“As a career GOP operative, corporate lobbyist, and loyal minion of convicted felon Donald Trump, Mike Lawler has no credibility in his desperate attempt to distance himself from the extremes of the Republican Party. Lawler’s far-right voting record in Congress to restrict a woman’s right to choose, raise prescription drug costs, and slash Social Security and Medicare further prove his priorities are completely out of touch with this Biden-won district. The combination of Mondaire Jones’ strong record, fundraising prowess, local roots, and record of putting his community first puts us in a formidable position to win back this critical seat,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
—
To: Interested Parties From: Ellie Dougherty, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 25, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Mike Lawler
Mike Lawler is a career Republican Party operative and corporate lobbyist who served as the executive director of the New York Republican State Committee and worked to elect convicted felon Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. In Congress, Lawler has tried and failed to distance himself from his hyper-partisan past while running for re-election in a district that President Biden won by 10 points in 2020.
No matter how hard he tries, Lawler’s smooth-talking on national television can’t cover up his near-perfect record of caving to his MAGA party bosses in Washington. In less than one term in office, Lawler has methodically worked to restrict a woman’s right to choose, raise prescription drug costs, prop up a far-right agenda to slash Social Security and Medicare, and play politics with border security.
Born and raised in Rockland County – the most purple part of the district and a county he carried in the 2020 election – Mondaire Jones was raised in Section 8 housing by a single mom who struggled with mental illness and worked multiple jobs to provide for their family – sometimes needing food stamps to get by. After graduating from East Ramapo public schools, Mondaire went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, work at the Department of Justice during the Obama Administration, and graduate from Harvard Law School.
In 2020, Mondaire was elected to Congress where he took on the pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices for thousands of seniors on Medicare in the Lower Hudson Valley. He also took on extremists in both parties to deliver on key issues impacting Lower Hudson Valley families, including providing record law enforcement funding, committing to steadfast support for Israel, and lowering the costs of prescription drugs and energy for seniors and families.
Mondaire Jones has outraised Mike Lawler every quarter since the launch of his campaign and despite Lawler raising $1.7 million before he launched his campaign, Mondaire now has a cash on hand edge over Lawler. He is well positioned to defeat Lawler and flip New York’s 17th Congressional District from red to blue. In November, voters of New York’s 17th Congressional District have the choice between Mike Lawler, who caves to MAGA extremists in Washington at every opportunity, and Mondaire Jones, whose upbringing in Rockland County led him to dream big and fight for every family no matter their circumstances. The clock is running out on Lawler’s time, and cable hits, in Congress.
A PARTISAN HACK AND TRUMP LACKEY OUT FOR HIMSELF
For Mike Lawler, politics has never been about serving his community. Mike Lawler has been a Republican political operative since the moment he graduated from college and used these positions of power to enrich himself as well as prop up self-serving politicians – including Donald Trump.
Before his pursuit of political power led him to run for office, Lawler held multiple titles over the course of his career as a party operative: executive director of the New York State Republican Committee in addition to campaign manager, spokesman, or strategist for Republican mayoral, congressional, and state senate candidates.
Along the way, Lawler also lobbied for a coalition that supported the growth of New York’s natural gas industry. Immediately afterwards, he began taking campaign contributions from corporate PACs representing utility companies and the oil and gas industry, and ultimately voted for their interests – and against lowering utility costs for his constituents – after leaving the operative world to accrue more power in both the New York State Assembly and Congress.
But nothing speaks to Lawler’s ties to the most extreme wing of the Republican Party better than his loyalty to Donald Trump. In 2016, in a true testament to his devotion to MAGA politics, Lawler served as a delegate for Trump – but his efforts to prop up the MAGA extremist’s dangerous agenda and elect the now-convicted felon didn’t stop there. In 2020, when he was co-founder and partner at the Republican political consulting firm Checkmate Strategies, Lawler also personally profited off of Trump’s campaign, landing a $4 million direct-mail deal in the 2020 election from the Trump-aligned PAC, America First Action.
