Former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 17th Congressional District, aims to reclaim his seat from Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler in one of the nation’s most closely watched House races.
If Jones, who made history in 2020 as the first openly gay Black American elected to the United States Congress, is successful on Nov. 5, it would mean the return of a distinctive Black and queer voice on Capitol Hill.
A lot is riding on Democrats like Jones this November. Congressional Democrats are hoping he and at least a handful of other Democrats can flip Republican-held seats in districts considered to be toss-ups. If enough GOP candidates lose in November, House Democrats would reclaim the majority and notably elect U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. If successful, Jeffries would make history as the first Black American to hold the gavel.
“It is so critical that we flip the 17th Congressional District and restore a pro-equality majority in the House of Representatives,” Jones told theGrio during a recent sit-down interview. “These are really high stakes, especially if Donald Trump succeeds in returning to the White House. We need a Democratic Congress to keep him in check.”
Jones warns voters about the dangers of a Republican-controlled Congress, a potential second Trump administration, and Project 2025, a 900-page manifesto of policy proposals conservatives aim to enact if Trump returns to the White House in January 2025. The reported “playbook” to “institutionalize Trumpism” includes eliminating programs related to DEI or racial and gender equality and terminating the Department of Education, among other proposals.
“Project 2025 is also just evidence of the fact that a second Trump presidency will be so much worse and more sinister than the first one,” he continued. “He will not be concerned about reelection, for one thing. And he…
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