Maloney, Lawler argue crime, race relations, Supreme Court at NAACP forum; what they said
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The hotly contested race for the 17th Congressional District intensified Wednesday night in a raucous online candidate forum between Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, and Assemblyman Mike Lawler, R-Pearl River.
The forum, which was sponsored by the NAACP branch chapters in Spring Valley and Nyack and the Journal News/lohud.com, delved into the issues that have dominated the race: crime, race relations and the Supreme Court. The 17th District includes Rockland and Putnam counties, three towns in southern Dutchess, and Westchester County north of I-287.
Race relations
The issue of race exploded in the campaign last weekend after voters throughout the 17th received a mailing from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Washington, D.C., super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. House.
The mailing, which lambasted Maloney for supporting bail reform, includes pictures of four Black males who were apparently released without bail after they were charged with crimes that did not require posting money or property to stay out of jail, pending adjudication.
On Oct. 15, NAACP Regional Director Wilbur Aldridge, along with Rockland County Legislator Toney Earl and Peekskill Mayor Vivienne McKenzie issued a statement, calling it a “disgusting racist mailer” and called on Lawler to condemn it.
Moderator Steve Lieberman, a Journal News reporter, asked the candidates if they condemned the political ad.
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Maloney did so, saying the mailer perpetuated the racist stereotype that Black Americans are criminals.
“Mike Lawler’s friends put out a mailer with only African Americans and people of color on it and showed every kind of horrible crime,” Maloney said. “It’s the classic Willie Horton technique, to scare people.”
Lawler did not condemn the mailing. He said the PAC was independent from his campaign. He also charged that Aldridge, regional director of the nonpartisan NAACP, had coordinated with Maloney on his Oct. 15 response.
“Mr. Aldridge certainly knows me and he has my number and if he felt so strongly about this, he could have picked up the phone and called me, as opposed to putting out a political statement in coordination with Sean Patrick Maloney’s campaign,” Lawler said.
When contacted after the forum, Aldridge denied reaching out to Maloney after he saw the mailing, which featured a Black man wielding a hatchet, another being led about by police, and a third young Black man in a hoodie.
“I have been fighting racism for almost 60 years, so I don’t need a political candidate to tell me what is racist in nature,” Aldridge said. “He also said I should or could have called him. Why? He should have called me. I didn’t offend him. I believe Mr. Lawler was attempting to reverse the issue. He still has not said the flyer was inappropriate.”
Supreme Court
After President Donald Trump appointed his third nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, there were calls to expand the nine-person panel to 13, equal to the number of districts in the federal judicial system.
Maloney said he would consider expanding the court, based on the current majority’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He noted the judicial theory used in the Dobbs decision also called into question privacy rights that allow for birth control and interracial marriage.
“I would absolutely consider expanding the court if it meant getting reproductive freedoms back,” Maloney said.
Lawler said he opposed expanding the court. He said Maloney’s position was outside of the mainstream.
“If things don’t go your way, you blow it up, you’d expand the court because you don’t like the ruling,” Lawler said. “The reason I support states making the decision is because states are closest to the people.”
Crime
Lawler’s campaign has focused heavily on crime, and reforms to state laws that have eliminated cash bail for several crimes that once required posting bond to stay out of jail.
“Black and brown people are being victimized by the cashless bail laws,” Lawler said. “They are getting killed in our streets, pushed in front of subways, stabbed and killed on subway platforms.”
Maloney said he supports state criminal justice laws that treat rich and poor equally while also making sure those individuals charged with crimes who are dangerous are remanded to jail.
“I support good policing, but not treating rich and poor people differently, and not using racism to scare people, to win an election,” Maloney said. “We can have safe streets and a fair system.”
Follow David McKay Wilson on Twitter @davidmckay415.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Maloney, Lawler spar over racial bias in mailer at NAACP forum
