‘FINISH THE WORK’

Ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones Launches Comeback Bid for New York House Seat

Mondaire Jones became one of the first two openly gay Black men in Congress when he won his seat in 2020, but he chose not to run for re-election over redistricting issues.

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) announced on Wednesday morning he will run for his old House seat in New York’s 17th District, entering what is expected to be a heated fray as Democratic candidates vie to unseat the Republican currently occupying the spot. “I’ve never been Washington’s choice,” Jones said in a campaign launch video that emphasized the “personal” nature of his bid. “It’s because I stand up to corruption. I battle with Republicans trying to overthrow our democracy and ban abortion, even as I push my party to fight harder for working people. I’m running to finish the work I began.” The 36-year-old lawyer became one of the first two openly gay Black men in Congress when he won his seat in 2020, but opted not to run for re-election after a chaotic redistricting placed him in the same election as former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, then the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Maloney went on to narrowly lose the race to Rep. Michael Lawler (R), who currently represents the 17th District. Jones instead ran in New York’s 10th District, but did advance beyond the primary.