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Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., faced off against his Democrat opponent Cait Conley on Wednesday night in a one-hour debate filled with interruptions and fiery accusations less than three weeks before Election Day.
Lawler is vying for a third term representing New York’s 17th Congressional District, a politically moderate area in the New York City suburbs that could decide the fate of who controls the House of Representatives for the final years of President Donald Trump’s term.
Lawler called out Conley for misrepresenting his voting record, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and her own stance on immigration enforcement. Conley, meanwhile, tried to paint Lawler as a Trump acolyte who put the needs of Washington Republicans ahead of the people of his district.
Their most heated clashes came on the immigration front, when the moderator referenced the recent shooting of an illegal immigrant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week in New York City, while the man’s 5-year-old child was in the car.
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The race between GOP Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat veteran Cait Conley could decide the fate of the House of Representatives for the next two years. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“I believe that border security is national security, and that we do need immigration enforcement to ensure that violent criminals and drug cartels and human traffickers and terrorist organizations aren’t in our communities, and that they are deported,” Conley said.
“But what we are seeing right now with the conduct of ICE is posing a public safety hazard. To your point, last week, they shot into a car where there was a five-year-old child. I’ll tell you, as a law enforcement officer, you’re not permitted to do that kind of stuff.”
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Lawler, however, pointed out the man has a lengthy criminal rap sheet and was seen by some as a danger to his community. He also argued the shooting would never had happened had local law enforcement not been barred from handing him over to ICE by New York’s sanctuary laws.
He said Conley “supports making New York a sanctuary state, prohibits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.”
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Lawler later pivoted the discussion to Sheridan Gorman, the college student from his district who was killed while out with her friends near her campus in Chicago earlier this year. The illegal immigrant accused of killing her was previously charged with shoplifting, but Chicago sanctuary laws prevent local law enforcement from handing him over to ICE.
Police tape cordons off a street in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx after a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents last week. (WCBS)
Conley called Gorman’s death “an atrocious crime” while repeatedly pointing out it took place in Chicago.
Lawler attempted to intervene multiple times to call it “preventable,” to which an irate Conley responded, “Can I finish?”
“And I do support federal agents and federal law enforcement, federal immigration enforcement, making sure that we deport violent citizens,” she said.
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Lawler then argued, however, that Conley supporting sanctuary policies runs antithesis to that.
“If you think he should have been deported when he was arrested for shoplifting, he should have been turned over to ICE, under the new law that you support, he will not be turned over ICE and he will be released under cashless bail,” Lawler said.
It prompted the moderator to step in, telling Lawler there was no “cross-examination round.”
Elsewhere in the debate, Lawler accused Conley of having “literally just lied” that he voted with Trump “100 percent of the time.”
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“I’ve been rated the third most independent member of my conference. And I have taken on the president on numerous issues, including lifting the cap on SALT, including extending Haitian TPS, including passing an extension for the ACA enhanced premium tax credit despite his objections,” Lawler listed, among other issues.
Earlier in the debate, Conley tried to accuse Lawler of supporting tax breaks for companies that build data centers as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Sheridan Gorman and her father, Tom Gorman, in a family photo. (Gorman Family/Fox News)
Lawler shot back, “I know you just moved here from Virginia, so it’s hard for you to understand the local communities, but the fact is … the provision you referenced in the Working Families Tax Cut Act is $80 billion for 100% expensing for every business in America to expense plant, property and equipment.
“Are you against our small businesses in the Hudson Valley being able to expense their plant, property and equipment and hire more people? Your attack on that is rings hollow. You clearly don’t understand what’s actually in the tax bill. And part of the problem is you don’t pay property taxes.”
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But amid the drama were moments of civility, as well.
Both candidates shook hands after their spirited debate and thanked each other for appearing. Lawler also thanked Conley for her military service.
The district is a pivotal one for control of the House next year. Lawler is one of three House Republicans who won a district that former Vice President Kamala Harris also won in 2024. And in an election that’s expected to be brutal for the GOP, both sides are pouring millions of dollars into the fight.