The end of a long New York congressional campaign trail is nearing for five Democrats competing to take on Rep. Mike Lawler.
The field started forming early in 2025 for a courtship of Democratic voters that culminates on June 23 with a primary for New York’s 17th Congressional District, a battleground key to both parties’ quest for House control in the midterm elections. The first votes will be cast soon with nine days of early voting set to start on June 13.
The winner will challenge the second-term Republican this fall to represent a swath of the Hudson Valley that takes in all of Rockland and Putnam counties, the northern half of Westchester and a slice of Dutchess. It’s one of just 18 seats nationwide and the only one in New York that’s rated a “tossup” for the Nov. 3 general election by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Two top contenders — Beth Davidson and Cait Conley — each have led the field in polls sponsored by the campaigns or outside groups and made public since January. Huge shares of voters were undecided in those surveys, leaving plenty of uncertainty about the race.
In the most recent numbers, Conley led Davidson 29% to 22% in a poll commissioned by VoteVets, a Democratic veterans group that backs Conley — a 16-year Army veteran — and recently bought TV ads to support her. Behind them were Effie Phillips-Staley at 6%, Mike Sacks at 4% and John Cappello at 2%. Fully 38% of those surveyed had no preference when the poll was taken from May 7-12.
The USA TODAY Network recently spoke with all five candidates about their campaigns, their priorities if elected and their ideas for lowering living costs, a paramount concern for voters in the midst of an affordability crisis. Here are pieces of what they shared, along with the professional and political backgrounds they bring to the race.
Cait Conley, 41, Ossining
Occupation: Consultant for Hidden Level, a drone-detection company, and Primer A.I., an artificial intelligence company; senior adviser, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, 2023-25; director for counterterrorism, National Security Council, 2021-2023; 16-year Army veteran
Elected offices: none
Campaign pitch: Touts West Point training and Army career, including combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and leadership in special operations. Says her past work with Congress as a Biden administration official equips her to start right away. “I’m ready to go in there and work on Day One, and we’re going to need that.”
What sets apart: Argues her Army service shows public commitment and would help her beat Lawler in a politically mixed district where many emergency responders and veterans live. “In order to win this district, we have to have a Democrat that appeals to voters not just as a party but as a person, that can bring people together, that can inspire people and unite people.”
Priorities: “First we have to undo the harm” of the last two years, such as ending President Donald Trump’s tariffs and restoring lapsed Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies and Planned Parenthood funding that Republicans eliminated. “And second we have to tackle the affordability crisis that is absolutely just crushing people in every corner of this district.”
Lowering costs: Supports a “public option” so people under 65 can buy Medicare coverage. Wants to rein in utilities and their rising rates by “tying profits to performance.” Proposes a federal loan program to ease home ownership for “public service” workers, such as nurses, teachers and first responders. “These types of solutions are possible, even with a divided government.”
Beth Davidson, 53, Nyack
Occupation: Rockland County legislator, political consultant
Elected offices: Rockland County Legislature, 2024-present; Nyack school board member, 2017-23
Campaign pitch: Touts 20-year roots in Rockland; her 2023 election win; local service as legislator and school board member; campaign work for other winning Democratic candidates. “I’m the only Democrat in the field who’s proven I not only know how to fight, I know how to win and beat Republicans in tough territory.”
What sets apart: Argues her Rockland support and Jewish faith enables her to compete with Lawler in his home county and win votes from its large Hasidic and Orthodox population, which backed Lawler as a unified bloc in 2024. The Rockland electorate, she says, accounts for “40% of the primary, 40% of the general, and 100% of the reason Mike Lawler is our member of Congress.”
Priorities: Reversing last year’s Medicaid cuts by Republicans in Congress and Trump; reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement to curb its “excesses”; reinstating an assault weapons ban; child care aid.
