Ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones to run for old House seat to topple incumbent Republican Mike Lawler

Ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones is expected to announce a bid to win back his old congressional seat won by first-term Republican Republican Mike Lawler last year, sources said Wednesday.

Jones has played it coy about making a comeback in the 17th Congressional District that takes in Rockland County and parts of Westchester County.

But a top Democratic leader in the district publicly went on the record to confirm what other sources said has been an open secret.

“Yes, I do expect him to enter the CD17 race,” Westchester County Democratic Party Chairwoman Suzanne Berger told The Post Wednesday.

“And yes, Congressmember Jones is highly regarded by Westchester’s voters and will start with many of the benefits usually bestowed on an incumbent,” she added.

Jones’ return to the district is sure to raise eyebrows.

Following redistricting, Jones opted to run in the Tenth Congressional District covering lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn — to avoid running a primary against ex-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.

Maloney, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, lost to Lawler.

Meanwhile, Jones lost in the primary to Rep. Dan Goldman.

Then Jones was criticized for closing his Hudson Valley district offices before his term expired, referring constituents to Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand’s offices.

“Once he lost the primary he checked out,” said one Rockland Democratic operative. 

“It may be challenging for Mondaire to remember, but rest assured, my friends and family do. He can even try to run away from his progressive record and assume voters won’t notice, but they will. Mondaire has left us high and dry too often for us to be fooled again.”

Lawler’s campaign said Jones is out of sync with the district and is ready for a challenge.

“Mondaire Jones’ campaign-to-be is the worst-kept secret in NY politics. What’s not a secret at all, though, are his far-left views on defunding the police and cashless bail, being endorsed by AOC and ‘the squad’, abandoning the people of this district in 2022 in a desperate attempt to cling to power, and being a hyper-partisan rubber stamp for his party,” said Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russell.

“Congressman Lawler will continue to focus on his job as a bipartisan problem solver and common sense voice in Washington. That’s what his constituents want and appreciate,” the Lawler rep added.

Jones, who now resides in Tarrytown, was seen at a Juneteenth event on Saturday in Haverstraw in Rockland County, sources said.

He told people there he assembled a campaign team but had not made an announcement and was looking to make one soon.

Jones had no immediate comment.

The ex-Rep Jones would have to win a primary first to face off against Lawler.

Bedford resident Elizabeth Geraghty,  the sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who serves on the Katonah-Lewisboro Board of Education, has thrown her hat in the ring, as has Bedford councilwoman and supervisor MaryAnn Carr, according to The Examiner News, a Hudson Valley media outlet, which also reported that Jones was running.

Politico first reported earlier this month that Jones was assembling a campaign team to help position him as more moderate than aligned with the left wing of the Democratic Party.