Republican New York Rep. Michael Lawler lost to Democratic rival Cait Conley in Tuesday’s blue tsunami despite carrying the large bloc of Orthodox Jewish voters in the Hudson Valley’s 17th district, sources said.
The two-term congressman won 71% of election precincts in the Town of Ramapo, which has a large number of Orthodox and Hasidic voters.
Still, Lawler did not perform well enough in traditional Republican strongholds to counter the tide of Democratic and anti-Trump voters who supported Conley in heavily blue precincts in the Westchester portion of the district.
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Lawler led Conley only 55% to 45% — or fewer than 10,000 votes — in Rockland. Conley won the towns of Orangetown, Clarkstown and Haverstraw there, but got swamped in Ramapo.
The incumbent lawmaker also only led Conley in red-leaning Putnam County by 2 percentage points, or about 1,000 votes.
Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, vice chairman and executive director or the Rockland County Democratic Party, said Lawler’s support was down in the county from two years ago — while Conley fared better than Mondaire Jones, the Dem candidate who lost to Lawler in 2024.
“Lawler knew he needed a firewall of votes in Rockland and Putnam. The firewall was not large enough. The numbers were just not there for him,” Reichlin-Melnick, a former state senator, told The Post Wednesday.
Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul also carried Rockland County by six percentage points over Republican Bruce Blakeman in the race for governor Tuesday, state Board of Election records show.
Meanwhile, early voting returns in Westchester showed Conley, an Army veteran and Biden administration national security official, with a 2-1 advantage or roughly 25,000 more votes than Lawler.
Conley lead 52% to 47%, but that margin was expected to grow as ballots were still being counted following the software glitch at Westchester polling places on Election Day.
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Lawler saw the writing on the wall and conceded Tuesday, and later issued a statement thanking constituents as he prepares to leave office at year’s end.
Conley issued her own statement Wednesday saying she was ready to get to work come January 1.
“We have a lot to do to root out the corruption that has taken hold in Washington, lower costs for working families, and make our government serve the people once again,” she said.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for entrusting me with the privilege of a lifetime. I will never take it for granted, and I promise to fight each and every day for the better, more affordable future we all deserve.”
