Former Rep. Mondaire Jones Announces Run For Old House Seat
Huffington Post
Former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D) announced his candidacy on Wednesday for New Yorks suburban 17th Congressional District, a seat the progressive previously represented but left last cycle amid an intra-party dispute.
After a complicated redistricting plan ― and the decision by Sean Patrick Maloney, then the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to run in the 17th District ― prompted Jones to run unsuccessfully in New York City last summer, Jones has returned to his suburban stamping grounds, where he hopes to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. Lawler is one of the House Democrats top targets as they seek to retake the chamber in November 2024.
Jones is set to first compete for the Democratic nod against Liz Gereghty, a former member of the Katonah-Lewisboro school board in the 17th District and the younger sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). The battle between Jones and Gereghty could be a marquee ideological clash within the Democratic Party to determine who will run in one of the nations hottest House races.
Im running for Congress because, for me, policy is still personal, Jones told HuffPost in a late June interview in Manhattan, where he had been meeting with advisers.
Moving from Rockland Country to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn to run in NY-10, then moving back to Rockland County to run again in NY-17, suggests more about ambition than about community service.