Hi team,
I'm Mondaire Jones and I’m running to flip NY-17. In a moment, I’ll introduce myself more, but first, I have some exciting news to share: I’m running for Congress. If you’re fired up and ready to flip this district and take back the House majority, make a donation of $20 to Charles Booker and my campaign today.
Let me introduce myself and share why I’m running to represent the Hudson Valley in Congress.
Growing up poor, Black, and gay, I never saw anyone like me running for office, let alone the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, someone like me had never been elected to Congress—whether from the Hudson Valley or anywhere in America.
But I decided to run anyway—to be a voice for working families like my own. And with the help of our grassroots, people-powered movement, we shocked Washington’s political establishment and won.
I was proud to be part of the most productive Congress in modern history—rescuing the American economy during COVID, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors like my grandma, negotiating passage of the infrastructure law, creating millions of jobs, defending our democracy, and fighting for the freedom to have an abortion.
But despite this and the other progress we made, New York redistricting and political machinations pushed me out of Congress.
For the past few months, I have watched with the rest of America as the extreme MAGA Republican majority has passed policies that hurt everyday people. And they have rallied behind a twice-impeached, serially indicted criminal defendant, Donald Trump, who threatens to further undermine our democracy.
Right now, Mike Lawler represents my district after winning by only 1,820 votes. A career political operative, Lawler will say anything you want to hear, but do whatever Kevin McCarthy and the extreme MAGA Republicans tell him to do. He’s slick like the Big Oil industry he used to lobby for. And he must be defeated in order for Democrats to retake the House.
That’s why I'm not done fighting. I'm getting back in the ring.
Here’s the thing; I didn’t have it easy growing up. But it was the lessons I learned from my family and Hudson Valley neighbors that got me here today.
My grandfather was a janitor, and my grandmother cleaned homes. Mom struggled with mental illness, and we often relied on government assistance to put food on the table. But thanks to the support and encouragement I received from my family and Rockland community, I went from East Ramapo public schools to Harvard Law and the halls of Congress.
As a key player in the most productive Congress in history, the policies we enacted were personal to me. But there’s more work to do for the American people, including:
Our country is at a crossroads, and I refuse to sit on the sidelines.
We still need leaders in Congress for whom policy is personal — leaders committed to creating real opportunity for all.
Let's do this,
Mondaire
