NY GOP Lawler Defeats Democrat Campaign Chief in House Race

In a significant upset to the House Democrats, New York Republican Mike Lawler defeated their party’s top campaign chief, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, in the Empire State’s Seventeenth Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race at 12:01 p.m. eastern on Wednesday, the day after Election Day.

Maloney’s loss comes as the House Democrats’ main super PAC, House Majority PAC, threw over half a million dollars behind the congressman in a last-ditch attempt to save him after the Republican’s main super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) threw millions of dollars at the race to unseat him.

What’s interesting is roughly two weeks prior to the House Majority PAC putting money behind Maloney, the super PAC and the congressman’s Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) lacked the funds needed to help other vulnerable members.

However, last week the analysts at the Cook Political Report moved New York’s Seventeenth Congressional District from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

Following the rating change, the publication’s editor explained that the defeat would be historic since “a sitting DCCC/NRCC chair had not lost reelection since 1992 (when NRCC Chair Guy Vander Jagt lost his primary in Michigan), and hasn’t lost a general election since 1980 when DCCC Chair Jim Corman lost in California.”

After the race was called, NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer released a statement congratulating Lawler on his “historic victory.”

“Mike is the first candidate to defeat a DCCC Chair since 1980 because he kept the Hudson Valley at the center of his campaign,” Emmer added. “The voters of Putnam, Westchester, and Rockland resoundingly rejected Sean Patrick Maloney’s pro-criminal policies. I look forward to working with Mike to lower costs and protect our communities.”

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.