid in expansion states like New York for people who would have qualified except for their immigration status, the same higher rate it pays for citizens in the expansion population. That federal share is now capped at each state’s regular matching rate, 50 percent in New York. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the change will save taxpayers $28 billion over ten years.

The law also goes after people who game the program from the inside. In July 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported that, in 2024, an average of 1.2 million people per month were potentially enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in two or more states, and 1.6 million were potentially enrolled in both Medicaid and a subsidized Affordable Care Act plan. Starting January 1, 2027, states must verify enrollees’ addresses against reliable data and check federal death records at least every quarter for enrollees who have died. In 2028, states must begin screening Medicaid providers against the Social Security Death Master File, and a national system to catch anyone enrolled in more than one state must be running by October 2029. CBO estimated the duplicate enrollment provisions will save $17 billion over ten years.

Lawler has gone after Medicaid abuse in Albany, too. In March 2025, he called for federal intervention and a Justice Department investigation into how the state awarded its contract to run the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. In June, the Justice Department sued the state Department of Health and the contractor, Public Partnerships LLC, alleging a sham bid process that let the company collect unauthorized profits funded by federal taxpayers.

“Mike Lawler lost his father to cancer, and he knows what a diagnosis like that does to a family’s finances. Medicaid has to be there for those families, and every dollar paid for someone enrolled in two states, or for someone who has died, is a dollar that never reaches those who need it most,” said Lawler for Congress Campaign Manager Ciro Riccardi. “Cait Conley has spent this campaign attacking the legislation that put these protections in place. Does she want Washington to stop checking whether people are enrolled in Medicaid in two states at once? Does she want taxpayers back on the hook for 90 percent of Medicaid expenses for illegal immigrants?”
 

###

It should come as no surprise that Cait Conley, who pays no property taxes in the 17th Congressional District, would believe “nothing” is the right move on SALT. Cait’s tax plan would massively benefit the top filers in the country with unlimited SALT while crushing middle- and working-class Hudson Valley families with a halved standard deduction, taxes on tips and overtime, and a child tax credit cut in half.

Suffern, NY — October 8, 2026 —  Democratic nominee Cait Conley got a harsh education on the issue that hits Hudson Valley homeowners hardest at Wednesday’s Spring Valley NAACP Candidate Forum at Rockland Community College. After telling the audience the best thing Congress could have done for New Yorkers’ taxes was nothing, she was met with laughter and a fact-check from Congressman Mike Lawler, who walked Cait through what doing nothing would have cost families in this district. Conley tried to cut in at the end with a false claim about this year’s tax refunds that drew laughter from the room.

Watch the exchange here

“The best thing that Congress could have done for New Yorkers was absolutely nothing and just letting it go away,” Conley said, referring to the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Letting the cap fully expire would have disproportionately benefitted the absolute top tax brackets, including the billionaires Cait Conley claims she doesn’t support.

“Unfortunately, my opponent doesn’t really understand this, in part because she doesn’t pay taxes here,” Lawler responded. “The fact is that if we did what you want and what you’re advocating for, to let the tax bill expire, it would have been a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people. Every family in this district would have paid $5,000 more. Why? Because the standard deduction would have been cut in half, the child tax credit would have been rolled back. All of the rates would have gone up.”

The 2017 tax law’s individual cuts were set to expire at the end of 2025. Had Congress let them lapse, the standard deduction would have been cut roughly in half, and the child tax credit would have dropped from $2,000 to $1,000 per child.

“The reason I negotiated the deal the way we did was to make sure that taxes didn’t go up. I stood up to the president. I stood up to my own party. There were only five of us out of 220 that wanted to get this done,” Lawler said. “We delivered the single largest tax cut in the entire bill, raising it from $10,000 to $40,000. Ninety percent of my constituents were able to fully deduct their state and local taxes, and in the Hudson Valley, over a $4,000 tax refund in your pocket this past April.”

Conley interrupted him: “And that would have also happened if you did nothing.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Lawler replied, as the room laughed at Conley’s pathetic response.

