Republican Rep. Mike Lawler enters his battleground House contest against Democratic challenger Cait Conley, a US Army veteran, with nearly $5 million available in his campaign account.
The GOP incumbent reported $4.85 million in cash on hand, more than four times the roughly $1 million Conley had available ahead of the November 3 election.
Conley, however, spent heavily to emerge from a competitive five-candidate Democratic primary last month.
Even so, she outraised Lawler during the April-to-June period, collecting $1.6 million compared with his $1.4 million as he campaigns for a third term representing the Hudson Valley’s closely watched 17th House District.
Campaign finance records show Conley has raised $3.2 million so far this election cycle.
Lawler for Congress, by contrast, has brought in nearly $8 million, while the campaign and its joint fundraising committees have amassed close to $9 million for the 2025-26 cycle.
“These numbers tell a simple story: Hudson Valley voters trust leadership that delivers, and they’re putting their money behind Mike Lawler,” said Ciro Riccardi, Lawler’s campaign manager.
“Nearly 5,000 individual donors gave to Mike this quarter, the kind of grassroots muscle that wins tough races.”
Riccardi claimed Lawler was well positioned to get re-elected.
“Cait Conley is entering the grueling run into Election Day with 1/5th of the resources Congressman Lawler has at his disposal,” he said, adding the Dem and her “DC party insiders blew millions of dollars on a primary where she could barely crack 50% of the vote.
“Now, they’ll need to spend tens of millions just to make this race competitive,” Riccardi said.
“While Cait Conley sprints to the left to keep AOC [socialist Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and her far-left allies happy, Mike Lawler is uniting working families, labor, law enforcement, Republicans, independents and common-sense Democrats who want results,” he added.
“He’ll have every resource he needs to share his record and win in November.”
The Conley campaign had no immediate comment, but told Politico that she was “incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support we’ve received across the Hudson Valley and the country.”
Democrats are expected to raise millions of dollars to help Conley reclaim the seat, which could help determine which party controls the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterms.
The independent Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up in what could be one of the marquee House contests in the country.
A House Democratic poll released last week claimed Conley held a 6 point lead, 51% to 45% over Lawler among likely voters in a district that includes Rockland and Putnam counties, northern Westchester County and parts of southern Dutchess County.
Meanwhile, Republican Michael LiPetri, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in a rematch for Long Island’s 3rd Congressional District, raised $1 million across all campaign committees, including joint party committee support.
He had $835,000 in cash on hand.
Suozzi’s latest filing was not available on Tuesday. The reports are due to be filed with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday.
But according to most recent campaign data through June 3, Suozzi had $5.5 million in cash on hand.
LiPetri came within 3% of defeating Suozzi two years ago, despite being significantly outspent.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, could aid LiPetri if he does well at the top of the ticket in the district in his bid against Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, as GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin did in 2022.
Recently, Vice President JD Vance came to Long Island, praising LiPetri and slamming Suozzi.
“People are tired of career politicians like Tom Suozzi who have made millions trading stocks in Congress while raising our taxes and creating a financial mess for our future,” LiPetri said.
The 3rd House District includes Long Island’s North Shore and parts of Suffolk and Queens.
