A US Army veteran who worked in the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration won a crowded Democratic primary Tuesday and will take on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the general election.
Cait Conley received 7,462 votes, or more than 52%, as of 9:50 p.m. with 37% of ballots counted, enough to secure her victory in what was effectively a three-way race between her Beth Davidson and Effie Phillips-Staley, according to the Associated Press.
Her win sets up a key Hudson Valley battleground race as Dems take aim at Lawler, a two-term incumbent congressman in a seat insiders view as one of the party’s best pickup opportunities in New York in this year’s midterm elections.
Conley previously worked in cybersecurity in DHS before moving back to the 17th Congressional District to run for congress.
Davidson, a Rockland County legislator who tried to occupy a more moderate lane like Conley, carried just 28.3% of the vote.
The prominent lefty progressive candidate in the field, Phillips-Staley, garnered just 15.3% in the district, resigning the Tarrytown village trustee to third place.
Former state Assemblyman Lawler won the seat in 2022, beating former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who was then-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, as part of a GOP surge in the House that year.
In 2024, he beat ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones by six percentage points despite the district going for Kamala Harris over President Trump 50% to 49%.
Cook Political Report currently considers the seat a toss up, the only Empire State GOP district within striking distance for Democrats as of the latest ratings.