There is a candidate pileup in the lower Hudson Valley. 

Six candidates already have jumped into the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District, guaranteeing a crowded race for the right to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler in November of next year.

The district stretches from Rockland County west of the Hudson River to Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties east of the river. It is top target for Democrats as they seek to flip the House of Representatives – in part because it is one of only three districts represented by a Republican that Democrat Kamala Harris won in 2024, according to an analysis by Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

The candidates range from a former FBI agent and a combat veteran to nonprofit leaders and elected officials. For many, it is their first time running for office. 

Despite the diversity of their backgrounds, the candidates all share a priority — vowing to make things more affordable in the region, especially housing. 

They also agree that, if elected, they could help provide a check on President Donald Trump — an area where, many were quick to argue, they think Lawler is falling short. 

What follows, in alphabetical order, are the named candidates so far, including full-length introductory interviews with each of them. 

Cait Conley

Cait Conley, who has never run for elected office before, served 16 years as an active duty Army officer.

“I did six tours overseas to combat zones like Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen. And I went there because I believe that what we have is so precious and so important,” she said.

She served as the director of counterterrorism on the National Security Council — a role, she notes, that got her banned from Russia — and also worked for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

In an interview, she railed against President Trump’s tariff policies and the “economic turmoil” they have caused. She also criticized his handling of immigration, saying, “there is a reason why we have due process and a rule of law, and that is who we are as a nation, and we need to stick to that,” she said.

She points to improving the economy and affordability as a top priority.

“For the first time, the economic prospects of future generations are worse than ours or that of our parents, and that should be unacceptable in America,” she said.

Beth Davidson

Beth Davidson is a Rockland County legislator and former member of the Nyack Board of Education. 

“After the last two elections, we've seen that not just any Democrat can run and win here,” she said in an interview. 

Davidson, who has lived in the Hudson Valley for more than 20 years, said her goals in office include protecting Medicaid, pushing back on Trump’s tariffs, promoting gun safety, and resisting the Environmental Protection Agency’s rollback of restrictions on forever chemicals, or PFAS.

“I think we know what we can expect with two more years of Mike Lawler, which is why Democrats have to take back the House and cut Donald Trump's presidency in half in terms of the legislative agenda,” she said.

Effie Phillips-Staley

Effie Phillips-Staley is a trustee for the village of Tarrytown. She has experience in the nonprofit sector, including with the Hispanic Federation in New York City and the Foundation for Public Schools of the Tarrytowns. 

Phillips-Staley calls herself a progressive, saying, “what that means to me is that everything I do is fundamentally people-centered and that government has to return to being people-centered, which in this moment, it isn’t.”

She lists improving housing affordability as one of her top priorities. 

“My kids in local schools have friends moving away right and left because they can't afford the rent. Families can’t afford to buy,” she said.

In an interview, she criticized Trump’s immigration policies, saying the most "appalling" aspect is the “degree to which all of our civil rights are being sort of dismantled by the erosion of due process.”

Jessica Reinmann

Jessica Reinmann started the organization 914Cares to fight poverty in Westchester County. 

“I have been working in all of the communities, with school districts and health care centers and fire departments and police departments and daycare centers, and I have a really good understanding of what the community needs,” she said. 

This is her first time running for public office. 

She says her top priorities include securing democracy, improving affordability and advancing gun safety. 

“We need to lower the cost of prescription drugs. We need to figure out how to build more houses in the Hudson Valley. We need to figure out how to provide better health care in the Hudson Valley,” she said. 

Asked what she learned from former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones’ failed 2024 bid to unseat Lawler, Reinmann said, “We need to be at every event, at every grand opening. We really need the people of this district to know that we care about them and we need to play offense.” 

Mike Sacks

Mike Sacks is a former journalist, who worked for outlets including Fox 5 in New York and The Huffington Post. 

He argues Democrats are not currently meeting the moment politically.

“I'm running to build a new House that serves the people, not the billionaires,” he said. 

This is his first time running for public office. 

He says Democrats must “strengthen” voting rights, secure the social safety net, “restore reproductive freedom,” and offer a “vision” for what the country can be. 

He argues Lawler is falling short in standing up to Trump. 

“Lawler thinks the people in this district are stupid. He thinks he can continue to play moderate up here while voting MAGA down there,” he said, referring to Washington, D.C.

John Sullivan

John Sullivan is a former intelligence analyst with the FBI, who argues his background would undermine any attempt by Lawler to cast Democrats as soft on law enforcement and national security. 

“I've been in the tunnels of Gaza. I've had the Iron Dome intercept missiles above my head,” he said.

Sullivan left the government at the beginning of April, but said that before departing, he was able to witness firsthand the early impact Trump’s return to office had on the intelligence community, saying you could see things internally start to “fracture.” 

He argues Lawler has done “everything possible” to stay in Trump’s good graces. 

“He's really masquerading as a moderate while he's trying to do everything possible to support the MAGA agenda,” he said.

Lawler camp responds

A spokesperson for the Lawler campaign likened the large field of Democrats to a “clown car.”

In a statement, campaign spokesman Chris Russell said, “Congressman Lawler has consistently been recognized as one of the most bipartisan and effective representatives in Washington - willing to take on his party and always fight for what he believes is right.”

“On the other hand,” he continued, “this increasingly crowded clown car of candidates will spend the next year stepping all over each other to see who’s the most radical and extreme of the bunch. I say the more the merrier, and encourage Hudson Valley voters to pay attention to every crazy thing they say and do.”