Mondaire Jones hopes to bring pragmatic progressivism back to the Hudson Valley

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones has staked a claim to the 17th Congressional District, where the Democrat is challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler for his old seat. But the situation is complicated. As City & State reported earlier this summer, the widespread belief that former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney pushed Jones out of the primary for the 17th Congressional District back in 2022 was untrue. In fact, Jones voluntarily jumped into the crowded 10th Congressional District primary in Manhattan and Brooklyn, which he ultimately lost to Rep. Dan Goldman. (Jones maintains that he had no real choice in the matter because Maloney clearly wanted to run in the 17th Congressional District.)

Recent revelations aside, Jones’ standing among progressive Democrats markedly declined earlier this summer after he criticized Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s stance on Israel and threw his support to George Latimer, who went on to beat Bowman in the primary. The move upset the New York Working Families Party and Congressional Progressive Caucus, which had endorsed endorsed Bowman. Jones maintains that he has not changed his views, but the playing field has changed.

Now Jones is left facing off against Lawler, a self-styled moderate and skilled politician who is popular in the Lower Hudson Valley. Though Lawler is a Republican freshman in a district that is overwhelmingly Democratic, he won’t be easy to beat. National political forces have zeroed in on New York as a key battleground for control of the House, and both Republicans and Democrats are paying close attention to the race between Lawler and Jones.

Freshly returned from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Jones spoke with City & State about his congressional campaign, the importance of New York to national politics and what he believes leftist activists (and journalists) are getting wrong about him. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you find the DNC?

It was so re-energizing and clarifying for the country, about the stakes in this election and the stark differences between the parties. My fellow Democrats and even a number of disaffected Republicans stood in that convention center and chanted “U-S-A” with such pride and patriotism as we prepared to face off against people who would overturn presidential elections and terminate the U.S. Constitution. It was so meaningful. 

Do you think that full-throated pride in America and American values has been missing from the culture these days?

I think there's been an absence on the Republican side where Donald Trump continues to disparage this country while purporting to want to “make America great again.” On the Democratic side, we've been consistent here in our belief that this country is already great and that we are committed to a patriotism that says we can do even better when everyone is treated equally under the law, when everyone has basic freedoms, like the right to make one’s own healthcare decisions and love who one loves, and when we have an economy that works for everyday people and not just for the super-rich,

Was it interesting for you to see the large role that New York played during the convention?

It was really good to see New York play such a prominent role. You know, we've got the Senate majority leader (Chuck Schumer) and the House minority leader (Hakeem Jeffries) from the same borough. We've got a governor who is playing a significant role in our quest to take back the House, which is a project that runs right through the great state of New York, and in particular the Hudson Valley.

Is it interesting to see just how important the Hudson Valley is and continues to be in national politics?

Absolutely. I look at the example of my friend Pat Ryan (who represents the 18th Congressional District), who has always been a leader when it comes to this discourse on freedom and in clarifying what is at stake in November, center stage. (He can) draw on his experience as a veteran and join people like Ruben Gallego, all the way over in Arizona, in drawing this really sharp contrast with the Republicans. So whether it's here in the Hudson Valley or elsewhere in this country, Democrats are fired up. We are speaking in unison and with purpose and with joy, which is another great thing that they could mention.

So what do you think voters have learned about Mike Lawler over this tenure that would be to your benefit? What sets you apart from Sean Patrick Maloney, who lost to Lawler two years ago?

I think one thing that people have been learning in recent weeks and months is that Mike Lawler votes just like the extreme “MAGA” Republicans – which means against our values and our interests here in the Lower Hudson Valley – despite the brand of moderation that he would cultivate for himself, rhetorically, on cable television. I have had so many conversations with people and have heard of conversations in which residents of this district are saying, “I had no idea he was like this,” because he always sings a different tune when the cameras are on.

What distinguishes me from Sean Patrick Maloney, among other things, is that I am actually educating people about a voting record that Lawler has in Congress that he didn't have at the time he last ran for this position. What also distinguishes me is that I will not be outspent by Mike Lawler as I communicate these very important aspects of his extreme record. And I have a relationship with the people in this district that Sean Patrick Maloney did not have because I represented 73% of this electorate (before the most recent round of redistricting). 

I am from this community, and people know I did a great job when I was in office. It is also the case that Donald Trump will be at the top of the ticket, which will be clarifying for people in this district who are deciding where they stand in this most important election of our lifetimes, and Mike Lawler and his party is standing with a convicted felon who wants to pardon the insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement on January 6, an event I met and barely survived as a freshman House member. There was nothing moderate about that.

Speaking of moderate, I think there has been some chatter about how you have positioned yourself as a moderate Democrat this cycle. Do you think that you were maybe miscast as progressive just by virtue of being a New York Democrat?

I am the same pragmatic, independent voice I have always been. Does that mean that I stand up to corporate power and to special interests who would rig this economy to work for billion-dollar corporations and the very rich people who are bankrolling my Republican opponent in this race? Yes, because, as a pragmatist, that doesn't mean that I compromise my values. I mean, name an economic or social issue that I no longer hold the same position on. 

I have always been a proponent of the kind of bold solutions that would improve the lives of everyday people, while staunchly being pro-Israel, even from my first run for Congress in this district. I realize that perhaps that wasn't salient for people out in Queens and Brooklyn who are writing these fake pieces claiming, without evidence, that I'm somehow a different person today than I was in 2020. And of course, I have long been horrified by some of the more obscene and non-strategic behavior of the far left and have been more vocal about that in recent months because things have come to a head here in the Lower Hudson Valley.

When you say non-strategic, do you mean the sense that it just doesn't serve a purpose or that it actively will alienate parts of the voter base?

It is so clear to me that there are leftists describing themselves as progressives in the state of New York and elsewhere who are more interested in burning shit down than in actually winning elections that allow Democrats to pass progressive policies like a federal minimum wage and expanding Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing. 

When you say New York and elsewhere, are there Congress members in Westchester and St Louis you are specifically thinking of?

I actually was not focused on any particular primary. I have noticed a crop of young leftist ideologues in the state of New York masquerading as journalists who make broad inflammatory claims about how I am somehow a different person than I was the first time I ran for Congress without linking me to any substantive policy decisions. It is all vibes, and they happen to hate Israel.

There is the belief that if Democrats can control the House, they can further protect the right to abortion. Do you think on the state level, the Equal Rights Amendment will positively affect your campaign and other Democrats in the state?

I think it will be mobilizing for the people. If you're going out to vote for the Equal Rights Amendment to ascribe abortion protections and LGBTQ+ protections under our state constitution, you're very likely voting for me, and in fact, it would be the logical thing to do.

Having said that, we will not be safe if we simply pass the Equal Rights Amendment here in New York, because Republicans like Mike Lawler – if they were to remain in the majority in January of next year and Donald Trump returns to the White House – would pass a national abortion ban and further restrict LGBTQ+ rights, like they have tried to do in the House Republican majority this term, while the far-right majority on the Supreme Court, for its part, continues to whittle away at those same freedoms.