This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

The omnipresent Hudson Valley Republican gets to spend another two years popping up at every event with more than one person and a camera. Rep. Mike Lawler won a competitive reelection this week, possibly setting him up to make some more dreams come true. His titles already include lawmaker, political consultant, Moldova Caucus co-chair, new father of two and amateur Laverne and Shirley reenactor…could he eventually add governor of New York to that list? Stay tuned.

This Democratic triumvirate fulfilled their mission of flipping GOP-held House seats two years after a disastrous showing in the 2022 midterm elections. Representative-elects Laura Gillen, Josh Riley and John Mannion can thank the trio and the Hochul-funded coordinated campaign for some of the success they saw this week. The situation for Democrats nationally looks pretty grim, but at least no one can blame the results on Hochul this time.

Of all of the New York Democrats not on the ballot Tuesday, perhaps no one is a bigger winner than New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump’s victory means that changes at the Justice Department are likely – and U.S. Attorney Damian Williams may find himself unemployed, which means Adams’ legal woes could be behind him in 2025. Or Trump could just pardon the indicted mayor. Plus, the City Council’s campaign against Adams’ Charter Revision Commission proposals was a bust, with city voters approving four of the five measures on the ballot.

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones might have run his last race on Tuesday, after falling to Rep. Mike Lawler. His regular miscues were bad enough, but he also burned bridges with key former allies during this year’s campaign. Progressives may never truly forgive him for endorsing Westchester County Executive George Latimer over Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and residents of the 17th Congressional District may never forget that he abandoned them to run for Congress in Manhattan and Brooklyn in 2022 (a race he also lost). The only place left for Jones now may be the political wilderness.

Asian American voters have increasingly backed GOP candidates across New York City, a trend that continued in Tuesday’s elections, and Democratic state Sen. Iwen Chu was booted from office as a result. Her defeat – which may partly be due to her failure to come out against a controversial Bensenhurst migrant shelter – came just two years after she was first elected to represent the newly created South Brooklyn district, which was drawn specifically to increase Asian voters’ power.

Democratic state Sen. John Mannion defeated Republican Rep. Brandon Williams, 54%–46%, in Central New York. Williams, who went on a tirade against a former staffer a year ago and had the third-highest turnover rate in the House, will now have extra time to work on his management skills. It probably didn’t help that House Speaker Mike Johnson came to the district – where $6.1 billion from the CHIPS and Science Act is funding a massive Micron Technology chip fab – and said the GOP would “probably” repeal the law.