Politics

Sean Patrick Maloney’s long fall

After a controversial decision to seek reelection in the 17th Congressional district, the DCCC chair will end his decade in Congress.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney departs following a news conference announcing his concession to opponent Mike Lawler at the DCCC on Nov. 9 in Washington, DC.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney departs following a news conference announcing his concession to opponent Mike Lawler at the DCCC on Nov. 9 in Washington, DC. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

As Republicans strive to gain seats in Congress in midterm elections this year, Democrats suffered a major loss on Tuesday when Assembly Member Mike Lawler eked out a victory over Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney for the 17th Congressional District. The loss is especially heavy for Democrats because the five-term Congress member is also chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Maloney, who currently represents the 18th Congressional District, decided to run in the 17th Congressional District after a chaotic redistricting process. The controversial decision earned the Congress member major backlash because it forced freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones out. Jones then unsuccessfully ran in the June primary in Brooklyn’s crowded 10th Congressional District. Despite Maloney’s opponent Alessandra Biaggi’s popularity, he went on to win the Democratic primary for the 17th Congressional District only to be met with a fierce challenge by a freshman Assembly member and lobbyist.

Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic political consultant, suspected Maloney did not think he had any chance of losing the election. “He probably thought he could not have been beaten, and this race was an easier win,” Sheinkopf said. “Nobody saw this coming.” But the race tightened, and several political pundits identified it as increasingly competitive, including The Cook Political Report, which shifted its rating from “lean-dem” to “ toss-up” just two weeks before Election Day. 

As of Wednesday morning, Lawler was ahead of Maloney with 92% reporting of votes counted, and the race had been called by several news outlets. Maloney, who did not attend his election night party in New York on Tuesday, formally conceded to Lawler shortly after. 

“I don’t like to lose, but my opponent won this race, and he won it fair and square. And that means something,” Maloney told reporters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. “So I’m going to step aside, and I had a good run.” 

Lawler responded via Twitter thanking Maloney for his time serving the Hudson Valley. “Humble in victory, gracious in defeat,” Lawler wrote. “Campaigns are tough and he was a tough, and worthy opponent.”

Lawler centered much of his platform around crime, and recent polls highlighted the issue as among the top concerns for voters this election season. The Assembly member also vowed to address the economy while criticizing his opponent for “wasteful spending in Washington'' – which he said has contributed to rising inflation. In addition, Lawler centered much of his campaign around the fentanyl crisis. While experts debunked the Assembly member’s theory that the Biden administration’s southern border policy is driving the opioid crisis, addressing the crisis is extremely important to Hudson Valley voters as the number of overdose deaths continues to rise at alarming rates.

On the other hand, Maloney prioritized abortion rights and gun safety. Sheinkopf said Maloney’s “tremendous loss” was because the Congress member was late when it came to focusing on crime. “It was very clear a year ago that crime would be an issue this election cycle. (Maloney) was more concerned about national standing than he was about local issues,” Sheinkopf said. “Running in a new district requires a sole commitment to that district.”

While Maloney attempted to pivot his messaging to crime in the days leading up to the election by releasing an ad featuring a police officer vouching for him, Sheinkopf noted crime was not a natural fit for the Congress member. “Becoming a tough-on-crime guy would not have fit Sean Patrick Maloney’s profile. It just wasn’t him. It was not believable,” Sheinkopf said.

Maloney wasn’t the only Democratic candidate to fall short. Democratic candidates in the state Senate also suffered losses. In Rockland County, Republican challenger Bill Weber bested freshman state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick with his campaign focused on “keeping communities safe” and repealing bail reform. In the 39th state Senate District, Democrat Julie Shiroishi lost decisively to Poughkeepsie mayor and former police officer Rob Rolison. Like Lawler, Rolison vowed to prioritize the economy, crime and public safety if elected.

Jack O'Donnell, a veteran Democratic strategist and managing partner at the political consulting firm O'Donnell & Associates, said Maloney relied heavily on his accomplishments through his time in Congress, including his work on addressing climate change and drinking water infrastructure, as his campaign strategy, but it ultimately was not enough to convince his new constituents to vote for him on Election Day. O’Donnell also pointed to Maloney’s senior position within the House Democrats as a possible reason for his struggle to win the race.

“As chair of the DCCC, Maloney was viewed by a lot of folks as a total embodiment of the Democratic Party – including the Democratic left, which is somewhat ironic considering his centrist background – and I think that was also a time commitment away from his district,” O'Donnell said. “He ultimately paid the price for it.”

With Maloney gone, House Democrats will have to find a new chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. According to Sheinkopf, there is life after loss for the Democratic Party and Maloney’s political career. “The great thing about political campaigns and politics is that after you lose, you wake up the next morning and you go to work,” Sheinkopf said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.