New Square set to endorse Rep. Mike Lawler
Vulnerable GOP freshman to get boost from a key voting bloc in Hudson Valley district
Courtesy House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), center, met in June with Hasidic leaders in New Square and Monsey, N.Y., alongside local GOP Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), right. The group toured a synagogue under construction in New Square and participated in a roundtable discussion in Monsey.
A politically powerful Hasidic voting bloc in New York’s Hudson Valley is set to endorse Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), according to two people familiar with the matter, lending a last-minute boost to his campaign in the final stretch of a closely contested race.
The Hasidic village of New Square, home to some 3,000 votes that typically back candidates as a bloc, will throw its support behind Lawler, a vulnerable freshman Republican who is seeking a second term in his race against former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), sources informed of the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider on Thursday.
Lawler paid a visit to New Square on Thursday alongside House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) — where they met with Rabbi David Twersky, known as the Skverer rebbe, and other Jewish leaders, in an effort to lock up an endorsement that had been elusive last election cycle.
Even as he won strong backing from Orthodox communities during his first House race in 2022, Lawler lost the New Square endorsement to former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), thanks in large part to private lobbying from former President Bill Clinton and President Joe Biden.
In 2020, Jones, who is now seeking to reclaim his old House seat after running in a separate district in New York City last cycle, had notched backing from New Square, which has been seen as one of the only major Hasidic enclaves that could go either way in the election.
Earlier this week, the two top Democrats in Congress — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — also accompanied Jones to a sit-down with Twersky, in an 11-th hour overture to a key constituency that could help swing the race.
But local political insiders had expected that Lawler — whose district is one of the most heavily Jewish in the country — would win the village’s support as he seeks a second term, owing to his advantage as an incumbent, widely praised constituent services and ongoing efforts to court community leadership.
A spokesperson for Lawler’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, nor did a political adviser to Twersky.
The race is among a half-dozen competitive House matchups in New York that could tip the balance of power in Congress.