Mike Lawler, Mondaire Jones face off in NY-17 debate on PIX11

NEW YORK (PIX11) – Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat Mondaire Jones, the two major candidates running to represent New York’s 17th Congressional District, faced off in a heated debate on PIX11 Friday night.

The live 60-minute debate — the candidates’ final one before Election Day — took place at 7 p.m. It aired across multiple platforms, including WPIX 11.1, PIX11+, and PIX11.com.

New York’s 17th Congressional District includes northern Westchester County, Rockland and Putnam counties, as well as a small portion of southern Dutchess County.

The contentious Hudson Valley race is among the most closely watched in the nation. The outcome could impact the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lawler is leading Jones 49% to 44% in the race, according to a recent poll from PIX11, The Hill and Emerson College.

Lawler, a first-term congressman, has represented New York’s 17th Congressional District since 2023. He previously served in the New York State Assembly and has worked in political communications.

Jones, a lawyer who represented the 17th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, is looking to return to Congress after he briefly moved to New York City to run for the state’s 10th Congressional District but lost the Democratic primary.

Lawler has tried to cast Jones as a chameleon who will say and do what he needs to get elected. Jones has tried to cast doubt on Lawler’s moderate self-representations, pointing to his unwillingness to compromise when it counts and his staunch support for other, more conservative Republicans. 

Old pictures showing Lawler in blackface while portraying Michael Jackson at a college Halloween party in 2006 also surfaced a month before Election Day. Lawler said he was paying homage to his “musical hero” and meant no offense.

The race also features a third-party candidate who might play a spoiler to Jones. Anthony Frascone, a 70-year-old contractor, is running under the Working Families Party.

Frascone has been accused of being an undercover Republican “plant” trying to spoil the chances for Democrats to flip an important U.S. House seat. 

The Working Families Party said Frascone is a “fake” candidate — calling him a former Republican who was slipped into the low-turnout open primary to spoil Jones' chances. Frascone has denied the accusations.

This live blog has been archived.