First-term Republican Rep. Mike Lawler has launched a new multimillion-dollar ad campaign, claiming credit for getting Gov. Kathy Hockal to shelve a controversial $15 congestion charge for entry into midtown Manhattan.
“I want to focus on getting things done, which is why I brought together Democrats and Republicans to block the MTA’s congestion fee,” Lawler said. Say it in a 30-second spot It aired on Wednesday.
The ad then shows an old news segment of Lawler and New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer holding a joint press conference to speak out against congestion pricing.
Republican lawmakers, including Lawler, had planned to campaign against congestion pricing during their Democratic campaigns, but in June, Hawkle made a surprising decision to put an indefinite “pause” on congestion pricing.
Lawler is facing a tough re-election race against former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones in the 17th Congressional District, the southern Hudson Valley that includes Rockland County, parts of Westchester and Putnam.
Haukl was a staunch supporter of congestion pricing to fund the MTA’s $15 billion capital plan, but has since backed away from the idea.
Speculation was rife that the governor blocked the $15 toll in order to help Democrats retake House seats.
Hawkle has denied those allegations and said he changed course because the burden on New Yorkers in the wake of the pandemic was too great.
Lawler also said in the ad that he supports restoring the full federal deduction for state and local taxes.
Lawler’s campaign said the ad is the start of a $5 million advertising campaign across broadcast, cable and other digital platforms.
“Congressman Mike Lawler is getting things done in Washington, D.C., from repealing congestion pricing to fighting to repeal the SALT cap and returning tens of millions of dollars in federal funding to the Hudson Valley, making him the bipartisan fighter NY-17 has come to expect from him,” said Chris Russell, a spokesman for Rep. Lawler.
“We want to remind voters that Mike has a track record as a common-sense problem solver and his opponent has a track record as a far-left extremist and do-nothing politician. The contrast is stark.”
Congressman Jones previously represented the 17th Congressional District.
But after redistricting in 2022, instead of seeking reelection in the driver-dependent 17th District, he ran in the more liberal 10th District, which covers Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and supported congestion pricing.
He lost the Democratic primary to Dan Goldman.
Jones’s camp argued that Lawler’s argument for scrapping congestion pricing was pure fantasy.
“Mike Lawler is lying again, and thankfully, no one is in any danger of believing that he is to blame for New York’s Democratic governor pausing congestion pricing,” said Shannon Geison, a spokeswoman for the Jones campaign.
“Similarly, no one is in any danger of believing that the extreme Republican majority in the Legislature has been productive for Lower Hudson Valley families. Mr. Lawler could not even get his own party to vote for a modest restoration of the state and local tax deduction. Mike Lawler simply cannot be trusted.”
Meanwhile, Jones has changed his position on congestion pricing.
He endorsed it when he ran for Congress in 2022.
“My personal policy preference is congestion pricing,” Jones said during an Aug. 10, 2022 NY1/Spectrum News roundtable.
“We need congestion pricing at a local level, it’s been needed for a long time.”
But Jones changed his tune last year after deciding to run for his old seat in the car-dependent Hudson Valley.
“I do not support the implementation of congestion pricing for residents of the lower Hudson Valley,” he said.
