Control of both chambers of Congress is on the line as Americans head to the polls on Tuesday. Among the key House races in the headlines is New York's 17th Congressional District in the lower Hudson Valley. After four decades of Democrats representing the district, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler won the seat in 2022 and retained it in 2024. He faces a challenge this year from Democrat Cait Conley.
WAMC's Lower Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Elias Guerra spoke with Conley ahead of Election Day about the campaign and her priorities and plans if elected. They started with why Conley entered the race in the first place.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Conley: I'm running for Congress for the same reasons that I joined the military after 9/11 — that I believe we have a responsibility to serve our communities and our country. And right now, America just isn't working for working people. I see the struggle all across this district, and it's because we've seen corrupt Washington politicians leave families like mine behind, where they're more focused on their next re-election than the next generation, and we see that with the policies that they pursue, and [U.S. Rep.] Mike Lawler is the most egregious of them all. You know, this man tries to spin this web of lies, portraying himself as some moderate, but he votes with [President] Donald Trump 100% of the time, even when it harms Hudson Valley families in our country. You know, he voted eight times for the reckless Trump tariffs that have jacked up costs for the average household here in the Hudson Valley by $4,200; he voted six times for this reckless war of choice against Iran — something that is costing us not just in brave service member lives lost and a degradation of our military readiness, but every family at the gas pump, and with grocery prices as the cost of goods goes up and puts more pressure on our small businesses, and also this winter, look, our district relies a lot on heating oil, and we're seeing those prices skyrocket. So all of these things, where Mike Lawler has chosen to do Donald Trump's bidding over fighting for families here, shows that he's unfit to hold this office, and that people and families here in the Hudson Valley deserve a patriot and public servant, not a puppet.
Guerra: And if you were to win tomorrow [Tuesday], you know what is your first priority in office?
Conley: When Democrats take back the House, we have to, have to, have to focus on actually lowering costs for working families all across America. We have to do things to deliver on lowering the price of groceries and gas, and making sure that families who are doing everything right, that that's enough, right? And so, I think a big part of this is we have to undo the harm of Trump's reckless tariffs that have driven up the price on everything from gas to groceries to prescriptions to housing construction material. We've got to undo the cuts that he's done by restoring funding to Medicaid and the premium tax credits to make sure that families can afford healthcare. We also need to rein in big pharma and the monopoly utility companies that are absolutely just ringing people for more and more money as they're making record-breaking profits. So we've got to have greater government oversight and accountability. I think it's time that we prohibit monopoly utility companies from doing things like passing off unnecessary costs, like their lobbying fees that Mike Lawler, as a former oil and gas lobbyist, used to get paid from, and things like corporate jets. Those shouldn't be passed off to the ratepayers. But the second thing we have to do, in addition to lowering costs, is rooting out the corruption, because so much of this corruption is actually driving up costs, and so they're actually related, and that's where I believe it is beyond time that we ban stock trading, not just for members of Congress but the White House and political appointees, so they're focused on what's in the best interest of the American people and not their stock portfolios, and I believe in term limits. Look, we've got to get elected officials who are focused on, again, the next generation and not their next election, and we're seeing right now how politicians don't care about the people, and the people are paying the price.
Guerra: And, you know, bringing up one of the hot topics, you know, our conversation topics going on today. Your website talks about restoring accountability to [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] by requiring body cameras and prohibiting masks. And in the past, both parties have relied on ICE. Can you tell us how you would restore accountability?
