NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former House Rep. Mondaire Jones on Wednesday announced he’ll be running to reclaim the 17th District Congress seat in Westchester from Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in 2024.
The progressive former congressman lost his seat after a controversial redistricting plan by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo left him in the lurch.
“I’ve never been Washington's choice. It's because I stand up to corruption. I battle with Republicans trying to overthrow our democracy and ban abortion, even as I push my party to fight harder for working people,” wrote Jones in a Tweet announcing his candidacy. “I'm running to finish the work I began.”
The campaign will again see Jones in a tight Democratic primary race to determine which candidate will take on Lawler in the Westchester swing district.
Liz Whitmer Gereghty, the sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and MaryAnn Carver have already announced campaigns in the 17th District, and others may join the primary as well.
Jones won a race to succeed former Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey in 2020, positioning himself as a rising star on the left flank of Democrats who supported high-profile progressive causes like Supreme Court Expansion and the Green New Deal.
In 2022, redistricting pitted him against another popular incumbent, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney — a party insider who chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the time and was running for his sixth term.
Jones opted to run in a more crowded race rather than take on Maloney’s entrenched power base, and campaigned for the 10th District Primary. He lost the primary race to Dan Goldman. In an upset, Maloney lost the 17th District seat to Lawler, a Republican.
Now, the 17th District race represents an opportunity to break into the House, or back into the House in Jones’ case, without running afoul of Democratic party leadership.
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