The powerful head of House Democrats’ campaign arm easily defeated a high-profile left-wing rival in New York on Tuesday, setting him up for a tough general election fight and capping off a chaotic redistricting process that left incumbents scrambling.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, held off a challenge from liberal state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in the Democratic primary for the Hudson Valley-anchored 17th Congressional District. He led by 33 points when the Associated Press called the race, with 39% of ballots counted.
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Biaggi, who was backed by a slate of left-wing figures and groups, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), actress Cynthia Nixon, and the Working Families Party, launched a campaign against the more centrist Maloney after he angered many liberals with a last-minute district swap. After his current seat, the 18th District, was made more Republican-leaning under court-ordered redistricting plans, Maloney chose to run instead in the Democratic-friendly 17th District, which is currently held by first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY).
Rather than face an uphill primary fight against the deep-pocketed DCCC chairman, Jones chose to run for the Democratic nomination in a far-away New York City-based district. Maloney’s move to force Jones out of his own district infuriated many liberals, many of whom were already skeptical of the congressman and saw his efforts to push out Jones as both selfish and in direct contradiction to his task as House Democrats’ campaign chief — namely, to elect more Democrats to the House.
Even in the face of mounting backlash from his party’s left flank, Maloney was not without his own prominent allies. Ahead of the Aug. 23 primary, the five-term congressman secured endorsements from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former President Bill Clinton, and former Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY). He also had the support of much of the 17th District’s Democratic political establishment, including a laundry list of local elected officials and unions.
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Despite his primary win, Maloney’s victory in the general election is by no means guaranteed. His Republican rival, state Assemblyman Michael Lawler, released internal polling last month showing him with a narrow lead over Maloney. Still, President Joe Biden handily carried the Democratic-leaning reconfigured 17th District in 2020. In addition, with access to an unprecedented amount of financial resources in his role as DCCC chairman, Maloney is expected to have a heavy monetary edge over Lawler going into November.
