As he contemplates a run for governor next year, Representative Mike Lawler of New York was already sparring with one potential Democratic opponent, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Now, he is about to get one for his current seat, too.
Beth Davidson, a well-connected Democratic legislator from Rockland County, will become the first serious candidate to jump into the race for Mr. Lawler’s suburban New York City swing seat on Tuesday.
The race in New York’s 17th District, just north of the city, promises to be among the most fiercely and expensively contested in the country in the 2026 midterms. Its outcome will help decide control of the narrowly divided House, and the fate of President Trump’s legislative agenda.
In an interview before her announcement, Ms. Davidson said flatly that her party “missed the mark” in 2024, when Mr. Lawler won the center-left district handily. But she came out swinging against the second-term congressman and the Republicans in control of Washington for what she characterized as prioritizing the needs of the wealthy over Mr. Lawler’s constituents.
She cited the broad portfolio and access given to Elon Musk, whose political action committee spent at least $1.7 million boosting Mr. Lawler’s last campaign, as particularly troubling.
“Right now we are watching an unelected billionaire run roughshod over the Constitution, raid our government and hurt federal workers,” Ms. Davidson said.
“I certainly don’t see Mike Lawler standing up for us on any of these issues,” she added.
Ms. Davidson could be a thorn in Mr. Lawler’s side during the highest-stakes, and most politically fraught, moment of his career.
The rising Republican star is expected to decide in the coming months whether to seek a third term in the House or pursue a challenge against Ms. Hochul, the state’s unpopular governor. To win either race, Mr. Lawler needs to maintain his moderate image. But he cannot afford to alienate President Trump, either, whose agenda rests on a narrowly divided House where Mr. Lawler’s vote could be decisive.
Ms. Davidson, for her part, will likely face a Democratic primary fight. Other potential candidates include Effie Phillips-Staley, an arts executive who serves as a town trustee in Westchester County; and Neal Zuckerman, a U.S. Army veteran and management consultant who serves on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
But Ms. Davidson has a head start. Her advisers include Ms. Hochul’s communications consultant and a polling firm that worked for former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. She plans to role out a slate of endorsements from Rockland County officials on Tuesday.
A Jewish mother of two, cancer survivor and local legislator with a bipartisan record, Ms. Davidson, 52, intends to put her biography at the center of the campaign.
In the interview, she said that her party needed to continue fighting to protect abortion rights and to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction — issues that dominated 2024 campaigns in New York.
But she said she entered the race because neither Republicans nor Democrats were doing enough to address the rising costs that were pinching suburban families like hers at the grocery store and in housing and health care.
“We pay among the highest taxes in the country, and people don’t feel as safe here as they once did,” she said. “Housing prices are out of control and families not only can’t afford to buy homes here, but those who own one have no confidence their kids will be able to.”
She added: “Democrats missed the mark across the country in recognizing why people were anxious.” (She avoided directly criticizing Mondaire Jones, an ally and the party’s failed nominee for the 17th District in November.)
Ms. Davidson said that she opposed New York City’s new congestion pricing plan, which Mr. Lawler has savaged. She calls it an “unfair tax” on suburban commuters.
She said she supported efforts to “secure the border, deport violent criminals and stop putting decades of failed policy on the backs of voters in the Hudson Valley.” Asked if she supported the so-called sanctuary laws adopted by liberal local governments, though, she declined to answer.
