Liz Whitmer Gereghty drops New York House campaign

ALBANY, N.Y. — Democrat Liz Whitmer Gereghty dropped her campaign Wednesday for a closely watched House seat in the New York City suburbs and endorsed former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones.

The suspension of her campaign is the latest move by a Democratic candidate in New York to end a potentially costly primary bid for a battleground seat. Incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is among five New York GOP lawmakers Democrats hope to unseat next year.

“Uniting our party and focusing our resources on taking back the House is critical to fighting back against the radical extremism plaguing our politics,” Whitmer Gereghty said.

Whitmer Gereghty, a Katonah-Lewisboro School Board member, entered the race for the seat with some shared name recognition: Her sister is Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

But Jones has soaked up both campaign contributions and endorsements. He’s raised more than $1 million during in his first three months since entering the race and has received the backing of Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Black Caucus’ political action committee.

Jones, a former Justice Department official, was first elected to the House in 2020. He opted to run for an open House seat that covers Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn after then-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney choose to run in Jones’ district when congressional boundaries were redrawn in 2022.

Jones ultimately lost the primary to Rep. Dan Goldman. Maloney was defeated by Lawler, flipping the seat to the Republican column.

“I am honored to announce that she is endorsing me and throwing her full support behind my effort to defeat Mike Lawler, retake the House majority, and save American democracy from the threats posed by MAGA extremism,” Jones said in a statement.

The shakeup in the race for the Hudson Valley House seat comes as Democrats hope to recapture control of the chamber next year with an estimated six competitive seats in New York.

Five of those seats are held by first-term Republicans in the Hudson Valley, on Long Island and in Central New York. Ryan, a freshman lawmaker, is considered the only Democrat to be in a competitive district.

Whitmer Gereghty’s decision to step aside comes after multiple Democrats running to replace Republican Rep. George Santos in a Queens and Nassau County district dropped their bids to endorse former Rep. Tom Suozzi.