Vol. II, No. 158 From Our Region to Yours
Politics

Networks Confirm Mike Lawler's Tuesday Projection That Mike Lawler Lost

The Republican congressman called New York's 17th District for his opponent on election night. The networks reviewed his work. NBC News agreed with it on Thursday evening.

By 2 min read

Mike Lawler, bearded and smiling, in a navy suit and light blue open-collared shirt, holds a glass award engraved with his name and 2021 Rising Star in front of a red New York State Young Republicans backdrop.
Mike Lawler with a 2021 Rising Star award. His projections have improved since. Photo: New York State Young Republicans / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. — Democrat Cait Conley has defeated Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th Congressional District. NBC News projected it Thursday evening, and CBS News has projected it too.

Lawler projected it Tuesday night.

The two-term congressman called Conley to concede before the networks had finished warming up. He explained his reasoning to CBS New York.

“When all of the votes are counted tomorrow in Westchester it’s going to be pretty clear we’re going to be short,” Lawler said.

It was pretty clear. It took two more days to become official.

The math was his

Lawler did not wait for the count. He had a reason, and he gave it.

“I have never been afforded in any of my elections a concession on election night and I fundamentally believe it’s the right thing to do,” Lawler said, CBS News reported. “And so I congratulate Cait on her win and wish her well as our next member of Congress.”

Conley, an Army veteran and former national security official, accepted the concession Tuesday night, ABC7 New York reported. So the two candidates agreed on the result. The networks were the holdouts.

At 5:58 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, NBC News still listed the race as uncalled. By 8 p.m. it showed Conley as the projected winner, a Democratic flip.

The count stood at 52.2 percent to 47.7 percent, with 87.6 percent of the expected vote in. About 39,000 votes were still out, NBC News estimated.

The scanners

Part of the wait came from Westchester County. About 300 ballot scanners rejected ballots when the polls opened on Election Day, CBS New York reported.

The cause was a programming conflict. Those ballots were counted after 9 p.m.

Election workers then counted what was left, which is the job. The candidates had already settled the matter by phone.

“A man who calls his own race correctly is rare in this town,” said Deep Throat Lozenge, this bureau’s most trusted source. “A man who calls it two days early should be hired by a network.”

The seat

Lawler won the seat in 2022 and kept it in 2024. Conley takes it in January.

Lawler leaves with a record few members can claim. He was right about his own election before anyone else in the business.

Lawler called it Tuesday. The networks called it Thursday. Only one of them did it without a decision desk.

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