The SALT fight in the Hudson Valley comes down to property taxes. Homeowners in Rockland and Westchester counties pay some of the highest property taxes in the country, and they use the SALT deduction to write those taxes off their federal returns. Many of these are due to unfunded mandates passed down by Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats, who support Cait Conley to the hilt.

Cait Conley doesn’t understand this because she owns no property in the district and pays no property taxes. The only house on the financial disclosure she filed with the Clerk of the House in May is in Lee County, North Carolina, where she collected between $15,001 and $50,000 in rent last year.

“Cait Conley told voters at Rockland Community College that the best thing Washington could have done about their taxes was absolutely nothing. Then she told them the bigger refund they got this spring would have come anyway, and they laughed, because they know she’s lying,” said Lawler for Congress spokesman Ciro Riccardi. “Mike Lawler stood up to his own party to quadruple the SALT cap so Hudson Valley families could deduct the property taxes they pay. Cait Conley doesn’t own property here, doesn’t pay a dime in property taxes here, and has no idea what it’s like to pay New York’s crushing property taxes – all thanks to Cait’s best friend, Kathy Hochul.”

“Cait Conley can continue to claim she knows best on taxes, but it’s clear when she’s asked this question in the future, she should take her own advice and say nothing,” concluded Riccardi. “At least that would save her the embarrassment of rooms full of Hudson Valley voters laughing in her face.”

###
 

Timmy Facciola, the reporter covering NY-17, for The Brian Lehrer Show: the data centers were built “prior to 2021,” none meet the threshold of Hochul’s own moratorium, and on Orangetown it is “exactly as Lawler said.”

Chappaqua, NY — October 8, 2026 —  The Lawler for Congress campaign today called on Democrat Cait Conley and the DCCC to retract their data center attack on Congressman Mike Lawler after WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show put the claim to the facts this morning.

For two months, Conley has told voters that “on Mike Lawler’s watch, there have been five data centers built in Rockland County.” She posted it August 19 and August 25 and repeated it to Lawler’s face in the September 28 News 12 debate. The DCCC has carried the attack since, accusing Lawler of “$80 billion in tax breaks” for “data center developers.”

Today Brian Lehrer asked Timmy Facciola, founder of the Judge Street Journal, to lay out the record. WNYC’s audience heard this:

When they were built: “The data centers that currently exist in Rockland County have all been built, with the exception of one, prior to 2021.” Lawler was sworn in in January 2023. The one exception, DataBank’s Orangeburg facility, was approved by the Orangetown Planning Board in 2022, also before he took office.

Whether they are the AI data centers Conley says she is fighting: “All of these data centers use less than 50 megawatts of electricity, which is the benchmark that Kathy Hochul set forth in her moratorium… So none of these meet the threshold.”

Lawler’s position on the proposed Orangetown project, which Conley said “his record says something different” about: “It’s exactly as Lawler said. He wants the local town board to sort it out.”

The rest of her attack fails the same test. The law she cites for “$80 billion in tax breaks to data center companies” contains the words “data center” zero times. Meanwhile, two AI big tech companies have paid Conley $328,283, Hidden Level and Primer, since January 2025, according to her financial disclosure, filed May 19, 2026.

“Cait Conley stood on a debate stage and said five data centers were built on Mike Lawler’s watch. This morning the reporter WNYC brought on to cover her race said they were built before he ever got to Congress, that none of them is the kind of data center she claims to be fighting, and that Mike’s position on Orangetown is exactly what he said it was,” said Lawler for Congress Campaign Manager Ciro Riccardi. “Here’s the thing. Cait Conley has taken $328,283 from two AI companies and still won’t say what she does for the money. One candidate in this race has a data center problem, and it isn’t Mike.”

Conley and the DCCC owe Hudson Valley voters two answers, yes or no:

1. Will they retract the claim that five data centers were built in Rockland County on Mike Lawler’s watch?
2. Will Conley tell voters what Hidden Level and Primer paid her $328,283 to do?

###

In Chappaqua, Congressman Lawler, gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman, Putnam County Sheriff Brian Hess, Assemblyman Slater, and Jessica and Tom Gorman laid out two cases from the past week in which men in the country illegally were back on the street within hours of their arrests. Conley looked Sheridan Gorman’s parents in the eye on News 12 and would not give them a straight answer. Her own campaign website calls for the same ban on ICE partnerships that Hochul signed into law.

