Republican New York Congressman Mike Lawler appeared alongside President Trump in Rockland County, highlighting his strong working relationship with the president. However, his appearance in a district that has gone blue in the last two presidential elections and is competitive in 2024 raises concerns among swing voters and Democratic strategists.
Appearing alongside Trump at an event in Rockland County , Lawler told the crowd he has a "strong working relationship" with the president, and it was, at least in part, one of the reasons Trump appeared in the district.
Trump pushes to make daylight saving time permanent after Sunshine Protection Act passes committee. Because of that relationship with the president and across the aisle, I've delivered for the Hudson Valley in a way that no member of Congress has been able to in generations," Lawler said.
For Lawler, whose district was one of three GOP-held seats to support Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, appearing alongside Trump carries risk as he tries to win over swing voters wary of the president's handling of the economy and the Iran war. I think Trump is certainly unpopular in this district right now," Covey said.
"His approval rating has certainly been underwater for a long time, and so campaigning with him is certainly going to be a bit of a risky move. " New York GOP strategist Jay Townsend, however, said even if "others of us don't quite understand why" Lawler appeared alongside Trump, "Mike is a talented political operative. " "I would never want to second-guess his political judgment, so I assume there is a method to his madness," Townsend said.
Covey echoed Townsend's sentiment, saying that among all of the vulnerable Republican incumbents, Lawler is "one of the strongest campaigners of the bunch.
" During the event, Lawler emphasized his battle against GOP leadership and Trump to raise the State and Local Tax, or SALT, cap during negotiations on Republicans' first party-line budget bill. From day one, I made it very clear I was never going to support a tax bill that left New Yorkers behind," Lawler said.
"In a narrowly divided House, I know my vote matters, and I know how to leverage it for the good of the Hudson Valley. " Lawler claimed he threatened to kill the massive tax and spending bill if he did not get an increase in the SALT cap, causing Trump to tell House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that Mike Lawler is fantastic, and that he calls him Mr. SALT.
Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson, a Jewish woman who is running in the Democratic primary for Lawler's seat, told the during an interview that Lawler "wanted to show his relevance by bringing the president here," but that the "flip side of that is that it reminds voters in this district just how tied to the president Mike Lawler is.
" Containing Hudson Valley, Rockland County, Peekskill, and Cold Spring, New York's 17th district has gone blue in the last two presidential elections, but shifted towards Republicans in 2024, where Harris only won the district by 2,160 votes in 2024. In 2020, Joe Biden won by 38,887 votes. rates Lawer's district as a toss-up, with Covey noting how competitive the general election becomes depends on the outcome of the Democratic primary.
Including Davidson, three Democrats have emerged as front-runners in the June 23 primary, with the other two being Army veteran Cait Conley and Tarrytown trustee Effie Phillips-Staley. Playing into Lawler's reelection bid is the district's large Jewish population, which overwhelmingly went for the New York lawmaker in the 2024 election.
But while Shavuot, a two-day Jewish holiday, was observed on Friday, neither Lawler nor Trump marked the occasion during their remarks, instead focusing on affordability and pitching Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. That Mike Lawler and President Trump have always stood firmly with the Jewish community and Israel.
That Trump's agenda has "deeply hurt" the Jewish community, citing cuts to Medicaid benefits and SNAP benefits, as well as the expired Affordable Care Act subsidies, and that the president's visit to the district during the holiday added "salt to the wound.
" But Townsend, the GOP strategist, insisted the districts' Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish population won't defect from Lawler, and explained that the population and Lawler have a "symbiotic relationship.
New York Republican President Trump Congressman Mike Lawler Rockland County Shavuot State And Local Tax SALT Cap Democratic Primary Jewish Community Israel Medicaid Benefits SNAP Benefits Affordable Care Act Subsidies One Big Beautiful Bill
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