New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who handed Republicans a decisive victory on election night, explained his success on Fox News Thursday, saying, “New York voters are tired of Democratic one-party control. ” he said.
Two days after the election, several lower house elections have yet to be called and control of the lower house remains uncertain. If Republicans can secure a majority, a unified federal government will be established until at least 2026.
Lawler won the race with 52.4% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger, former Congressman Mondaire Jones, by a margin of 6.8 points.
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Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for New York's 17th Congressional District, greets supporters at the end of Senate candidate Bill Weber's speech at an election night party on November 9, 2022 in Pearl River, New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Muñoz Alvarez)
The Lawlers District, New York's 17th Congressional District, is located just north of New York City and is primarily populated by suburban middle-class residents. Politically, the district is highly divided along partisan lines, making it a highly targeted district for both parties. Democrats poured in millions of dollars in hopes of flipping the seat.
The race ended up being one of the most expensive House races in the country.
Republicans also won in the nearby 1st, 11th, and 12th Wards, which are suburban areas near New York City.
Lawler said that ultimately New Yorkers' concerns about inflation, cost of living and crime led him to victory.
“In states like New York, where Democrats control everything, where Democrats have caused a price crisis, a crime crisis, an exploding immigration crisis, billions of dollars of taxpayer money, voters have had enough.” said. “Voters want us to focus on the issues that affect us most deeply: the economy, our borders, the international crises we're witnessing, and energy policy.”
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Suspected immigrants line up in front of the East Village Re-Intake, which has been converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived immigrant families, on December 4, 2023 in New York City. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Lawler noted that the border crisis is particularly important to voters.
“what [President] with Joe Biden [Vice President] Kamala Harris said, “Over the past three and a half years, we have allowed 10.5 million immigrants into the United States, which is unfathomable,” adding, “It's a state like New York, where billions of dollars are being spent. “It has caused a crisis,” he said.
New York Republican Party spokesman David Laska told Fox News Digital that the victory in the state was fueled by President-elect Trump sending a clear message to voters about the issues he cares about.
Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidential election in New York. But her vote share was nearly 6 percentage points lower than Biden's in 2020.
”Kamala Harris tried to run with a vibe. What exactly does that mean? “What a joke. President Trump was talking about inflation, immigration, these are important issues to Americans,” he said. And we saw Republican victories up and down the polls.”
President Trump records higher margins than in 2020, especially among Hispanics and urban residents in the Northeast
Former President Trump arrived on Wednesday to speak at an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Laska believes Tuesday's election is indicative of a broader political realignment among working-class voters who believe the Democratic Party is not considering the needs of the working class. Simply put, people just want change, he said.
”New York is a blue state, but it's not progressive blue. Not a woke blue. It is a blue color blue. It's working class blue. These are the old “Reagan Democrats” we used to call them. And you might call many of them 'Trump Democrats,'” he said. “If you look back at this chapter in history, voters from all walks of life had economic concerns, they had concerns about immigration. , President Trump said again. Of them. Kamala Harris didn't. ”
