Rockland Voters Choose District 17 Candidates in Primary Day on Tuesday

By Yehudit Garmaise

Rockland County Democrats and Republicans will head to the polls tomorrow for their final chances to cast their votes to determine the candidates who will run to represent District 17 in the US House of Representatives.

Democrats of Rockland County are choosing between U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who currently represents the 18th congressional district, which includes Newburgh, Beacon, and Poughkeepsie, and State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi.

After New York’s redistricting redrew Rep. Maloney’s home in Cold Spring to be included in the 17th District, he decided to seek his sixth Congressional term to represent Rockland County.

Incumbent US Rep. Mondaire Jones, who currently represents the 17th District, recently moved to Brooklyn so he could run to represent NY’s 10th district, which also stretches north to Manhattan.

Maloney, who is considered the frontrunner and more moderate candidate, has earned the endorsements of the New York Times and former President Bill Clinton, who was known as a more moderate Democrat. 

The Times endorsed Maloney, in part because of the widespread belief that he will be the stronger general-election candidate against a Republican on Nov. 8.

Maloney, who is 56 and who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (the DCCC,) which works to bolster the Democratic establishment by helping Democratic candidates win elections, has far outraised his challenger state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who is 32 and is known to be the more progressive candidate.

Currently, state Sen. Biaggi represents New York’s 34th district, which includes parts of the Westchester and the Bronx Counties. 

Biaggi, a strong supporter of progressive criminal-justice reform strategies, is not liked by the NYC police union, which has raised more than $400,000 to prevent her from winning, while donating generously to Maloney’s campaign.

Biaggi, who recently moved to Bedford from Pelham in August to run in tomorrow’s Democratic primary, chairs the New York State Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance.

To take on the winning Democrat in the general election in November, Rockland voters can choose from among five Republican candidates.

Candidates include Assemblyman Michael Lawler, 35, of Pearl River; Rockland County Legislator Charles Falciglia, 66, of Suffern; Somers Town Board member William Faulkner, 55; retired advertising executive Jack Schrepel, 66, of Chester; and Shoshana David, 50, of Harrison.

Two of the Republicans: Schrepel and David live outside of District 17, but under federal law, candidates only need to live in the state to run, New York magazine reported.

Former President Clinton also endorsed Assemblyman Maloney, 56, who has loudly criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul as being soft on crime and unwilling to sufficiently change bail reform to protect New Yorkers.

Assemblyman Lawler showed that he can work across the aisle when he supported Democratic victories on federal assistance throughout the pandemic and for a law that requires background checks for gun purchases for those under age 21 and prevents anyone who has been charged with domestic violence from buying guns.