Chappaqua, NY — October 6, 2026 —  Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) stood with Jessica and Tom Gorman of Yorktown yesterday morning in Chappaqua and condemned Cait Conley for siding with Governor Kathy Hochul over the Gormans on Hochul’s new law banning partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE. Lawler called on Hochul to bring the Legislature back to Albany and repeal it. Lawler and the Gormans were joined by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee for governor; Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne; Putnam County Sheriff Brian Hess; Assemblyman Matt Slater; Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican nominee for attorney general; Joseph Hernandez, the Republican candidate for state comptroller; and Yorktown Deputy Supervisor Sergio Esposito, a candidate for State Senate.

Watch the press conference here

Lawler opened with a case from New Castle, where Cait Conley lives. Last Thursday, New Castle detectives caught Juan Guambana, 50, of Ossining, at a woman’s bathroom window while she was inside. They had set up surveillance at her home after she reported a man watching her through her window in the early morning hours. He was charged with six counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a felony, and was released on his own recognizance the same day. “This man has already been deported once, in 2020. By 2021, he was back,” Lawler said.

The same week in Putnam County, Diego Rodriguez-Ordonez, 24, of Brewster, was charged with robbing a gas station in Kent and assaulting the clerk, and less than a day later with forcibly touching a woman on Metro-North. The Department of Homeland Security told the New York Post that he has convictions for multiple sex offenses and that ICE lodged a detainer for him on September 30.

Sheriff Hess gave the most complete public account yet of those two days. He said Rodriguez-Ordonez walked out of the Putnam County Jail at 10 p.m. on September 28, after 60 days there on a Carmel criminal mischief charge. “By 3:00 a.m. on the 29th, so five hours later, he had tried to break into a bank. He had robbed a gas station, fled from the police into the woods where we had to recover him from a swamp,” Hess said.

According to Hess, a judge released him on his own recognizance with an ankle monitor. About seven hours later, Carmel police picked him up for being drunk and disorderly at a shopping center. Police took him to a hospital, he was released an hour later, and he boarded a northbound train at the Brewster station. One stop later in Southeast, Hess said, he sexually assaulted a woman.

“The police continue to do their job in those two days, but we need help from the system. We can’t do it alone,” Hess said. “Seventeen prior arrests, five interactions with law enforcement within less than a 48-hour window. We could do better than this.”

“So in one week, two women in this district were victimized by men who had no legal right to be here, and both men were back on the street within hours of their arrests,” Lawler said.

On August 25, Governor Hochul’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act banned every 287(g) agreement in New York, ending the partnerships that let trained officers in county jails work directly with ICE. Lawler pointed to the federal government’s count of what came before it. According to DHS, New York released 6,947 criminal illegal aliens between January 20 and December 1, 2025, after ICE asked for them to be held. Their records include 29 homicides and 207 sexual predatory offenses.

“The question to Kathy Hochul should be very simple,” Lawler continued. “If your law is only about civil enforcement, then why are you not turning over criminals to ICE when there are detainer requests?”

The Gormans’ daughter Sheridan, an 18-year-old freshman at Loyola University Chicago, was shot and killed in Chicago, a sanctuary city, on March 19. The man charged with her murder had been released by Border Patrol in 2023 and was free on an open warrant for skipping court on a shoplifting charge. At the September 28 News 12 debate, the Gormans asked Lawler and Democratic nominee Cait Conley whether they support New York’s new law, yes or no. Lawler said no. Conley spoke for a full minute and never answered. Her campaign website calls for “Revoking 287g agreements.”

“Tom and I stood face to face with Cait Conley at the debate. We were just there to ask her a question in good faith about these policies,” Jessica Gorman said. “I think we deserved a straight answer. We didn’t get an answer. But now I have it. I have her answer.”

“We’re heartbroken. We’re disappointed. And yes, we are scared. But we are not hopeless,” Jessica continued. “I’m here because I care about your kids. I think that if we can just save one life, then my daughter didn’t die in vain.”

