Rockland Republican chairman charged with drunken driving after police stop in Westchester

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
Updated ·2 min read

Rockland County Republican Chairman Lawrence Garvey was charged with drunken driving after failing field sobriety tests and refusing a Breathalyzer test during a traffic stop in Westchester County, court papers show.

According to a state police report, the 57-year-old party leader and attorney was stopped for a broken brake light on his 2022 Audi while driving on Interstate 287 in the village of Elmsford at around 5 p.m. on Dec. 3. He told the trooper he was returning to his New City home from an event.

The report doesn't say which event he attended. But the stop happened the same day as a campaign fundraiser in Westchester for Rep. Mike Lawler, a fellow Rockland Republican, that was held at 2:30 p.m. at the Bronxville home of a former Trump administration official and attended by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Rockland GOP chair Lawrence Garvey speaks during election night at the Pearl River Hilton Nov. 8, 2022.
Rockland GOP chair Lawrence Garvey speaks during election night at the Pearl River Hilton Nov. 8, 2022.

Garvey said in a text message that he will comment on his arrest on Monday. He said he and his family were planning a wake and funeral for his father, who died earlier in the week. His lawyer, Steven Epstein, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Garvey's driver's license was suspended for 15 days at his Jan. 17 arraignment because of his Breathalyzer refusal, according to Elmsford village court papers. He is due to return to court next Wednesday.

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Garvey was driving west on I-287 — toward Rockland County — when he was stopped. The trooper later reported that Garvey smelled of alcohol, slurred his words and had bloodshot eyes. He then "performed poorly" on sobriety tests, with "poor coordination and failure to maintain balance," the trooper stated.

Garvey has led the Rockland County Republican Committee for nearly a decade, elected to that role by committee members in 2014 after longtime party leader Vinny Reda stepped aside.

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He recently tried to ascend to leadership of the state party. Buoyed by successes in the 2022 elections, including Lawler's upset victory over Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Garvey declared his candidacy to replace Nick Langworthy as state Republican chairman after Langworthy won a congressional seat and was expected to surrender his party leadership as a result.

But after courting Republican support around the state for a few months, Garvey abruptly abandoned his quest last March when former state GOP leader Ed Cox decided he wanted his old job back.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland GOP leader Lawrence Garvey charged with DWI in Westchester