Sean Patrick Maloney concedes N.Y. 17th Congressional District race to Republican Mike Lawler
NYACK, N.Y. -- A victory has been earned in the Hudson Valley for Republicans trying to wrest control of the House of Representatives.
On Wednesday morning, Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney conceded the 17th Congressional District race to Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler, CBS2's Tony Aiello reported.
It was painful defeat for the 10-year congressman. Maloney chaired the effort to keep the House in Democrats' hands, but he lost his own seat.
"I don't like to lose, but my opponent won this race and he won it fair and square. That means something. So I'm going to step aside," Maloney told reporters. "I had a good run, and I have an incredible husband who's been with me for 30 years, including right now, and we have three great kids, and we have been blessed beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man."
Maloney found a silver lining because Democrats appear to have done far better than expected. He spoke at Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters after calling Lawler to congratulate the Republican on his victory.
"I'm deeply grateful to the people of the Hudson Valley for giving me the voice and the vote in Washington for 10 years," Maloney said. "I'm not gonna whine about it. I'm gonna do this the right way, and the right thing to do is to say the other guy won, to wish him well, and pledge my support, and that's what I'm doing."
Lawler is a first-term assemblyman who took advantage of redistricting, which added his base of Rockland County to the district. He ran hard on crime, inflation, and energy costs.
Lawler said Wednesday he wants to see federal spending reduced because he thinks it's unsustainable.
He confirmed Wednesday he will support Kevin McCarthy for House speaker if the Republicans move into the majority, but he also spoke of a willingness to dialog with ideological opposites.
"Anybody who has met me for more than five seconds will know I'll talk to anybody. I'm just gonna be myself, talk to every single member of Congress, from AOC all the way to, obviously, leader McCarthy," Lawler said.
Lawler said his role model in Congress will be Long Island Republican Peter King, who commanded a lot of bipartisan respect during his decades in Congress.
Republicans had a second pickup in the Hudson Valley. Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro won his race for the 19th Congressional District seat.