Cait Conley wins NY-17 primary to take on Lawler

After a vicious primary that pitted the local power players against one another, Army veteran Cait Conley cruised to victory Tuesday, securing the Democratic nomination for the race to take on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.

“I’ve gone from the battlefield to the Situation Room when the stakes were life and death, and I sure as hell am not afraid of a lifelong political hack like Mike Lawler,” Conley said in a statement shortly after winning.

The Associated Press called the race for Conley soon after polls closed. With more than half the votes counted, she had 49%, while Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson had 30% and Tarrytown Village Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley had 15%. 

A West Point graduate, Conley had support from a wide array of national Democratic groups like the Bench, Majority Democrats, and Vote Vets, along with members of Congress like Hudson Valley Rep. Pat Ryan and Colorado Rep. Jason Crow. 

Conley’s service record positions her to reach the many service members, first responders, and their families who live in NY-17 – especially in Rockland County, where Lawler calls home. 

The last two cycles, Lawler exploited his Democratic opponents’ past support for defunding the police and eliminating cash bail.

Now, he will have to face a decorated combat veteran with nearly two decades of public service. Conley styles herself as an outsider who wants to fix a broken system failing New Yorkers – “because the people who got us into this mess aren’t going to get us out of it,” she refrained throughout the campaign trail. 

The success of Conley represents a victory for the Democratic establishment that fought to exert its will over the local grass roots campaigns of Davidson and Phillips-Staley. 

“To everyone who voted for another candidate, I look forward to the opportunity to earn your support in taking back the Hudson Valley,” Conley said in her victory statement. We are united now by something much bigger than any one campaign: the fight to defeat Mike Lawler, take back the House, check this Administration, and deliver for the working families of the Hudson Valley.

Conley’s commanding win showed the futility of Republicans’ efforts to smear Conley and weaken her in the primary. Despite a $1.4 million ad-buy attacking Conley for her work for two AI firms that tout collaborations with Palantir, it was not enough to render her unpopular, and she rode to victory without any second guess. 

Lawler dug into Conley’s record throughout the primary, and many understood it as a signal that he did not want to face her. But the clearest evidence of that came when Politico reported Monday that Lawler was trying to encourage Orthodox Jewish voters to get behind Davidson in the primary.

The strategy proved unsuccessful, and Davidson failed to generate the buzz she needed to compete with Conley.

The general election between Conley and Lawler will be the marquee midterm battle in New York, and it’s slated to be an absolute slug fest.