A U.S. Army veteran who served in the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration won a competitive Democratic primary Tuesday, setting up a general election challenge against Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
Cait Conley had 7,462 votes, topping 52%, as of 9:50 p.m. with 37% of ballots counted — a margin the Associated Press said was enough to clinch the nomination in what amounted to a three-way contest with Beth Davidson and Effie Phillips-Staley.
The result launches a closely watched Hudson Valley showdown, with Democrats targeting Lawler, a two-term incumbent, in a district party strategists consider one of their strongest pickup opportunities in New York in this year’s midterm elections.
Conley previously worked on cybersecurity issues at DHS before returning to New York’s 17th Congressional District to mount her campaign for Congress.
Davidson, a Rockland County legislator who, like Conley, sought to appeal to more moderate voters, finished with 28.3% of the vote.
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Phillips-Staley, the race’s most prominent left-wing progressive candidate and a former Tarrytown village trustee, placed third with 15.3% support across the district.
Lawler, a former state assemblyman, first captured the seat in 2022 by defeating then-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who was chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the time, amid a broader Republican House surge.
He won again in 2024, defeating former Rep. Mondaire Jones by six percentage points even as the district narrowly backed Kamala Harris over President Trump, 50% to 49%.
Cook Political Report currently considers the seat a toss up, the only Empire State GOP district within striking distance for Democrats as of the latest ratings.
