Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented New York state for eight years in Washington as a Senator, winning the seat in 2000 and replacing veteran New York lawmaker Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Clinton was relatively new to New York at the time, having established residence in the Westchester County town of Chappaqua with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, after they left the White House. (New York voted overwhelmingly for Bill Clinton twice, and also for Hillary when she ran for POTUS in 2016.)
Hillary Clinton remains a powerful and influential figure whose support in congressional races is sought across the country. But Chappaqua, where she lives, is in New York’s 17th Congressional district, a blue-leaning area where the first-term incumbent is Republican Mike Lawler.
And when it comes to the 17th, Clinton has not just a voice, but also a vote — and she’s using both, jumping into the race slam Lawler and back former Congressman Mondaire Jones.
We’ve got to flip #NY17 to take back the House for Democrats and protect reproductive freedom.
I’m supporting @MondaireJones against Mike Lawler, who cheered the end of Roe v. Wade and voted repeatedly against abortion rights.
Help Mondaire win: https://t.co/abekreJNCe pic.twitter.com/OL6Y1sy0of
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 24, 2024
(The ad Clinton shared –which calls Lawler “dangerous” — cites data from the popular local publication LoHud — AKA, Lower Hudson Valley.)
Clinton slams Lawler in the spot where he looks most vulnerable just weeks before election day, targeting his anti-abortion stances and corresponding Donald Trump support. Indeed, all four bullet points in the content Clinton shared hit Lawler on abortion, with the last one specifically linking him to Trump and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“We’ve got to flip #NY17 to take back the House for Democrats and protect reproductive freedom,” Clinton writes.
In broad strokes, Clinton and the Democrats portray Lawler as an extremist, especially on abortion, while Lawler (and his ad machine) say repeatedly: “Mondaire Jones has shown who he is. He’s a radical extremist.”
With the House majority margin razor thin, Clinton’s hometown race has big national consequences.
As a result, Jones is running both as a candidate for his district and as part of a national effort to stop the election of a Republican-led House or, as Jones says, avoid “a Republican Congress because of Mike Lawler getting to stay in Congress” and push the “Project 2025 agenda.”