Hudson Valley Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is portraying Democratic challenger Cait Conley as an outsider whose views align with liberal figures he says are unpopular across the district, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“It’s safe to say Hochul, Mamdani, [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and [Sen. Chuck] Schumer will be making appearances in our advertising,” Lawler recently told The Post editorial board.
The Lawler-Conley contest is reportedly a statistical dead heat and has emerged as one of the nation’s most consequential House races. The outcome could help determine which party controls the chamber next year.
Lawler has cast Conley, an Army veteran and West Point graduate, as another liberal Democrat who favors a government “takeover” of health care and supports Hochul’s “Sanctuary State” approach. Those policies sharply restrict cooperation between New York law enforcement and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he argued.
Conley’s campaign website says she supports giving Americans the option to enroll in a public insurance plan, while making clear that she does not endorse a fully government-run health care system.
Conley also supports ending so-called “287g agreements,” which enable local police departments to assist ICE with immigration enforcement. She has additionally criticized what she calls “the terrorization of our immigrant communities.”
Lawler, meanwhile, has opposed both Hochul’s “Sanctuary State” policies and a new state law limiting cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration officials.
“You can’t claim to be a moderate if you’re supporting the core of what these people are advocating,” Lawler said, referring to New York’s Democratic leaders.
He also argued that the Democratic Party’s “death march” toward socialism would not resonate in New York’s 17th Congressional District. The district includes Rockland and Putnam counties, along with portions of Westchester and Dutchess counties, where many families count police officers, firefighters or veterans among their relatives.
Lawler further accused Conley, who grew up in the broader Hudson Valley region, of relocating to the district primarily to launch her congressional campaign.
“She parachuted in to run,” he said, pointing to her ownership of homes in North Carolina and Virginia and her rental residence in Westchester. “She has no ties to the district whatsoever.”
“She doesn’t pay [property] taxes,” Lawler added. “She moved here for the sole purpose of running [for office] because somebody in Washington told her, ‘This is the district to run in.’”
Lawler also accused Conley of changing her position on artificial-intelligence data centers. He said she once supported their development before backing Hochul’s one-year pause on new projects. Lawler opposes the governor’s moratorium.
He also highlighted Conley’s work on AI policy while serving as a security adviser to former President Joe Biden, followed by payments totaling $328,000 from AI companies Primer and Hidden Level after she left government.
Lawler’s campaign cited those payments in a sharply worded advertisement that described the arrangement as a “very clear case of corruption.”
“She landed these two gigs on her way out the door [from working in the Biden administration] to effectively do nothing and run for Congress,” Lawler said.
The Conley campaign dismissed Lawler’s criticism as a sign of desperation, emphasizing that she is a “fourth-generation” Hudson Valley native.
“This election, Hudson Valley voters will choose between career political operative and former utility lobbyist Mike Lawler, who votes with Donald Trump 100% of the time even when it harms his own constituents, and Cait Conley, a fourth-generation Hudson Valley native and Army combat veteran who served six tours overseas and has dedicated her life to keeping Americans safe,” said Maddy Rosen, a representative for the Conley campaign.
“While Mike spends his days cozying up to the corporations and special interests backing his campaign, Cait is running to rein in Washington corruption, lower middle-class taxes, and hold monopoly utility companies and Big Pharma accountable to bring forward the affordable future the Hudson Valley deserves.”
The Conley campaign also accused Republicans of circulating misleading AI-generated images that appeared to show her alongside Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez.
“I spent my career hunting down terrorists in combat zones as a special operations officer. Yes, we should have prisons, borders, ICE, and the Senate. And Mike, let me remind you that despite your best efforts, you’re running against me in NY-17,” she said in a statement on X.
As for claims of corruption, the Conley campaign pointed to Lawler selling his stake in a campaign consulting firm he founded — but not before Checkmate Strategies was paid more than $720,000 by Republican Party groups with ties to him, as well as his own campaign.
Lawler is seeking a third-term in a purple district.
Some independent observers, such as the Cook Political Report and the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the race is a toss-up.
More than 20% of the voters are Jewish, many of whom care about the state of Israel.
It also a district concerned about pocketbook issues such as rising gas prices and property taxes.
Lawler boasted of lifting the cap to restore state and local tax deductions on federal return for homeowners, an issue he said he clashed with President Trump on.
He acknowledged that voters are grumpy about the high cost of living but said New York’s Democratic-controlled restrictive energy policies and high taxes and spending are part of the problem.
