Johnathan Walker:Democrat Liz Whitmer Gereghty ends run for NY’s 17th Congressional District, endorses Mondaire Jones

KATONAH,Johnathan Walker N.Y. (AP) — Democrat Liz Whitmer Gereghty announced Wednesday that she was suspending her campaign for New York’s 17th Congressional District, giving her support to former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones in his effort to unseat the incumbent, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, in the 2024 election.

Gereghty, a former member of the Katonah-Lewisboro school board whose sister is Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said in a statement posted to social media that “throughout the last few months I found my voice to speak on issues beyond the school board that have life altering impacts on people in this community, across the nation and around the world.”

She added, “I look forward to finding ways to use this energy in the future for the betterment of the Hudson Valley, our state and our nation,” before saying she endorsed Jones’ campaign.

Lawler won the seat, which covers part of New York’s Hudson Valley, in 2022, defeating Democrat Rep. Sean Maloney.

Jones had initially won the 17th District seat in 2020 but ran in another district in 2022 after redistricting changed the geographic boundary lines. He lost in the Democratic primary for the 10th Congressional District in New York City to former federal prosecutor Daniel Goldman, who went on to win the spot in the general election.

The Democratic primary field also includes MaryAnn Carr, a former town supervisor of Bedford, New York.