Former New York Rep. Mondaire Jones announced he is running for his old congressional seat after losing reelection in the primary.
Jones, an attorney, served in Congress for only one term after being elected in 2020 to New York’s 17th Congressional District. He escaped a crowded eight-way primary in 2020 to head to the general election, which he won by more than 24 points.
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But in 2022, after redistricting and the decision by Sean Patrick Maloney, the former representative and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to run in the 17th District, Jones decided to run in the 10th District, losing in a 13-way primary.
Maloney would go on to lose his election to Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), so now Jones is seeking his old seat against the vulnerable freshman Republican who has become one of Democrats’ top targets this cycle.
“I have never been Washington’s choice because I stand up to corruption,” Jones said in his announcement video. “Most people in Washington didn’t grow up like me. They have no idea what it’s like to struggle. We got to get Washington back on the side of working people. I know we can do better. For me, this is personal.”
A Lawler spokesperson said in a statement that “nothing will change the fact that Mondaire Jones is a radical progressive” who is endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and supports the “defund the police movement.” This is a label Jones tried to hit back on in his announcement video by having a police officer stump for him in the video.
Even with the district being a “toss-up,” according to the Cook Political Report, Lawler’s team said it is confident he can win reelection.
“Congressman Lawler, on the other hand, will earn re-election by continuing to deliver on his promise to be the bipartisan problem solver who Hudson Valley residents want representing them in Washington,” Chris Russell, a spokesman for Lawler, said in a statement.
Jones is set to go against Liz Gereghty, the sister of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and a former school board member within the 17th District, in the primary.
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As of April, Jones has $50,123 on hand in his campaign account, according to Federal Election Commission records.
“The battle royale is on in New York — setting up a brutal race to the left that will leave Democrats’ eventual nominee bruised and broke,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Savannah Viar said in a statement. “Mondaire Jones’ defund the police and cashless bail advocacy is more in line with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez than the voters in the Hudson Valley he abandoned. In 2022, after running in South Manhattan and Brooklyn, Jones shut down his official offices early and left thousands of Hudson Valley residents in a lurch, and we look forward to reminding them of that.”
