GOP Rep. Mike Lawler will run for reelection, not for New York governor
'After months of deliberating over this and really working through it, I've decided the right thing to do for me and my family and my district is to run for reelection,' Lawler said.
The two-term moderate Republican said he wants to help the GOP by running to hold onto the suburban swing district, which is considered one of the most competitive battlegrounds in the entire nation.
'I'm proud to run for reelection on my record and win next November and keep the House Republican majority,' Lawler added.
Democrats mocked Lawler for chickening out of the governor's race, with Hochul tweeting that he 'doesn't have the spine to face me.'
A crowded field of Democrats has already lined up for the chance to take on Lawler, whose NY-17 district is one of just three in the nation that elected a Republican to the House but backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump.
The challengers include Rockland County legislator Beth Davidson and Army veteran Cait Conley.
Lawler was a key vote to pass Trump's unpopular Big Beautiful Bill, which included draconian cuts to health spending to fund outsized tax cuts for the rich.
He claimed a side win in the bill by convincing Republicans to raise the cap on deducting SALT, or state and local taxes, to $40,000 from $10,000. Democrats say he welched on promises to eliminate it altogether.
Lawler burst onto the political scene by toppling ex-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the 2022 midterms in a race that featured a round of internal Democratic bickering following a redistricting battle that changed the district somewhat.
In 2024, he easily turned aside a comeback effort from Democratic ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones, who held the seat previously.
Lawler's decision is a boost to the no-holds-barred effort by President Trump and his Republican allies to hold onto their narrow House majority in the forthcoming midterm elections. The GOP holds a 219-212 edge, with four vacancies, three of which are in strongly Democratic districts.
The party in power typically loses House seats in the first midterm elections after a president takes office, which would suggest a grim prognosis for the GOP, especially with Trump's approval ratings dipping into the low 40% range.
But Trump is pushing Republicans to unilaterally redraw congressional district lines in states they control, most notably Texas and Ohio, which could yield close to 10 additional Republican seats. Democrats might counter by doing the same in blue states, potentially even New York, although the process looks legally trickier for them.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, could now be a frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial primary race. Republicans will also be keen to defend her far upstate district, but it should be an easier lift as it voted for Trump by a margin of about 20 points in 2024.
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