Lowering costs: Restore health insurance subsidies that Congress let expire in January, which drove up costs for Affordable Care Act plans; promote green energy; stop utility “price gouging”; spur more home building to expand supply and reduce prices.
Effie Phillips-Staley, 55, Tarrytown
Occupation: Former director or fundraiser for: The Kitchen, a New York City experimental art space; Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns; Hudson Valley MOCA, a Peekskill museum; New York City-based Hispanic Federation
Elected offices: Tarrytown village trustee, 2022-present
Campaign pitch: “I have proven myself in terms of how I build coalitions across diverse communities,” she says, citing her record as a village trustee and 30-year career in nonprofits “primarily for social justice.” Vows to broaden the district’s representation by listening to and crafting policies for residents often overlooked by politicians.
What sets apart: Says her positions are bolder, more progressive than her rivals’. Supports the universal health care vision known as Medicare for All, and calls for abolishing ICE and replacing it with a new agency rather than reforming it. “I believe firmly that ICE is not an organization that can be rehabilitated.”
Priorities: Tackling affordability crisis, protecting civil rights. Calls for a civil-rights investigation of Rockland’s East Ramapo School District, saying its mostly Hispanic and Black students have been hurt by chronic underfunding
Lowering costs: Restore green-energy programs dismantled by Trump administration. Pursue Medicare for All to ensure everyone’s medical costs are covered. “We need to stop playing around with half-measures that only guarantee that certain people have access to health care.”
Mike Sacks, 43, Croton-on-Hudson
Occupation: Senior adviser, Court Accountability, a nonprofit that exposes court corruption and promotes democracy; former journalist and attorney
Elected offices: none
Campaign pitch: Vows to help Democrats dismantle barriers he says Republicans have used to block “popular, progressive polices that make people’s lives easier and better.” Without removing those obstacles, such as partisan gerrymandering and the Senate filibuster, he says Democrats will fail to deliver on their promises and alienate voters as a result.
What sets apart: Argues his law background and experience covering Congress and the Supreme Court as a journalist gave him expertise to battle the Trump administration and address the underlying obstacles for Democrats. Says his focus on those root problems distinguishes him from his primary rivals.
Priorities: Conduct “aggressive oversight” of the Trump administration to expose its harmful policies and hold it accountable. Build an agenda for Democrats to pursue when they regain power, with polices that include Medicare for All, comprehensive immigration reform, the Green New Deal and the restoration of national abortion rights.
Lowering costs: Says if Democrats win a House majority they should “cinch the purse strings tight” — cut off the Trump administration’s funding until it stops what he describes as abusive and cost-raising actions.
John Cappello, 62, Suffern
Occupation: President of Euro Atlantic Initiative, a non-governmental organization based in Belgrade, Serbia; 25-year Air Force veteran
Elected offices: none
Campaign pitch: Vows to “do politics differently,” supports a five-point reform agenda embraced by a slew of Democratic candidates in other states that includes term limits for Congress and a Supreme Court code of ethics. “It restores trust not only in the system, but also in people we send to D.C. to represent us.”
What sets apart: Touts his military career and diplomacy he learned while posted at embassies in Israel and Serbia during his Air Force service. Says his background enables him to speak to a wide range of people and appeal to voters who want solutions and are tired of partisan warfare. “We need to appeal to the 30% of people that are unaffiliated, to Democrats that are tired of politics of the same.”
Priorities: Form citizen committees to give him direct feedback on what constituents want and help shape his policies. “When you’re in Washington often-time there’s a disconnect, and I commit to formalizing that process.”
Lowering costs: Spur housing construction by working with municipal officials to ease zoning restrictions and red tape and offer builders incentivizes to erect all types of homes. Supports a federal loan program similar to what Conley described that would help teachers, first responders and others buy homes.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA TODAY Network. Reach him at CMcKenna@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Five Dems in June 23 primary for Lawler seat make their closing case
Reporting by Chris McKenna, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McKenna, New York State Team | USA TODAY Network