“So I’ll ask her again this morning, with Tom and Jess standing right here,” Lawler said. “Cait, do you support Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary law? Yes or no?”

Nassau County ended its 287(g) agreement with ICE in August to comply with the new law. Blakeman said the day he had to tell his police and sheriff’s officers they could no longer cooperate with ICE was one of the toughest of his time as county executive, and he repeated his pledge to end New York’s sanctuary status. “On January 1st, as governor, I will sign an executive order. New York State is no longer a sanctuary state,” Blakeman stated. “The insanity is over. We’re putting New Yorkers first.”

Slater, whose Assembly district includes Kent, Southeast and the Village of Brewster, said Republicans in Albany saw this coming. “When this was debated in Albany, we warned our colleagues. We warned the governor that this is exactly what would happen,” Slater said. “Bring us back to Albany today. Repeal sanctuary policies today. Repeal cashless bail today.”

Byrne recounted that Sheridan volunteered for years with the Civil Air Patrol in Putnam County, and that the county lit its historic courthouse green in her memory. Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, said that handing convicted criminals to federal authorities used to be routine in New York. “The safest way to enforce the law is to have an orderly handover at the jailhouse door,” Komatireddy said. Sergio Esposito closed the event with his own family’s connection: “My son went to school with Sheridan. He’s here. She’s not.”

“Jess and Tom Gorman buried their daughter and then asked Cait Conley where she stands. She gave them a minute of talking points,” said Lawler for Congress spokesman Ciro Riccardi. “Sheriff Hess just walked through five interactions with law enforcement in less than 48 hours, ending with a woman assaulted on a train. Cait Conley chose Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary law over the Gormans. Will she reverse her position and stand with them, or keep standing with Hochul?”

###

Vescio, who has never registered with a political party, cites Lawler’s fight to raise the SALT cap to $40,000 and a congressman who keeps showing up in Briarcliff Manor.

Pearl River, NY — October 5, 2026 —  Briarcliff Manor Mayor Steve Vescio, a lifelong unaffiliated voter now in his eighth year leading the village, endorsed Congressman Mike Lawler for reelection today in a new video. “I’m not a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. In fact, I’ve been an unaffiliated voter my entire life,” said Vescio, a former volunteer fire captain and EMT.

“Being an elected official shouldn’t be a partisan job. And here in Briarcliff, all board members run for office in a nonpartisan process, a 100-year tradition,” Vescio said. “The goal is to find the best people for the role who can produce results and get things done for their constituents, no matter the political party. I apply that test to anyone who asks for my support. And Mike Lawler has earned it. He works hard for our district and delivers results.”

Vescio pointed first to Lawler’s fight over the state and local tax deduction. “Mike fought hard to raise the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000, taking on some members of his own party, and he won. That’s real money back in residents’ pockets,” he said. Lawler held the line on the $40,000 figure through the 2025 tax negotiations, warning in June of that year that any Senate change to the number would “derail final passage of the bill.” The higher cap became law that July.

Vescio also credited Lawler’s work across the aisle. “Mike works with anyone who will help him deliver regardless of their party,” Vescio said. This summer the nonpartisan Bridge Grades report scored Lawler 99.2 out of 100, a mark topped by only five of the 424 House members graded and the best in New York’s delegation.

“And Mike’s from here. He grew up in Suffern, lives in Pearl River, and spent time all over the district. He shows up, listens, and understands constituent concerns,” Vescio said. “The best candidates understand the area and the people they serve. They’re ready to ride without training wheels. And Mike is that candidate.”

Vescio said Lawler knows Briarcliff Manor’s events and traditions and comes to its community day. He also described Lawler’s support for rebuilding Route 9A, the state highway through the village that Vescio has pushed to modernize for years and has said “has remained essentially the same for nearly 95 years.” “Mike attended New York State DOT meetings held in the village to support the badly needed improvements to Route 9A, a major capital project that will likely require federal dollars,” Vescio said. “He’s the candidate who knows about our local needs.”

