Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is sharpening his attacks on Democratic challenger Cait Conley in a new television ad, accusing her of backing widely opposed artificial intelligence data centers while highlighting her lucrative consulting ties to AI companies.
The 30-second spot, released as the Hudson Valley’s closely watched 17th Congressional District contest intensifies, begins with a dimly lit clip of Conley, an Army veteran, saying, “We need data centers.”
“Cait Conley has hundreds of thousands of reasons why she wants to build data centers in the Hudson Valley,” the narrator says. “Conley took a massive six-figure payday from the AI companies she steered contracts to when she worked for Biden.
“No wonder Conley wants them.”
An on-screen disclaimer says Conley received a combined $328,000 from AI companies Primer and Hidden Level, both of which secured federal defense contracts, including while she served as a national security adviser to former President Joe Biden.
The ad later returns to Conley, who says, “We need data centers. We’re not going to get rid of them.”
Lawler then addresses viewers directly from the screen.
“I’m Mike Lawler and I approve this message because I’ll protect our community for your family and mine,” he says.
The spot closes on a bright family scene showing Lawler with his wife and their two daughters.
The ad buy, approaching seven figures, was coordinated by Lawler and the National Republican Congressional Committee. His campaign says it will run for nine days across broadcast and cable television, streaming platforms, digital outlets and social media.
The 17th District covers Rockland County as well as parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Democrats are targeting the seat as they seek to retake the House in November’s midterm elections.
The closely contested district could help decide which party controls Congress when the new session begins in 2027.
Independent campaign analysts, such as the Cook Political Report and the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rate the race a toss-up between two-time incumbent Lawler and Conley.
The Conley campaign accused Lawler of waging a desperate attack that distorts her record, noting that Conley endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive order calling for a one-year freeze on data centers in New York.
“Let’s be clear — Cait Conley supports a data center moratorium; Mike Lawler opposes one,” said Conley campaign spokesperson Maddy Rosen.
“On Mike’s watch, five data centers have been built in Rockland County, raising utility costs for ratepayers here. Mike is a former lobbyist for the utility monopolies profiting off of data centers, and he continues to rake in hundreds of thousands from Big Tech.”
The Conley rep, in the ferocious rebuttal, also said Lawler voted to give the artificial intelligence industry $80 billion in tax breaks for data centers, and then voted to make it easier to build them.
Her campaign said Lawler has taken $15,500 from Morgan Stanley’s PAC, which received a $2 million tax break from Rockland County for financing the Orangeburg data center on Ramland Road.
He also received $11,000 from JP Morgan’s PAC, the banking giant which received a $77 million tax break for expanding its data center in Orangeburg.
“Mike Lawler can lie all he wants to cover up his disastrous record, but at the end of the day, all you have to do is follow the money,” Rosen said.
The back-and-forth shows how backlash against AI data centers has become a volatile issue this election cycle, with polls showing broad bipartisan “not in my backyard” opposition.
Both Republicans and Democratic candidates across the country have sought to use the issue against their opponent.
But President Trump is a staunch supporter of AI data centers to keep America at the forefront of high tech as it competes against China for economic supremacy.
Lawler and the GOP thus far have outspent Conley and the Democrats $5.9 million to $3.4 million, according to tracker Ad Impact Politics.
Lawler first took the seat in 2022 when he defeated former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, then the chairman of the House Democratic Campaign Committee.
He defeated former lefty Rep. Mondaire Jones by six points in 2024 despite the district going blue for Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Conley, an Army veteran, won a five-way primary to win the Democratic nomination — positioning herself as a mainstream and moderate challenger better suited to make a run in the suburban district that includes all or parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties.
Republicans attacked Conley during the primary, a signal that they believed she would be the most formidable candidate in the general election.
Members of Congress serve two-year terms and are paid salaries of $175,000.
The election is Nov. 4.
