In an effort to help Mike Lawler defeat Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), House Republicans are investing $4 million in television ads. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC, is targeting the New York City broadcast market with its new spending. In addition to the ad, the super PAC said it would begin airing a short advertisement on Wednesday aimed at Maloney’s decisions on cash bail and crime.
The interviewer asks, “Do you believe in ending cash bail?” Maloney responds, “Absolutely and I’d make it a top priority.” At the end of the announcement, a narrator says, “Sean Patrick Maloney wants it easier for violent criminals to get back on the street.”
Maloney’s part of the dialogue was taken from a debate he had about cash bail in 2018 while running for state attorney general. According to Maloney, Lawler’s super PAC spending makes him “another Trump errand boy.” Maloney said, “I’ve won 5 times in a Trump district and I didn’t need to play footsie with insurrectionists to do it. Lawler is just another Trump errand boy who will be too busy taking away your reproductive rights to deliver for the Hudson Valley.” There are half a dozen competitive races in New York that could determine whether Republicans regain control of the House in the midterm elections, including Maloney-Lawler in the Hudson Valley.
Lawler who was first elected in 2012 and is seeking a sixth term, has released internal polls asserting that he has a slight lead over Maloney. Lawler is a state assemblyman representing Rockland. He previously served as executive director of the state Republican Party.
“Republicans have spent millions against me and their numbers still say MAGA Mike Lawler is losing. CLF can light another $4 million on fire and peddle open racism in an attempt to rescue their loser candidate — it won’t work,” Maloney stated.
In addition, Maloney’s campaign emphasized the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman’s support for law enforcement, including the $7 million he assisted in securing for local law enforcement agencies, said NY Post.
His campaign stated that he would “consistently demand” that the bail reform legislation passed by Albany’s Democratic state legislators in 2019 include safeguards that would prevent dangerous individuals from going on the streets, while also preventing poor defendants from being locked up simply because they cannot afford bail.
However, Maloney is bracing himself for a competitive re-election bid in the race for New York’s 17th Congressional District. Punchbowl News reported that the Congressional Leadership Fund pledged $2 million to the race before the latest announcement.
In a statement, Congressional Leadership Fund President Dan Conston said, “Sean Patrick Maloney’s hubris is catching up with him. Maloney made a grave miscalculation in giving up incumbency and we have a real shot to beat him in November.”
A complaint against Maloney stated that he was allegedly abusing a staffer for personal services, according to The Post, which revealed Maloney’s dual role in August. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report describes the seat as “Democrat-leaning.”