Incumbent Rep. Michael Lawler (R/Conservative Party), Mondaire Jones (D), and Anthony Frascone (Working Families Party) are running in New York’s 17th Congressional District election on November 5, 2024. Lawler and Jones lead in campaign finance, polls, endorsements and media attention.
City & State New York’s Rebecca C. Lewis said this election “may offer Democrats one of their best opportunities to flip back. [Lawler] won the seat by the closest margin among fellow first-term Republicans in the state, and the demographics of the district are among the most favorable to Democrats.” Additionally, this district is one of 19 Republican-held congressional districts up for election in 2024 that Joe Biden (D) won in the 2020 presidential election. Lewis also said that Lawler “has a perfect electoral record of defeating incumbent Democrats, first flipping an Assembly seat in 2020 in his first run for office, and doing so again [in 2022] for his position in Congress.”
As of August 5, The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill have each rated the district as Toss-up.
CNN’s Manu Raju said the competitiveness of the district is affecting how the two candidates campaign: “Both sides are trying to tie the other to the most extreme elements of their parties. Indeed, Democrats are touting a ProPublica study showing that Lawler votes the same as the hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene roughly 81% of the time. Lawler pushed back, and pointed out that Jones voted with liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 97% of the time, calling him a ‘radical progressive’.”
Lawler was first elected to represent the district in 2022 after he defeated then-incumbent Rep. Sean Maloney (D), 50.3% to 49.7%. Before he was elected to Congress, Lawler represented District 97 in the New York Assembly from 2021 to 2023. Lawler’s professional experience included working as a partner with Checkmate Strategies from 2018 to 2022 and serving as the deputy town supervisor for Orangetown, New York, from 2018 to 2020.
Lawler’s priorities include affordability, border security and immigration reform, and addressing antisemitism. Lawler’s website said, “The fact that Congressman Lawler, as a Republican, was able to win a district that President Biden won by 10 points in 2020 and is home to 70,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, is a testament to his bipartisan, pragmatic approach to governing.”
Jones represented the district from 2021 to 2023. Due to redistricting, Jones ran in 2022 to represent New York’s 10th Congressional District. In the Democratic primary, Daniel Goldman (D) defeated Jones 25.9% to 18.1% in a field of 13 candidates. Jones’ professional experience included working as a fellow with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, an associate with Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, and an attorney with the Westchester County Attorney’s Office.
Jones’ priorities include working “to lower costs for Lower Hudson Valley residents, defend our democracy, raise wages, and stop Republicans from banning abortion.” During his tenure in Congress, Jones said he “earned a reputation as someone who stood up to the extremes in both parties to deliver results for the Lower Hudson Valley.”
Based on Q2 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Lawler raised $5.7 million and spent $1.8 million and Jones raised $5.5 million and spent $1.2 million. To review campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.
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