Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley clashed over immigration enforcement, data centers and President Donald Trump's tariffs in the first televised debate of their hotly contested race with five weeks to go before the election.
The candidates faced off for more than an hour in News 12's Long Island studio on Monday, Sept. 28, fielding questions from moderator Tara Rosenblum and guests on topics that ranged from lowering household costs to U.S. military aid for Israel and soaring college costs. It was recorded in the afternoon and was set to air at 8 p.m.
The sharpest exchanges came late in the debate as the two wielded their campaign attack lines against one another. Conley accused Lawler of voting 100% of the time
in tandem with Trump's wishes, which Lawler hotly denied. He, in turn, called her "bought and paid for" by the artificial intelligence industry, prompting a heated response and counter- charge from Conley.
"If he cares so much about the health care of our families, of people in our district, then he would not have voted 100% of the time for Donald Trump's agenda," Conley said during an answer about mental health care.
Lawler shot back: "No matter how many times you say '100% of the time,' it's provably false."
The second-term incumbent and Army combat veteran are nearing the home stretch of their battle for New York's 17th Congressional District, a Hudson Valley swing seat that will help decide which party wins control of the House in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Mail voting is already under way and polls open for nine days of early voting on Oct. 24.
Sparring over household costs
Each placed blame for rising living costs at different levels of government and offered different ideas for addressing the problem.
Conley pointed to a Republican-controlled Washington, saying Trump's "reckless" tariffs had worsened the housing crisis by driving up the cost of construction materials. She raised, as one solution, her proposal to offer home loans to police, teachers, nurses and others in public service, modeled on an existing programs for veterans that helped her get her first home.
Lawler blamed a Democratic-controlled Albany for New York's high costs, particularly its taxes and utility rates. He touted steps in Washington to alleviate the strain: federal tax cuts enacted last year by Republicans in Congress and Trump; a bipartisan housing bill that became law in July without Trump's signature; and plans to speed permits for new energy production.
Conley went after Lawler for repeatedly voting in support of Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign imports. Lawler called them a valuable tool to achieve fair trade policies.
Both called for more energy sources but not necessarily the same kinds. Lawler advocated an "all of the above" approach — including more gas extraction — while Conley argued for "investing in cleaner, smarter and more efficient forms of energy."
She took aim at the Trump administration for killing a major offshore wind project near Long Island.
"That would have powered 1.2 million homes, and instead they would rather use nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay a foreign company to stop development," she said.
Lawler blasted New York for forcing the closure of Indian Point nuclear plant in 2021, saying that major power loss helped drive up electricity bills. He repeated his past calls to rebuild a nuclear plant at the same Westchester County site where the Indian Point reactors are being decommissioned.
"Unfortunately, in my opponent's answer, at no point did she say what she would actually do to increase supply," he said.
Clash over immigrant crackdown, NY's new ICE restraints
One question was posed by Tom and Jessica Gorman, the Westchester County couple whose daughter, Sheridan, was shot to death in Chicago in March by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. The Gormans, who have become vocal critics of lax immigration and policing policies, asked the candidates if they supported new enforcement constraints New York set this year and if they would back a bill to let the federal government override states on such measures.
Conley told the Gormans her heart "absolutely breaks" for what happened to their daughter and that "government failed" in that case. She also voiced support for immigration enforcement that targets violent criminals, drug cartels and others, before pivoting to say the Trump administration's crackdown has strayed far beyond that.
"What we're seeing is, they're rounding up people like grandmas and nurses, people of our communities," she said.
Lawler accused Conley of dodging the question and lodged strong opposition to New York's law and support for a federal law to "end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country." He accused Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration of refusing to turn over people with serious criminal records to immigration authorities.
"I refuse to allow that in this state and in this country, and I will oppose it with every fiber of my being," he said.
Mixing it up on A.I. data centers
A question about regulating artificial intelligence turned into a springboard for Lawler and Conley to reprise their dueling claims on A.I. and the increasingly controversial data centers that serve the industry.
Lawler dubbed Conley "the A.I. candidate," since she has done consulting work for two tech companies — one of which specializes in artificial intelligence — since leaving the Biden administration, where she held national security posts. He chided her for declining to detail the nature of her work due to non-disclosure agreements with the firms.
"You have a no-show gig by these A.I. companies, you're doing their bidding, and now you want to go to Congress to regulate it."
Conley fired back that five data centers were built in Rockland County "on Mike Lawler's watch," and pointed to what she said was a huge financial boost for data center developers in the giant package of tax and spending cuts that Lawler and fellow Republicans enacted last year. She said it would yield $80 billion in tax breaks for them.
"This is not a guy who's actually going to follow through on anything he says," she said. "He's looking out for himself. He's making hundreds of thousands of dollars in big tech donations."
Shared support for Israel
Several areas of agreement emerged. Both supported capping interest rates on college loans. Both supported eliminating the "congestion pricing" toll for drivers in Manhattan.
And both also voiced strong support for Israel and condemnation of antisemitism, with little daylight between them other than Conley alluding to her misgivings about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership.
Lawler voted against a House bill that would have set restrictions on military aid to Israel. Conley said she would have voted against it, too.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA TODAY Network. Reach him at CMcKenna@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lawler, Conley spar over Trump, data centers, ICE in NY-17 debate
