Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., went from being one of the most endangered House Republicans in the country to on track to win re-election.
Lawler represents New York’s 17th Congressional District in the suburbs of New York City, a district President Joe Biden won by 10 points 2020. Despite the blue headwinds of his district and being outraised by his opponent, former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., Lawler leads in all public polls.
“I feel very good about where we are with six days to go,” Lawler, who was elected in 2022, told Punchbowl News. “We’re winning.”
Nearly $20 million has been spent on ads in the district in October, according to AdImpact. Lawler has raised $7.7 million while Jones has raised $9 million according to FEC filings.
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, a nonpartisan election handicapper, moved the race from “toss-up” to “lean Republican.”
Lawler has campaigned aggressively on comments Jones made after George Floyd was murdered by police, calling for defunding the police, abolishing cash bail, and ending qualified immunity for police officers, Punchbowl said.
“On issues of law enforcement, the differences between us are quite stark. Mondaire Jones supported legislation to repeal qualified immunity for every single law enforcement officer in America,” Lawler said at a capaign event. “By contrast, I have fought to protect qualified immunity and repeal absolute immunity for every single elected official in America and in New York.”
Jones has tried to counter by saying he said something “dumb” when he was younger.
“Those comments were made before I was ever elected to Congress,” Jones told Punchbowl. “And when I was in Congress, I voted for record levels of police funding. I always voted to fund the police.”
Lawler has touted his bipartisan record in Congress, while Jones is calling himself a “pragmatist” with “socially liberal policies” after running as a progressive in 2020, Punchbowl reported.