“I don’t care what party a candidate is registered for. I care about a candidate who shows up and delivers for the people they represent. I care about those willing to stand up against their own party to do what is right, not just repeat party talking points,” Vescio said. “And that’s Mike Lawler. He shows up, he works hard, and he delivers for all of us. And that’s why Mike Lawler has my support and my vote on November 3rd. And I hope he has yours, too.”

Watch Vescio’s endorsement

“Steve has given his whole life to Briarcliff Manor, first as a volunteer firefighter and EMT and now as mayor, and he has never needed a party label to do it,” said Congressman Mike Lawler. “That’s how I try to do this job. Whether it’s winning SALT relief for Westchester families or pushing for a safer Route 9A, the work is about the people who live here. I’m proud to have Steve’s support and grateful for his partnership.”

Vescio joins a growing list of local officials from outside the Republican Party backing Lawler’s reelection, including Democrats Ally Chemtob, a New Castle town councilwoman, and Stacy Caridi, the deputy mayor of Montebello.

###

Caridi, who has known Lawler since his time in the State Assembly, praised the $5 million he secured for Ramapo and his work fighting antisemitism on the right and the left as the main reasons she’s backing Lawler.

Pearl River, NY — October 5, 2026 —  Montebello Deputy Mayor Stacy Caridi, a Democrat, endorsed Congressman Mike Lawler for reelection today, telling voters in a new video that she is “putting my community ahead of my party.” Caridi is the latest Democratic local official to cross party lines for Lawler, after New Castle Town Councilwoman Ally Chemtob endorsed him on September 9. 

“I’m a Democrat, and I’m voting for Mike Lawler. I’ve known Mike since he was our Assemblyman,” Caridi said. “He grew up in Rockland and graduated from Suffern High School. He owns a home here and pays taxes here and is raising his kids here. No one knows this community better than Mike does, and he delivers.”

Caridi pointed to the federal dollars Lawler has brought home to Rockland. “Mike has brought over $120 million back to our district,” she said. “That includes $5 million for sidewalks and safer roads across Ramapo and its villages.”

The funding Lawler returned will enable construction and expansion of traffic signals, turning lanes, sidewalks, and more pedestrian improvements throughout the Town of Ramapo and its villages, including Montebello. Lawler first secured the $5 million in 2024, and Congress recently approved it.

Caridi also cited Lawler’s record against antisemitism. “Mike stands with Israel, and he stands up to antisemitism. He calls it out when it comes from the right, and he calls it out when it comes from the left,” she said. “I’m putting my community ahead of my party and supporting a candidate who works for all of us. On November 3rd, I hope you’ll join me and vote for Mike Lawler for Congress.”

Watch Caridi’s endorsement here

“I’ve known Stacy since my days in the Assembly, and she has always put the people of Montebello first,” said Congressman Mike Lawler. “Safer streets for families in Ramapo and its villages were worth fighting for in Washington, and I’m proud we secured that funding. Stacy judges people by their work, regardless of party, and her support means a great deal to me. I’m going to keep earning that trust from voters of every party across this district.”

“As one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, I know how important it is to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done, and I look forward to continuing that in the 120th Congress,” concluded Lawler.

###

A McLaughlin & Associates survey of 400 likely voters puts Lawler at 50 percent, ahead by 12 points with unaffiliated voters, and finds he is the only candidate in the race with a net-positive image.

Pearl River, NY — October 2, 2026 —  A new survey of New York’s 17th Congressional District shows Congressman Mike Lawler leading Democrat Cait Conley 50% to 47%. The poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates on behalf of Lawler for Congress, surveyed 400 likely general election voters from September 28 to 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9%.

Lawler holds 92 percent of Republicans, wins unaffiliated and third-party voters 52% to 40%, and takes 20% of registered Democrats, in a sample where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 44% to 31%, a number he has held in every election.

Lawler is the only candidate in the race with a net-positive image, 50% favorable to 46% unfavorable. Conley is underwater at 42% favorable to 48% unfavorable. Among unaffiliated voters, she is at 36% favorable to 52% unfavorable.

At the top of the ticket, Republican Bruce Blakeman leads Governor Kathy Hochul 51% to 47% among NY-17 voters and carries unaffiliated voters 55% to 37%.

