Carolyn Maloney Blames ‘Misogyny’ after Losing to Jerry Nadler in Nasty Primary Forced by Redistricting
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New York City congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said “misogyny” was partially to blame for her loss to Representative Jerry Nadler in a heated Democratic House primary on Tuesday night, after they were forced to compete for a single seat because of a court-mandated redistricting plan.
Addressing a crowd of supporters after being handily defeated by her former friend and colleague of 30 years, Maloney argued that the twelfth congressional district would lose out because it’s no longer represented by a woman.
“I’m really sad that we no longer have a woman representing Manhattan in Congress,” Maloney said, according to the New York Post. “In Congress, it is that when women are at the table, great decisions get made.”
Maloney then gave a shout-out to great female New Yorkers like Shirley Chisholm and Geraldine Ferraro, who “fought sexist systems and misogyny that continues today, as we know from my own campaign.”
Nadler easily bested Maloney: with 99 percent of the vote counted, 55.4 percent compared to Maloney’s 24.4 percent. Democratic candidates Suraj Patel and Ashmi Seth secured 19.1 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Nadler will face Republican nominee Michael Zumbluskas in the November general election.
Political pals on the New York scene for years, Nadler and Maloney did not expect to face each other for the same seat in the state’s twelfth congressional district. The two progressives were first elected in 1992, and both served as chairs of key committees in the chamber during their tenure, with Maloney currently presiding over the House Oversight Committee and Nadler over the House Judiciary Committee.
The claws came out once the race began, however, with associates of Maloney speculating about the state of Nadler’s health and Nadler deriding Maloney’s foreign-policy judgment on the Iran nuclear deal. During a debate last week, referring to her past policy positions, Nadler called Maloney “gullible enough to believe the misrepresentations of the Bush administration.” While Maloney earned the endorsement of “squad” member Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nadler earned the endorsement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In terms of their voting records, Nadler and Maloney have moved largely in lockstep, voting the same on 353 of the 388 House roll calls determined to be “key votes” between 1993 through last year, CQ Roll Call editors determined.
They attended press conferences, ribbon-cuttings, and other events together over the years, establishing a strong rapport and political partnership before the redistricted congressional map merged their turfs on the Upper West and East sides of Manhattan and forced them to run against each other.
