Press Releases

Pearl River, NY - 2/7/2025… Tonight, in light of New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins introducing legislation to radically alter election law, Reps. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Nick Langworthy (NY-23), and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting a racketeering investigation into New York State Democratic Leadership. Kathy Hochul, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Hakeem Jeffries’ efforts to alter New York election law to delay the special election for New York’s 21st Congressional District following Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is a clear and apparent scheme to subvert the will of the voters of the 21st District and deny them representation in Congress.

In the letter, Lawler and his colleagues said, “Any delay or postponement in calling a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives is not just undemocratic, but it is unconstitutional as well. This is as corrupt a state as you’ll find and the latest in a trend of other failed efforts regarding New York’s elections in recent years, such as the unconstitutional attempts to gerrymander New York’s congressional districts.”

Lawler and his colleagues continued, “Even New York’s state courts have said there should be no delay in calling special elections to fill vacancies in public office.  As recently as 2009, the New York State Court of Appeals held that when a vacancy in office occurs, it must be filled by election in the “shortest space of time reasonably possible.”

They concluded, “Further, a New York Times article released this week details Minority Leader Jeffries’ incitement of this unconstitutional scheme. The Times cites two sources who said Jeffries is ‘pushing for a longer timeline to keep the seat vacant as long as possible.’ The article also acknowledges that this scheme was cooked up by private phone calls and a high-level lunch meeting at a steakhouse in Manhattan. This is textbook racketeering and certainly demands investigation as a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.”

“Shame on Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul for conspiring to deny residents of New York’s 21st Congressional District representation,” said Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17). “This blatantly corrupt power grab reeks of racketeering and internationally subverts the will of voters in the North Country.”

“Kathy Hochul and Hakeem Jeffries should be ashamed of themselves, if they were capable of having any shame to begin with,” concluded Lawler. “It’s no surprise why one of them will never become Speaker, while the other won’t be Governor for much longer.” 

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.