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Law enforcement unions are sticking by New York Rep. Mike Lawler as he faces a tough battle to retain his crucial House seat in the Hudson Valley.
The formal endorsements of 11 unions and other police organizations covering state and local police departments are a critical boost for the Republican two-term congressman as he squares off against Democrat Cait Conley.
“Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester Counties remain among the safest places in America to live and raise a family,” Lawler noted, flanked by cops in Haverstraw Monday.
“It doesn’t happen by accident, it happens because of the people standing behind me and because the voters of this district keep saying ’no’ to the politicians that attack them,” he said.
“I will always back the blue, and I will always stand with the men and women of law enforcement.”
The groups endorsing Lawler include the Police Conference of New York, Rockland County PBA, Port Authority PBA and New York State Fraternal Order of Police, as well as the Haverstraw and Carmel PBAs amongst others.
“I appreciate … that he puts my family before felons. He takes his job seriously,” Mike O’Mara, president of the statewide Police Conference of New York, said.
“He really really represents us with a vigor and common sense attitude that is protecting our families, our schools, our police officers, always.”
Sean O’Connor, president of the Rockland County PBA said the union’s decision wasn’t based on party affiliation, but rather Lawler’s individual record in Congress and previously as a state Assemblyman.
“We proudly give Congressman Lawler our endorsement,” O’Connor said.
The slate of endorsements give Lawler key bona fides from law enforcement in the tight race against Conley, a former intelligence official in President Joe Biden’s administration, US Army combat veteran and West Point graduate.
Recent polling shows Lawler and Conley statistically neck-and-neck ahead of the November election.
The Cook Political Report rates New York’s 17th Congressional District as a toss up, the only such race in the state this cycle.
A spokesperson for Conley’s campaign declined to respond.
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