His message was blunt: he wanted a specific candidate to win their party’s nomination, and he was willing to say so out loud.
Representative Mike Lawler, whose Hudson Valley seat is one of the most competitive in the country, has taken the unusual step of openly meddling in the Democratic primary to choose his November opponent. In public statements and private conversations, Lawler has made clear he prefers Mondaire Jones, a former congressman, over other Democrats vying for the nomination, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
The strategy is a calculated gamble. By boosting Jones, whom Lawler’s allies view as a weaker general election candidate due to his progressive record and previous electoral losses, the incumbent hopes to face a familiar foe rather than a fresher challenger. Lawler defeated Jones in 2022 by less than one percentage point, a race that was among the nation’s closest.
A risky intervention
Political operatives in both parties described Lawler’s intervention as a high-risk play that could backfire. If Jones wins the primary and then defeats Lawler, the congressman will have effectively helped engineer his own defeat. But if Lawler succeeds, he will have eliminated a potentially stronger Democratic rival before the general election even begins.
Jones, who served one term in Congress before losing to Lawler, is competing against a field that includes MaryAnn Carr, a local school board member, and Joshua Eisen, a business owner. Both have argued that Jones represents the party’s past, not its future, and that a fresh face would have a better chance of unseating Lawler in the district, which includes parts of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties.
Lawler’s involvement has injected an extra layer of tension into an already fractious primary. Several Democratic county committee members have privately expressed frustration that a Republican is dictating terms in their internal contest. “It’s insulting,” one Democratic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party dynamics. “He’s trying to pick our candidate for us.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee has declined to comment on Lawler’s tactics, though strategists note that similar meddling has been used in other battleground districts to elevate candidates seen as more vulnerable. For now, Lawler appears undeterred. In a brief interview, he shrugged off criticism, saying he was simply “telling the truth” about which Democrat he would rather face.
