Former Rep. Mondaire Jones is running for Congress in NY-17

Former US Rep. Mondaire Jones is seeking to return to Congress.

The Democrat announced Wednesday morning that he will run for New York’s 17th Congressional District seat in 2024, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.

“I was never Washington’s choice. That’s because I stand up to corruption,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “I’m fighting with Republicans who are trying to overthrow our democracy and ban abortion, even as I push my party to fight harder for the working class. I’m running to finish the work I started.”

Jones was elected to the former 17th District in 2020, which now consists of Putnam and Rockland counties, as well as part of Dutchess County and a much larger portion of Westchester County. After New York’s chaotic redistricting process last year, Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, then chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chose to run in the new 17th District rather than seek re-election in the 18th District, which he had represented for 10 terms. Years.

Instead of challenging Maloney, Jones decided to run in New York’s 10th District and ultimately lost the Democratic primary to Dan Goldman. Maloney ultimately lost the November general election to Lawler.

Since leaving Congress, Jones has been appointed to a six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Jones will face Liz Whitmer Gereghetti, a small businesswoman and former school board member who is also the sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for the Democratic nomination.

The 17th District is part of a trio of House races in the Hudson Valley that were close in the 2022 midterm elections. Since Republicans flipped two of those seats, and with the GOP holding a narrow majority in the House, the district will likely see support There will be significant interest from both parties next year, when the council could be controlled again.

“No matter how hard Mondaire Jones tries to escape his past record in Congress — just like he ran from his constituents in 2022 — nothing will change the fact that Mondaire Jones is a radical progressive supported by AOC and ‘The Squad,’” said Chris Russell, a spokesman for the representative. Lawler: “Supports defunding the police and New York’s disastrous cashless bail law, and voted for reckless spending that has saddled us with record high inflation.” Congressman Lawler, on the other hand, will get re-elected by continuing to deliver on his promise to be “A bipartisan problem solver that Hudson Valley residents want represented in Washington.”