Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) is hoping to fend off a primary challenge from a progressive opponent on Tuesday in New York’s new 17th Congressional District.
Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made controversial moves to preserve his position as a powerful member of Congress following a redistricting process that brought on infighting among the Democratic New York delegation. In the primary, he is facing state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive who toppled an establishment incumbent for a seat in the statehouse in 2018.
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Maloney secured his role as the head of the Democratic campaign arm, centered on getting Democratic incumbents elected, due to his fundraising prowess. That prowess is on display in the cash his campaign has hauled in to date. Maloney raised $4 million during the primary campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings from the beginning of August, and still has over $2 million of cash on hand. Meanwhile, Biaggi raised only $800,000, with less than $270,000 left over.
Maloney, who also has establishment backing, is leading in both campaigns’ internal polls. His own polling has him winning the primary by 34 points, 52% to 18%. Biaggi’s polls show a closer race but still with Maloney winning by 13 points, Politico reported in July. Many voters were still undecided at that point, and there has not been more publicly available polling since.
Biaggi may be keeping up hope because this isn’t the first time she’s taken on an establishment figure. In 2018, she won her place in the statehouse by ousting then-state Sen. Jeff Klein, who was better financed and a figure in New York politics. Biaggi was originally going to run in the 3rd District but switched course when the final redistricting map removed the county she represents out of the district. She moved to the 17th District to take on Maloney.
“This race will have a clear contrast for Dems,” she said earlier in her campaign. “They can vote for a progressive Democrat who knows how to get things done. Or they can vote for a corporate, selfish Democrat.”
The 17th District is more centrist than it used to be, which gives Maloney an edge over Biaggi’s activist brand of progressivism. Before redistricting, President Joe Biden won by about 20 percentage points. In the district as it is now, he would have won by only 10 points.
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The district was formerly represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), a progressive who chose to run in the open 10th District rather than force a member-on-member primary. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party criticized Maloney for choosing to run in Jones’s district after his 18th District seat became less favorable to Democrats rather than risk defeat, especially since Jones is black and Maloney reportedly didn’t give him a heads up before announcing the move. Jones nearly had to campaign against Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the neighboring 16th District, which would have pitted two black lawmakers against each other.
“But let’s also be clear about this: Two black men who worked hard to represent their communities, who fight hard for their constituents in Congress and advocate for dire needs in our communities, should not be pitted against each other all because Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney wants to have a slightly easier district for himself,” Bowman said at the time. “The Democratic Party should not tolerate or condone those who try to dismantle and tear down black power in Congress.”
