Trailblazing Rep. Mondaire Jones fumes at Democratic heavyweight Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in NY redistricting battle
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) lashed out Tuesday at Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) after Maloney set up a potential primary battle between the two incumbents forced by redistricting shifts.
Jones, a trailblazing gay Black progressive, called out Maloney for choosing to run in a newly created district that mostly encompasses Jones’ previous turf in New York City’s northern suburbs.
“Sean Patrick Maloney did not even give me a heads up before he went on Twitter to make that announcement,” Jones said. “And I think that tells you everything you need know about Sean Patrick Maloney.”
Maloney, who is chair of the powerful Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, countered that he is simply running in the district where his home is located and denied any feud with Jones.
“I’m just running where ... I landed,” Maloney said. “If someone else is looking at the district as well, obviously we’ll try to work through that as colleagues and friends.”
The progressive-leaning Working Families Party quickly endorsed Jones and rebuked Maloney for taking on “an exceptional leader.”
“We strongly urge Rep. Maloney to take a different path and look forward to supporting Rep. Jones’s re-election bid in (NY-17),” said Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the New York Working Families Party.
Maloney is correct that his Putnam County home sits in the new 17th District that is part of the new map drawn by a special master after courts struck down a previous map drawn by legislative Democrats.
It's map mayhem as redistricting spawns chaos for NY Dems
But the vast majority of his old district lies in the new 18th district that stretches up into the Hudson Valley. By choosing to run in the 17th, Maloney could be setting up a nasty primary fight with Jones, whose political home base lies in that Westchester County-based district.
A racially tinged establishment vs. progressive feud in a potential swing seat would appear to be the last thing Democrats need as they mount an uphill struggle to keep control of Congress.
The fight is even more damaging because Maloney runs the arm of the Democratic Party that is charged with winning as many seats as possible. Now he faces a potential tough primary scrap against a progressive opponent followed by a tricky general election fight in November.
“It’s important that we all remember that this is up to the voters, not to any of us,” Maloney said. “And ultimately the voters will make these choices.”
The pair are not the only Democrats facing a so-called “double-bunk” primary with other incumbents if the map gets final approval as expected.
Liberal titans Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) look to be locked in a fight for a new heavily Democratic district spanning the Upper West Side and Upper East Side of Manhattan.
With Denis Slattery