In Congress, Lawler has doubled down on his Trump devotion. Just days after Trump bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, Lawler endorsed him once again for president. Lawler has also dismissed the former president’s incitement of violence and antisemitism in addition to fearmongering on border security instead of actually putting forth bipartisan solutions.
AN EXTREMIST WHO VOTES AGAINST LOWER HUDSON VALLEY PRIORITIES
Considering Mike Lawler’s illustrious career as a partisan hack, it’s no surprise he’s caved to his extreme Republican Party bosses in Washington to consistently vote against Lower Hudson Valley families’ best interests.
First, Lawler can’t cover up his dangerous record of restricting reproductive freedom. Even before he stepped into the halls of Congress, Lawler took radical anti-abortion votes as a New York State Assemblyman, including voting against protecting doctors that provided reproductive care and voting against amending the state constitution to prohibit abortion-related discrimination. On the campaign trail in 2022, Lawler boasted that he supported the disastrous overturning of Roe v. Wade, which led to states across the country banning abortion without exceptions.
In Congress, Lawler has continued to prop up an extreme anti-choice agenda and has voted for draconian anti-abortion legislationmultipletimes, including restricting reproductive care nationally for service members and their families. Lawler also lied to his constituents about abortion restrictions at an in-district event, denying that there are states which lack abortion exceptions for rape or incest – asking attendees to “show [him] the law” – while his spokesperson blamed abortion rights advocates for trying to “distract voters.” Now, in his tough re-election for Congress, Lawler is running on the New York State Conservative Party line – which wants to ban abortion in New York.
Second, in addition to elevating extremist Mike Johnson to Speaker of the House, who has pledged to cut critical programs like Social Security and Medicare, Mike Lawler has put his allegiance to the extreme MAGA wing of his party on full display by declaring his intentions to go after the two critical programs himself. During his brief time in Congress, Lawler has voted 19 times to block consideration of protections for Social Security and Medicare.
Third, Lawler’s record proves he’s an advocate for raising prescription drug costs. He opposes the Inflation Reduction Act, which benefitted about 196,000 New Yorkers by capping insulin at $35 per month and roughly 74,000 New Yorkers by capping Medicare out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year.
Fourth, Lawler has turned his back on Jewish voters despite representing one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country. In addition to repeatedly dismissing Trump’s attacks on Jewish Americans, Lawler has also endorsed a county legislator who has based his political career on verbally attacking Rockland County’s Orthodox Jewish community, and voted to cut nearly $1 billion in military aid to Israel in addition to funding to help combat anti-semitism.
Lastly, while Lawler campaigned on public safety and securing the border, he’s done nothing to deliver on either. On multiple occasions, Lawler has voted to cut funding for law enforcement, including voting for a bill that would have cut thousands of federal law enforcement positions and hundreds of state and local public safety officers. And despite pandering on the border on national television, Lawler has done nothing but subscribe to performative politics when it comes to border security. When given the chance to support a once-in-a-generation bipartisan border security deal negotiated by the Senate and backed by the Border Patrol Union, Lawler rejected it after Trump urged House Republicans to kill the bill – and recently did so once again.
Mondaire Jones’ record of accomplishments stands in stark contrast to Lawler’s hyper-partisan bluster. Mondaire has stood up for Lower Hudson Valley families at every turn, including standing up to Republicans like Lawler who are working to restrict women’s reproductive rights. He’s also been a strong advocate for protecting Social Security and Medicare in addition to immigration reform both during his time in Congress and on the campaign trail – making it clearwhat he’d do to secure our border from the get-go.
A SELF-SERVING POLITICIAN WHO LOVES THE LIMELIGHT
While spotlight seeker Mike Lawler chases the limelight by routinely going on national TV, locally, he’s faced criticism for barring press from attending in-district events – even going as far as to threaten local reporters “with expulsion if they recorded what Lawler had to say.”
Lawler claimed the local press ban was meant to avoid events becoming a “spectacle,” yet government watchdog groups deemed it “a violation of the spirit of the First Amendment.” After public outcry and heightened scrutiny, Lawler was eventually forced to reverse the ridiculous policy.