The results track a previous independent public survey of the district, a co/efficient poll of 1,292 likely voters released July 23 that had Lawler ahead 50% to 45%, winning unaffiliated voters 54% to 39% and taking 23% of Democrats.

“Mike Lawler is in pole position with a month to go. Cait Conley is underwater with the district as a whole, worse with independents, and that will only get worse as more people learn about her shady pay-for-play, no-show job with AI defense contractors. People in the Hudson Valley don’t want to be represented by a carpetbagger who doesn’t own a home here, doesn’t pay taxes here, and wants to raise their taxes by nearly $4,000,” said Lawler for Congress campaign manager Ciro Riccardi. 

The full polling memo can be found here.

###

Jessica and Tom Gorman, whose daughter Sheridan was murdered in March, tell her story in “Protect.” In “How Many,” Congressman Lawler asks how many more lives must be lost to sanctuary policies. Both follow a debate where Conley would not give the Gormans a yes or no on the policy her own website endorses.

Pearl River, NY — September 30, 2026…  Congressman Mike Lawler today launched two new 30-second television ads, “Protect” and “How Many.” The ads, part of a seven-figure buy, share the heartbreaking story of Yorktown’s Sheridan Gorman, and how sanctuary laws like the one Governor Hochul signed and Cait Conley supports were to blame for Sheridan’s death. Sheridan’s parents asked both candidates their position on the issue during Monday night’s News 12 debate. 

Sheridan was an 18-year-old freshman at Loyola University Chicago. She was shot in the back on a Rogers Park pier in the early hours of March 19 while she and her friends were out to photograph the northern lights. The man charged with her murder, Jose Medina of Venezuela, entered the country illegally, was released by Border Patrol in May 2023, and had an open warrant for failing to appear on a 2023 shoplifting charge.

In “Protect,” Sheridan’s parents tell her story themselves. “I thought I knew what sanctuary city policies are. I didn’t,” Jessica Gorman says. “It was a death sentence for our daughter,” Tom Gorman says. “The sanctuary policies being pushed by Kathy Hochul and Democrats killed our daughter.” The Gormans say voters “need to choose leaders who choose us,” and that is why they are choosing Mike Lawler. The ad ends with Tom saying, “I couldn’t protect her from these policies,” and Jessica answering, “But Mike Lawler can.”

Watch “Protect”

“How Many” opens on media coverage of Sheridan’s murder and then turns to Lawler, speaking directly to camera. “How many more lives must be lost before Cait Conley and Kathy Hochul get the message?” he asks. The ad takes on Governor Hochul’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bars local governments and police departments in New York from entering into 287(g) agreements with ICE. The ban took effect August 25. Attorney General Letitia James told the 12 agencies that had those agreements to unwind them and said her office is “prepared to enforce the law.” Lawler closes the ad: “We can’t let the violent criminals win, even if Cait Conley and Kathy Hochul are protecting them.”

Watch “How Many”

The Gormans put that law to both candidates on Monday night’s News 12 debate. “Do you support New York’s new law, yes or no?” they asked. “And would you support federal legislation that would override state laws like this one?” Conley spoke for a full minute. She said her “heart absolutely breaks” and that “government failed” Sheridan, then turned to border security and the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. She did not say yes or no to either question.

Her own campaign website already has an answer. Under the heading “Fixing a Broken Immigration System,” Conley’s policy page calls for “Revoking 287g agreements so that local police can focus on protecting their own communities.” That is exactly what Hochul’s law does.

“Jessica and Tom Gorman asked Cait Conley a yes or no question about the law that ended the five-second phone call between local police and ICE. She gave them a minute of talking points and never answered,” said Lawler for Congress spokesman Ciro Riccardi. “Her own website says she wants to revoke 287(g) agreements. Why couldn’t she say that to Sheridan’s parents?”

Lawler answered the Gormans on the spot. “Jess and Tom, what you didn’t hear from Cait was an answer to your question,” he said. “I stand with you. I am against Kathy Hochul’s disastrous new law, and I support any legislation that will end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country.” The Gormans have stood with Lawler against the law since July, when they joined him at the Yorktown Police Department to urge Governor Hochul to change course. In an August op-ed, Lawler wrote that Hochul “should immediately call the Legislature back into session and repeal this disastrous law.”

