Conley, who touts herself as a “moderate,” is joining forces with a party that wants to defund the police, abolish ICE, end military aid to Israel, and spent millions helping elect the Socialist Mayor of New York City – Zohran Mamdani.
Presidents and officers representing law enforcement across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and New York State stood with Lawler in Rockland County to formally announce their support.
After telling a national cable audience that Mike Lawler was “scared” to face her, and that she would “kick [Lawler’s] ass”, Conley ducked Meet the Press and State of the Union, and stalled for 52 days to agree to just two debates, fewer than this district got in 2024 and none before September 28. Lawler has accepted four and is ready for all six. The candidates’ first forum is on Wednesday morning in Poughkeepsie and is open to the press.
This morning, the Lawler campaign announced four accepted debates and called on Cait Conley to stop playing chicken. Conley’s response? Refusing to debate on NBC’s Meet the Press and CNN’s State of the Union, two of the biggest stages in this race. Pearl River, NY — August 12, 2026… This morning, the Lawler for Congress campaign announced […]
Seven weeks after Congressman Mike Lawler challenged Cait Conley to six televised debates, he has accepted four of them, from NBC, CNN, News 12, and Pix11. Two more are waiting on her. Conley has agreed to nothing, and voters begin casting ballots in seventy-three days.
The opening ad, “Solutions,” shows Hudson Valley voters describing what Lawler’s tax work has meant for their households. It goes up with Republicans holding a better-than-20-to-1 advantage over Cait Conley in reserved fall airtime, and Lawler leading independents by 15 points.
The nonpartisan report card gave Lawler a score of 99.2, grading him an “A” for the 119th Congress, placing him in the top 10 among House members graded. Lawler also scored the highest among any in New York’s Congressional delegation.
“Today we are here, as one community, to send a clear message to Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats: Stop tying the hands of our local police. Stop forcing sanctuary policies on our towns and villages, and stop putting politics ahead of public safety,” said Congressman Mike Lawler.
“We anticipate Mike will be ‘surging’ past Cait on Election Night as he heads towards a third term of delivering for Hudson Valley voters. Fortunately for Cait, she can go back to her lucrative consulting for AI defense contractors, maybe even helping advise them on who to deport next.”
“Cait Conley’s embarrassing attempt to have her cake and eat it, too, on such a critical issue to the 17th Congressional District and its large Jewish population, not only insults people’s intelligence, but reveals a candidate completely lacking in conviction, credibility, and seriousness,” said Ciro Riccardi, campaign manager for Lawler for Congress.