That’s not the only time Lawler has tried to game the system to push his self-serving agenda. He also had previously been banned from Wikipedia after editing his own page to inflate his resume – prompting him to spend his time while the House was in session begging to regain access to his Wikipedia editor account.
Not only is the combination of Mike Lawler prioritizing national outlets over local reporters, in addition to being caught inflating his own resume online embarrassing for Lawler – it also falls in line with broad speculation that he merely views representing New York’s 17th Congressional District as a stop along the way to pursuing higher office, power, and fame.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Mid Hudson News: Lawler falls in line with Trump supporters [Mid Hudson News, 06/01/24]
LoHud: Mike Lawler loves cable TV, but his rocky relationship with the local press draws scrutiny [LoHud, 12/13/23]
POLITICO: New York House GOP sees fundraising void without McCarthy cash [POLITICO, 11/20/23]
LoHud: Did GOP Rep. Mike Lawler vote for Trump in presidential primary? He won’t say [LoHud, 04/08/24]
“Lawler, 38, the highest-ranking elected official in the new generation of Hudson Valley Republicans, was a Republican National Convention delegate for Trump in 2016.
“A Republican political strategist by trade, Lawler was executive director of the New York State Republican Committee in the early 2010s and has worked for the Trump political operation. He was a principal in the consulting company, Checkmate Strategies, when it landed a $4 million direct-mail deal from a Trump-aligned political action committee to attack Joe Biden in the 2020 campaign cycle.”
Haaretz: McCarthy Entrenched Israel and Antisemitism as Political Footballs in Washington [Haaretz, 10/04/23]
“While funding for Israel remains untouched, Democrats have been quick to highlight what they claim is the hypocrisy of Republicans who consider themselves pro-Israel despite voting for the continuing resolution with the 30 percent cut…
“The proposed cuts would have gone beyond Israel. They would have also significantly affected other areas of significant importance to the Jewish community — including combatting antisemitism, Holocaust education and law enforcement measures against hate crimes at a time of pronounced domestic antisemitism.
“The Republicans who voted in favor of the continuing resolution included six Republican lawmakers from New York in competitive 2024 races, all of whom have portrayed themselves as pro-Israel while attacking their Democratic counterparts: Republicans Nick LaLota, George Santos, Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.
“Their votes are particularly important given the significant Jewish and pro-Israel presence in their districts. If Democrats continue to hammer them for voting against aid to Israel, it could play a role in Republicans losing seats that could potentially cost them their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.”
LoHud: Mondaire Jones outraises U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler by 2-to-1 in first quarter of 2024 [LoHud, 04/24/24]
Politico: Mondaire Jones posts nearly $2M fundraising quarter in New York House comeback bid [Politico, 04/09/24]
PATH TO VICTORY
In 2022, Mike Lawler only won New York’s 17th Congressional District by just over half a percentage point (1,820 votes) with almost no Democratic investment made in the race. Now, Cook Political Report and Inside Elections both rate the race a “toss-up.” President Biden won this seat by 10 points in the major-party vote in 2020 and there are 86,000 more registered Democratic voters in the district than Republicans. These factors combined make this seat a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats in this election cycle.
Thanks to the district fundamentals and his increasingly unpopular far-right record, Mike Lawler is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country, and Mondaire Jones is the right candidate to defeat him. Jones was born and raised in Rockland County – the purple part of the district where he overperformed in 2020 – and he has represented 69% percent of the district before, giving him strong ties to and name ID in the overwhelming majority of NY-17.
Unlike Lawler, who has consistently proven his loyalty to Donald Trump and the most extreme members of his MAGA Republican Party in Washington, Jones actually has a record of accomplishments to point to of funding law enforcement, border security, and aid to Israel – while Lawler has a voting record of cutting all three.
Lawler might talk like a moderate when the TV lights are on, but once Democrats have the opportunity to educate voters on his extreme voting record and his deep ties to his extremist party as a career GOP operative and corporate lobbyist, voters will clearly see that he’s out-of-step with Lower Hudson Valley families.