Conley: Yeah. So, you know, I did four years at [U.S. Military Academy] West Point, then 16 more years on active duty. I started my military career as a military police officer. I know the importance of law enforcement and keeping our communities safe, and I do support criminal coordination of law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels. Again, to keep our families and communities safe. And I do believe that we need border security. That is part of national security, and that we need to have immigration enforcement to make sure that, you know, violent criminals and drug cartels and human traffickers and terrorist organizations aren't here in our communities. But what we are seeing with this administration, with an agency that is ICE that has unqualified federal agents that are conducting themselves in ways that we would never accept for our local law enforcement. You know, just a few weeks ago here in New York, we had an ICE agent fire into a car where there was a five-year-old child. That type of conduct isn't allowed by soldiers in a war zone. It certainly shouldn't be happening here on the streets of America. And this is what I mean, where the recklessness and incompetence of these agents who are rushed through and hired is literally presenting a public safety threat to our communities, and we've got to rein this in. They're not going after the violent criminals and the drug cartels. They're going after nurses and grandmas, and this is just not what it's supposed to be about. I do believe we need to rein in ICE, and that they should have the same standards that we expect of our local law enforcement. You know, to wear body cameras, to not wear masks, to have visible uniforms on with identification, and when they break the law, they too should be held accountable. But what Mike Lawler and this administration has done is given them a complete blank check with zero accountability, and I think that's wrong.
Guerra: And you mentioned local collaboration between federal and local law enforcement. Would that mean that you would be not in favor of the state law banning collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE?
Conley: So they're two very different things. The 287(g) agreements that I do not support would essentially use local taxpayer dollars that are used for local law enforcement and task our local law enforcement with doing the federal government's job with immigration enforcement. I believe our local law enforcement should be focused on keeping our local communities safe and doing their job, not the federal government's. That's why we pay taxes. They should be doing that. Now, when it comes to criminal coordination, that already happens, and that continues to happen, and those are two very separate things that my opponent tries to mislead people with conflating.
Guerra: Understood. And we've seen each other in Orangetown for meetings about data centers, and you've spoken in support of [New York Gov.] Kathy Hochul's one-year pause on data centers. If you were in Congress, what would your approach be to building or stopping data centers locally and nationally?
Conley: I support a moratorium because right now we're watching as local communities are being exploited by these data center developers. And we've seen that happen right here in my congressional district, where in just one town, one single town, we've had five data centers built, with three more on the way, all on Mike Lawler's watch. He was the deputy town supervisor there, you know. And he last year, Mike Lawler, called Rockland County the destination for data centers. I'm quoting him there. And so we have seen how Mike Lawler has advocated for data center developers. And the one big ugly bill [One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025], he voted to give data center developers $80 billion in tax breaks. With Elon Musk, you know, his largest benefactor, who spent more money in the 2024 election cycle on Michael Lawler than any other politician except for Donald Trump, you see how Mike Lawler is doing the bidding of Elon and that industry, and it's wrong. I think if data centers are being built, they very clearly need to meet two thresholds. One, the local community has to support it, and two, they must be built in such a way where it is a net positive for that community. That means that they're not passing utility bills off to the local families. They're not hurting the environment. They're not exploiting the community, and I think those responsible measures must be the standard. And right now, they are not.
Guerra: And as you brought up, you know, your opponent, Congressman Mike Lawler, has supported the One Big Beautiful Bill, which makes historic cuts to Medicaid, and he has argued that this was done to protect Medicaid. Can you explain what would your approach be to healthcare and government-supported healthcare like Medicaid if you were elected?
Conley: Yeah, Mike Lawler tries to hide the harm he has done to Hudson Valley families, but we're not going to let him. He was the deciding vote on the one big ugly bill [One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025], something that, with the record-breaking Medicaid cuts and the ending of the premium tax credits, has kicked nearly half a million New Yorkers off of healthcare, to include tens of 1000s of people right here in our district. And instead of fighting for us, instead of fighting against the health insurance companies to lower premiums, which on his watch have gone up 60%, and we're looking at more increases next year. He's done nothing to rein in the big pharma or monopoly health insurance companies, but he has had time to take nearly half a million dollars in money from them for his campaigns, nearly half a million dollars from big pharma and the insurance industry. That's what's fueling Mike Lawler's campaign. So it's not surprising that he doesn't actually care about the people and access to quality, affordable healthcare. That has to change. We do need to rein in big pharma. We need to ensure that we're putting pressure on these health insurance companies to lower premiums because right now, well, I've got families in this district paying more for healthcare than their mortgage every month. That's wrong.