“Cait Conley’s tone deaf response to grieving parents, and refusal to break with the radicals in her own party on sanctuary policies is disqualifying for a candidate who wants to represent the Hudson Valley in Congress,” concluded Riccardi. 

 ###

Congressman Mike Lawler dominated the first of just two debates Cait Conley would accept. She would not give a Yorktown family who lost their daughter a yes or no answer, and she refused to denounce Zohran Mamdani. Voters get one more look at the two candidates side by side before early voting opens October 24.

Pearl River, NY — September 28, 2026… Congressman Mike Lawler won tonight’s News 12 debate decisively, and voters will remember the questions Democratic nominee Cait Conley would not answer. The debate, moderated by News 12 senior political reporter Tara Rosenblum and built largely on questions from viewers, was the first of only two televised debates Conley has agreed to in this race.

Tom and Jessica Gorman of Yorktown, whose 18-year-old daughter Sheridan was shot and killed in Chicago in March, asked both candidates about New York’s new law ending the agreements that let local police and county jails work with ICE. The man charged with Sheridan’s murder was in the country illegally and had previously been arrested and released. “Do you support New York’s new law, yes or no?” the Gormans asked. “And would you support federal legislation that would override state laws like this one?” Conley spoke for a full minute and answered neither question.

“Jess and Tom, what you didn’t hear from Cait was an answer to your question,” Lawler said. He told them: “I stand with you. I am against Kathy Hochul’s disastrous new law, and I support any legislation that will end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country.”

Earlier in the night, after Conley said she would support Lawler’s Jewish American Security Act, Lawler asked her four times whether she denounces New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, noting that he has denounced Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. Conley never answered. She said she denounces “antisemitism from anyone” and has “firm disagreements with members of the DSA within the Democratic Party,” then turned the question to Donald Trump.

Lawler also asked Conley what she does for the two artificial intelligence companies that have paid her $328,283 in salary and consulting fees since January 2025, according to the financial disclosure she filed with the Clerk of the House in May. She did not say. She talked about her military service instead and accused Lawler of attacking it. Lawler had opened the debate by thanking her for her military service.

Conley repeatedly lied on stage, claiming at least three times that Lawler votes with Donald Trump “100% of the time.” This claim is 100% false. In just the latest example, when asked tonight whether he agrees with President Trump’s pushback against warnings to slow down artificial intelligence, Lawler answered, “No, I don’t agree with him.”

The nonpartisan Bridge Grades report card gives Lawler a 99.2 out of 100 for bipartisanship, the best score in New York’s congressional delegation. And he closed tonight’s debate by quoting former New York City Mayor Ed Koch: “If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 things, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 things, have your head examined.”

“That was a total victory, from the opening statement to the closing one. Mike Lawler walked onto that stage with nearly four years of results for the Hudson Valley, and he won on the debate stage again,” said Lawler for Congress spokesman Ciro Riccardi. “Cait Conley went on national television in June and said Mike Lawler was scared to face her. Tonight she finally got her chance and Cait Conley was exposed as completely unprepared and incapable of answering unscripted questions from voters. She could not give Tom and Jessica Gorman a yes or no on a simple question about a policy that led to the murder of their daughter;  Cait could not bring herself to denounce Zohran Mamdani; and when pressed she could not defend her big lie about the Congressman’s voting record.”  

Lawler challenged Conley to six televised debates on June 23, the night she won the Democratic primary. Days later, she told MS NOW’s Morning Joe that Lawler was “definitely scared to face me in November.” She went on to accept two debates, on News 12 and PIX11, and turned down invitations from CNN’s State of the Union and NBC’s Meet the Press. In 2024, Lawler and former Congressman Mondaire Jones met in three televised debates.

The PIX11 debate on October 14 is the only other televised debate Conley has accepted. It happens only ten days before early voting begins on October 24.

“Mike Lawler will debate Cait Conley on any network, any night between now and October 24,” Riccardi concluded.  “After that, though, I’ll be surprised if she shows up for the second one, let alone agree to a third.”

 

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