Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's sister, Liz Whitmer Gereghty, has dropped out of the primary in a hotly contested congressional race, Politico reported. Gereghty endorsed a similarly problematic replacement in former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones.
She was vying for the chance to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who was elected to represent New York’s 17th congressional district in 2022. Gereghty's move aligns with others who appear to be saving Democratic Party money for the general election as they look to flip five seats in the Empire State.
In a statement about her exit from the race, Gereghty hurled the usual insults at her would-be GOP opponent. "When we started this journey, we had one goal: to ensure the Hudson Valley was no longer represented by an anti-choice, shape-shifting extremist out of step with our values," she said, according to Fox News.
"Mike Lawler and his allies are more interested in regulating women than the weapons of war flooding our nation. They are working to defund public schools and don’t want you to notice that Congress’ inaction on common sense gun legislation impacts your property taxes when schools have to increase spending on security to keep our students safe," Gereghty said.
She added that Lawler, a former gas and oil lobbyist, was "more interested in saving gas stoves than preventing childhood asthma and working to protect the planet for future generations." Instead, she endorsed the radical Jones, who has supported defunding police, abolishing bail requirements, and endorsed expensive Democrat agenda items like the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.
"I remain committed to doing everything possible to elect Democrats across the board in 2024, especially here in NY-17," Gereghty continued. "Uniting our party and focusing our resources on taking back the House is critical to fighting back against the radical extremism plaguing our politics," she added.
It's puzzling why the party has chosen to move so far to the left, especially in this particular race. The seat was historically a Democratic stronghold but flipped for Lawler in an upset victory.
Lawler beat out then-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney and left Democrats reeling. Now, the Republican took the occasion of Gereghty's announcement to point out her and her party's shortcomings.
"That Liz did not find traction in today’s Democratic Party speaks volumes," Lawler said. "It’s clear New York Democrats would rather support a ‘defund the police’ and open borders radical, with one of most [sic] partisan voting records in Congress, and who proudly referred to himself as a socialist and Squad-adjacent," he added.
"Voters in the Hudson Valley will reject that next year," Lawler predicted. The Congressional Leadership Fund super Pac, which is working toward getting more GOP candidates elected to the House, similarly predicts that radical Democrats are on thin ice.
It's clear that the decision to leave the race and support Jones is akin to jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire when it comes to electing leftists. As the CLF pointed out, Jones was recently forced to apologize for anti-Semitic remarks and holds other troubling beliefs.
In 2020, he publicly spewed anti-police, anti-white rhetoric that is considered radical even around the Big Apple. "Congress must cease all funding that militarizes police forces, repeal the 1994 Crime Bill that accelerated mass incarceration, and abolish cash bail," Jones told Teen Vogue in June 2020.
"We must dismantle white supremacy in all aspects of our society, and that means moving funding away from police departments," he added at the time. While it was in fashion in 2020 to speak like this, voters have become disenchanted after seeing the results of these kinds of beliefs.
The Democratic Party is in trouble as the American people grow weary of living in the hellscape their policies create. Gereghty may have temporarily given Jones a boost, but the general election will be the true moment of reckoning.
