(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As chair of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., is responsible for ensuring the election, and in some cases reelection, of his fellow party members.
But in a dramatic turn of events, polls are showing that Maloney may not even win his own race.
Currently, he is trailing his Republican opponent, state Assemblyman Mike Lawler, in the race for New York’s 17th Congressional District, the New York Post reported.
It comes, no less, after Maloney switched districts when the 18th district, which he has been representing, became less favorable following the state Supreme Court’s redrawing of the maps to counteract Democrats’ attempts to gerrymander more seats.
The resulting shuffle forced radical incumbent Rep. Mondaire Jones to move to a new Manhattan district, which he then lost in the primary to Daniel Goldman, the former lead attorney in the first impeachment attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Now, it seems, both of the LGBT-identifying incumbents, Maloney and Jones, may be in for a new line of work.
The new polling data, which came from Lawler’s campaign, suggested that the GOP challenger has taken a 52% to 46% lead in the district, covering the lower Hudson Valley.
“Voters in New York’s 17th Congressional District remain frustrated with the current state of the country, specifically regarding inflation, the economy and crime,” said pollster Jim McLaughlin. “Maloney and his extreme views on issues such as cashless bail, taxes, spending, inflation and ethics are being exposed and this is making Maloney very unpopular with voters.”
Maloney’s campaign responded to the new polling data by slandering Lawler as an anti-Semite.
“Lawler can release as many skewed internal polls as he likes, but it won’t change the reality that he is losing because his extremist MAGA agenda of banning abortion, opposing gun safety reforms, and engaging in disgusting, anti-Semitic attacks isn’t welcome in the Hudson Valley,” said Maloney campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg.
Maloney, a top ally for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was elected to his position in 2012. He is running for his sixth consecutive term this year.
Lawler, who previously was the executive director of New York state’s Republican Party, was elected to the state’s Assembly in 2020.
