NEW YORK (PIX11) – A contentious race in the Hudson Valley is heating up as the candidates prepare to battle for your vote during a live debate Friday on NewsNation affiliate WPIX.
First-term Republican Mike Lawler is defending his seat representing New York’s 17th Congressional District from Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones. NY-17 covers northern Westchester County, Rockland and Putnam counties, and a small portion of southern Dutchess County.
Lawler served in the New York Assembly in 2021 and has previously worked in political communications. Jones, a lawyer who represented NY-17 from 2021-2022, is looking to return to Congress after he briefly moved to New York City to run for NY-10 but lost the Democratic primary.
The outcome of the election could impact the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the race has been heated.
Lawler has tried to cast Jones as a chameleon who will say and do what he needs to get elected. Jones has tried to cast doubt on Lawler’s moderate self-representations, pointing to his unwillingness to compromise when it counts and his staunch support for other, more conservative Republicans. Old pictures of Lawler in blackface while portraying Michael Jackson in college also surfaced a month before Election Day.
A recent WPIX poll revealed the race is very close, and a third candidate might play a spoiler to Jones.
Who will win the NY-17 debate? Tune in or stream online starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1.