Lawler defends toss-up House seat in big win for GOP
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) defended his seat in New York’s 17th Congressional District, beating back a challenge from former Rep. Mondaire Jones and keeping Republicans’ hopes of maintaining their slim House majority alive.
Lawler defeated Jones with 57% of the vote with 94% ballots counted so far. The Associated Press called the race shortly after midnight.
The Democratic-leaning district has long been considered one of the top prizes on election night after the 2022 midterm elections. Two years ago, Lawler narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney, who was then the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lawler’s victory was a major upset for House Democrats and helped Republicans win control of the lower chamber in 2022.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the district as D+3, making it one of the most competitive races of the 2024 cycle. The two were neck-and-neck in polls leading up to the election, but Lawler managed to hold a slight lead over his Democratic challenger.
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Jones previously represented New York’s 17th District until redistricting altered the state’s boundaries, prompting Maloney to run for Jones’s seat instead of remaining in the 18th District, where he previously served. Instead, Jones ran to represent New York’s 10th District to avoid a primary fight against Maloney.
However, Jones lost his Democratic primary to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Maloney went on to challenge Lawler, who won by less than 1 point in 2022.
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