Former New York Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones on Friday denied “rumors” that he didn’t want to challenge then-Republican candidate Mike Lawler two years ago in the district where Jones is running this term.
Jones will represent New York’s 17th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, which at the time included all of Rockland County and parts of Westchester County.
but, City and state reports On Friday, Jones, now 37, said he had no qualms about being ousted by then-Democratic House Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney ahead of the 2022 midterm elections after New York’s 17th District was realigned to include parts of Putnam and Dutchess counties, making it more Republican.
In response, Jones, who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 to represent Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn brownstones in the 10th Congressional District, called the reports a “ridiculous lie” and blamed “disgruntled anti-Israel extremists” for opposing his decision to support pro-Israel candidate Westchester County Mayor George Latimer over Rep. Jamaal Bowman of The Squad in the Democratic primary in the neighboring 16th Congressional District.
“The rumors spread this week by disgruntled anti-Israel extremists in response to my endorsement of George Latimer are laughably untrue, given that the whole world watched as Sean Patrick Maloney publicly announced his decision to run in the 17th District without consulting me,” Jones told The Post in a statement.
“I look forward to running this term in my hometown in the Lower Hudson Valley and recapturing the House majority.”
Maloney, who lost to Lawler by fewer than 2,000 votes, opted to run in the 17th Congressional District after redistricting after the 2020 census split the former Congressman’s 18th District, putting his hometown of Cold Springs in Jones’ territory and raising the possibility of a primary showdown.
“Sean Patrick Maloney did not inform me prior to making that announcement on Twitter,” Jones said. He told Politico After Maloney makes his decision in May 2022. “I think that tells you everything you need to know about Sean Patrick Maloney.”
But according to City & State, citing sources familiar with the conversations, the then-DCCC chair personally reached out to Jones to offer him the freedom to campaign in NY-17.
Jones reportedly turned down the offer because he thought the race was tougher and he planned to beat Bowman in the primary for New York’s 16th Congressional District. Jones’ campaign had funded an internal search to gauge Bowman’s viability.
“The Grassroots Coalition believes he [NY-]”He’s 17. And he’s not going to run at 17,” said one of the sources, a former senior aide to Mr. Jones.
“He was planning to run in 16 states, so we decided to poll in 16 states to see how disastrous that decision would be,” the former aide added, alleging that Democratic activists dissuaded the lawmaker from the move.
According to federal campaign finance reports, the Jones campaign It paid $25,000 to data analytics firm EMC Research. May 2022.
“The polling clearly showed the bar was too high and Mondaire didn’t think he could get it done in 90 days,” the former aide said, noting that polls showed a “35-point difference in approval ratings” with Bowman’s approval rating at over 50 percent and Jones’s at 20 percent.
“I didn’t want to be at odds with black progressives,” Jones said. He told Axios Jones added in August 2022 that he did not want to challenge Maloney, whom he called “a man whose primary job is to defeat fascism.”
After losing to incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th District, Jones is expected to return to Westchester County to face off against Lawler for control of the 17th District, which is rated as a close race by nonpartisan voters. Cook Political Report.
The DCCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mondaire Jones’ complete lack of commitment to the people of the Hudson Valley is not shocking, but it is still pathetic,” Savannah Vear, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Congressional Committee (NRCC), said in a statement. “His self-serving and political cowardice are disqualifying.”
Both candidates currently have roughly $3 million in campaign funds, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and the New York Working Families Party withdrew their endorsements of Jones for 2024 because of his decision to back Latimer.
The campaign said in a statement that the congressman chose Latimer because the county commissioner “stands up for Jewish voters,” while Bowman is widely known for his anti-Israel views.
“I am horrified by his recent acceptance of DSA’s endorsement, his denial that Hamas sexually assaulted an Israeli woman on October 7, and his rush to call a ceasefire before Israel could begin defending itself against the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” Jones added in a statement about Bowman on Thursday.
“That’s horrible,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) of the Squad. He told Semaphore After Jones endorsed Bowman and ignored him on Monday, he said: “Is that the kind of person he wants to be? The kind of person that members of Congress can’t trust? The kind of person that you know will be your friends at some point, and then as soon as it becomes advantageous for him, not only does he turn his back on you, but he also starts supporting people who disagree with you?”
“Oh dear,” Roller said. Post to X In response, he wrote, “Even the team is upset at @MondaireJones’ duplicity.”
“progressive“I will continue to be a champion for the policies I’ve advocated for for so long,” he said in an interview with New York magazine after the midterm elections, and in a statement after his endorsement was withdrawn, he vowed that if elected, he would “continue to be a champion for the policies I’ve advocated for for so long, including lowering costs for working families, restoring reproductive freedom for women, protecting Social Security and Medicare, taking transformative climate action, banning assault weapons, and fighting for universal health care.”
He will still appear on the state Working Families Party ballot because a candidate cannot be removed based on de-endorsement.
