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Liz Whitmer Gereghty, the sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is suspending her campaign for New York's 17th Congressional District seat and will endorse former Rep. Mondaire Jones for the Democratic nomination for that seat, her campaign announed Wednesday.
"When we started this journey, we had one goal: to ensure the Hudson Valley was no longer represented by an anti-choice, shape-shifting extremist out of step with our values," she said in a statement. "That remains the most important goal. However, as of today, I will suspend my campaign for this seat."
The Democrat launched a campaign back in May for the New York congressional seat that narrowly flipped to Republican control last year and is expected to be one of the country's most competitive contests in 2024. Jones' own bid for his old seat meant a potential bitter primary fight for the office.
"I remain committed to doing everything possible to elect Democrats across the board in 2024, especially here in NY-17," Whitmer Gereghty said. "Uniting our party and focusing our resources on taking back the House is critical to fighting back against the radical extremeism plaguing our politics. In that spirit, I endorse Mondaire Jones' campaign for Congress."
Jones was elected to the former 17th District in 2020, which is now made up of Putnam and Rockland counties, as well as a sliver of Dutchess County and a much larger chunk of Westchester County. After New York’s messy redistricting process last year, Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, then the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, opted to run in the new 17th District rather than seek re-election in the 18th District that he had represented for 10 years.
Rather than challenge Maloney, Jones decided to run in New York's 10th District and ultimately lost that Democratic primary to Dan Goldman. Maloney ultimately lost the general election in November to Republican Mike Lawler.
"I’m honored to have Liz’s endorsement and ready to work together to defeat Mike Lawler, who masquerades as a moderate on television but votes like an extreme MAGA Republican," Jones wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.
Jones still faces a Democratic opponent in MaryAnn Carr, the former chair of the Bedford Democratic Committee and first vice-chair of the Westchester County Democratic Committee.
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