Former New York Democrat Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is currently running for Congress, is being panned for pushing legislation while in office that would have allowed prisoners to vote while still incarcerated.
The former congressman did not run for reelection in the 17th District in 2022 because redistricting had transformed it into a Republican-favored area. Instead, he ran and lost in the 10th District Democrat primary.
Jones is now attempting to win back the 17th District from current Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, with the two set to square off in November's general election.
The New York Post reported that Jones' past support of the convict voting bill could threaten his future political aspirations.
The proposed amendment, which also reportedly was championed by Democrat Rep. Cori Bush, a member of the progressive "Squad," was defeated in the House in 2021 by a 328-97 vote. Bush lost her primary in Missouri just last week.
"When people are convicted of a crime and are sentenced to, for example, serving time in an incarcerated setting, that is their punishment," Jones told The Appeal: Political Report, a prisoners' rights group after the amendment failed.
"It should not be accompanied arbitrarily by the deprivation of a right as fundamental as the right to have a say in who represents one in office. We count people in incarcerated settings in the census for the purpose of the allocation of federal dollars.
"Every human being then deserves to be able to vote in their best interest," he argued. "Anything less than that is inhumane and a form of slavery. Indeed it is the 'New Jim Crow.'"
Law-enforcement organizations blasted Jones for seeming to care more about the rights of criminals than about their victims.
"Cop killers and murderers are some of the most heinous and dangerous criminals. Their actions devastate families and cause unimaginable heartbreak," Vincent Vallelong, president of the New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association, said in a statement obtained by the Post.
"I cannot imagine how any elected official could justify allowing them to vote from prison. It defies logic and is an affront to all common sensibilities."
Lawler's campaign told the outlet that his opponent's advocacy for "cop-killers, child rapists and murderers" is disqualifying and predicted a rejection of his ideology by Hudson Valley voters.
"From trying to defund the police, blaming them for 'white supremacy,' to even letting those that kill cops vote, it's clear Mondaire Jones can't be trusted with any seat in public office ever again," Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russel said. "Voters in the Hudson Valley will make that overwhelmingly clear this November when they reject radical Mondaire Jones and his divisive, extreme ideology once and for all."
Jones campaign spokesperson Shannon Geison told the Post, "It's a shame Mike Lawler wants to disenfranchise American citizens.
"Is this the best he's got after getting caught on camera saying the plurality of voters in his district — Democrats — 'hate this country?'" she asked. "If Lawler wants to show he supports the police, he can start by apologizing for voting to defund law enforcement three times in his first term in Congress, and by withdrawing his support for a convicted felon named Donald Trump."
Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5.