The Case for Lawler

Mike Lawler is seeking reelection for New York’s 17th Congressional District. A graduate of Suffern High School, Lawler began his career in government as the Deputy Town Supervisor of Orangetown, before being elected to state senate in 2020 and later federal office in 2022.  During his tenure representing NY 17 Lawler has prioritized returning federal funds to Rockland and earned a reputation for his bipartisan approach to governance.

During his term Lawler has secured more than $70 Million in federal funding for improvements to Rockland’s infrastructure. The monies returned to the district have funded future renovations to the Nanuet Train Station, improvements to  sidewalks and pedestrian crossings in Orangetown, and Ramapo, flood prevention efforts in West Nyack, and the restoration of Suffern’s Memorial Drive, a critical thoroughfare for emergency vehicles traveling through the village. Lawler has championed legislation intended to address the county’s most pressing challenges, including the rising cost of housing.  

“I believe very strongly that you have to respect local control of zoning, and what works in New York City does not work in Rockland,” Lawler told the RCT. “The policies that the federal government puts forth and the policies that the state puts forth should be a means to incentivize development while respecting local control and making sure we are not mandating a one size fits all approach to housing. My bill has 38 provisions in it focused on a number of areas with respect to housing including reducing the cost of construction and reducing barriers to entry for homeownership” Lawler’s proposal includes provisions offering finical breaks for Firefighters, Police Officers and Veterans and would remove the  cap on State and Local Tax deductions, a goal he shares with his opponent Mondaire Jones. 

As an advocate for Rockland Lawler has had much success in making the Federal government work for his constituents. Perhaps the biggest challenge to his campaign lies not with his own record, but the elephant in the room.

Though he has repeatedly voiced objections to some far right policies, including a national ban on abortion, Lawler will face immense pressure during a potential second term in office to support the Republican agenda. Moderates wary of MAGA policies including tax cuts on the wealthy, a de-emphasis on combating climate change, aggresive enforcment of the southern boarder, and general support of an extremeley polorizing  candidate might be warry of endorsing any Republican ticket in our current political climate.

Lawler is acutely aware of this concern.

“At the end of the day this is not about policy, this is about policy. And the fact is that when Donald Trump was president our economy was more prosperous and our boarder was more secure,” argued Lawler. 

To his credit Lawler has a proven track record of standing up to the more extreme elements of his own party. Lawler was one of five Republicans ready to support Democrat efforts to force a vote on  a short term funding bill when the federal government faced a shut down September of 2023 going so far as to call far right  Republican efforts to prevent the vote and allow a shutdown“a clown show”. The congressman has also argued in favor of reforming our current immigration system to remove quotas limiting how many migrants from a certain country are allowed to apply for a citizenship. Lawler told the RCT that he would not vote in favor of cuts to Social Security or Medicaid. 

Lawler has spoken in favor of fracking for natural gas, has stressed the importance of supproting Israel in the fight against Hamas (as has his opponent) and believes that returning manufatring jobs to the United States is a top priority for the next congress.

Mike Lawler has demonstrated a commitment to comprismise and sensiable government  and has reliabely returned federal funds to Rockland County. 

“At the end of the day whether you are a Republican or a Democrat does not really matter.  All of us want a few basic things,  good paying jobs for our family, to live in safe neighbrhoods  and a quality education for our children,” said Lawler. “That has been my foucs throught my time in Congress, we have a job to do and I am commited to doing it, and will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of this district.”