Guerra: And this year, the Trump administration cut Temporary Protected Status for half a million Haitians living in the United States. And in Spring Valley, in Rockland County, is home to one of the biggest Haitian communities in America. And one community organizer recently told me it is basically a war zone; as you know, hundreds of Haitians have lost work authorization. What would your approach to TPS be?
Conley: Yeah, it's very important for people to understand that it is the Republican executive branch, Donald Trump, and a Republican-controlled Congress that has ended TPS status for our Haitian community. This was not necessary. This was something that Donald Trump deliberately pursued, and let's be real, out of racist reasons. And instead of Congress standing up and fighting for our Haitian community and delivering, they have not passed an extension of Haitian TPS status. Republicans are leaving our Haitian community out to dry, a community that nearly a third of provides critical employment in our healthcare system, whether it's hospital admins or nurses. These are the people taking care of our families and have made our communities stronger and better. They're out there working in nursing homes, in care homes, and in hospitals, going to people's homes, and we're seeing a reduction in the quality of healthcare because of it too in our communities. And so these were people again who are here legally under TPS status, paying taxes, doing everything right in these critical fields, and this administration and Mike Lawler allowed it to happen, did nothing to protect them, and it's just wrong. Haiti is not a place that they can return to safely. We advise against travel there, but yet this administration and a loyal Congress is going to force these people out of our communities when we need them, and to go back to that danger. It's just straight up cruel. It's wrong, and that's again another issue that shows who Mike Lawler really is. He doesn't care about our community. He's more concerned about Donald Trump giving him tens of millions of dollars for his campaign.
Guerra: You know, at a time when [the] artificial intelligence industry is making headlines, you know, people are worried about its growth and how it's regulated. Your opponent has criticized your past employment in the industry with the company's Primer and Hidden Level. What are your thoughts on the state of AI and the discussion around it? And what would you say to voters who are concerned about your connections to the industry?
Conley: Yeah, thank you very much for this question because my opponent tries to lie and misrepresent what I've done to keep this country safe to further his own political ambition, and I think it's just fundamentally wrong. Look, the work that I've done is to make sure that our soldiers overseas have the best capabilities possible to keep themselves safe. You know, like developing drone detection systems in a time where drone warfare is the biggest threat, to make sure that they can protect themselves. Technology that we can use at stadiums to make sure a terrorist group can't drop a bomb, or at airports to make sure that a drone and an airplane don't collide and kill people. Like, these are important things that we should be making progress on. But instead, my opponent wants to attack things and not actually own up to what he has done. Mike Lawler and the one big ugly bill [One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025] in the version he voted for voted to not allow states to regulate AI for a decade, a decade. While Congress, controlled by Republicans, does absolutely nothing to rein it in, I do believe the federal government has a role to ensure the safety and security of the people, and that means regulating AI, a technology we cannot afford to get wrong. Look, we've screwed up with social media, and children are literally paying the consequence. We're seeing it weaponized to conduct criminal activity, weaponized by our foreign adversaries. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes with social media with AI, and with that, I do believe that it is important to have people in Congress who understand national security technology to make sure that these companies, just looking out for their bottom lines, don't manipulate Congress. Because right now, Congress is not doing its damn job and standing up for the people. And so, Elon Musk, one of the biggest names in AI, is all in on Mike Lawler, and there's a reason, because Mike Lawler is doing his bidding, and we have seen Mike Lawler take hundreds of thousands of dollars from big tech in these campaigns, and then turn around and do things like voting for a ... ban on states regulating AI. We just we know who he is, we know who he's fighting for, and that's his billionaire backers, Elon Musk, not for the people, and that is another reason why we need to change who's in Congress.
