HUDSON VALLEY- With local elections in the rearview mirror, all eyes turn to 2024 with a Presidential election topping the ballot. In the Hudson Valley, three highly competitive Congressional districts are sure to draw both national attention and millions of dollars, with challengers already declared against freshmen incumbents in all three districts.
In the 17th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Michael Lawler, two Democrats have announced their candidacy. Former Congressman Mondaire Jones has announced his intentions to seek his former seat, as well as Liz Whitmer Gereghty, a small business owner, former school board member, and mother of three. The 17th District includes all of Rockland and Putnam Counties, as well as most of Northern Westchester County, and portions of southern Dutchess County. Lawler beat former Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney by 1,820 votes in 2022 and the Cooke Political report has rated this race as a “toss up.”
New York’s 18th Congressional District is represented by Congressman Pat Ryan. Ryan was the only Democrat to win a seat in the House of Representatives in 2022, beating former Assemblyman Colin Schmitt by just over 2,000 votes. The 18th District district includes all of Orange County, and most of Dutchess and Ulster Counties. In 2024, Ryan is slated to face Alison Esposito, 25-year veteran of the NYPD and former Lieutenant Governor candidate. A recent poll released by the Congressional Leadership Fund shows the contest between Ryan and Esposito is close, and Cooke has rated the race as leaning “lean Democrat.”
In the 19th Congressional District, a rematch is on deck between incumbent Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro and Democrat Josh Riley. Molinaro won his seat in 2022 in a close contest where he secured 49.9 percent of the vote. The district, which stretches from the Hudson Valley, through the Catskills into New York’s Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions was won by former President Donald Trump in 2016, and by President Joe Biden in 2020. Cooke is calling the race a “toss up.”
