LIVE UPDATES: Follow the results of the Democratic primary in New York's 17th Congressional District

Grace Panetta

June 23, 2020 7:25 PM

A crowded field of candidates are running in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Nita Lowey in New York's Hudson Valley-based 17th Congressional District.

Mondaire Jones

State Senator David Carlucci, attorney and former DOJ official Mondaire Jones, State Assemblyman David Buchwald, and former Department of Defense official Evelyn Farkas are among the candidates running.
Because of the major increase of New Yorkers voting by mail and New York law requiring officials to count all in-person votes before absentee ballots, this race will not be called until after June 30.
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Because of the substantial increase in New Yorkers voting absentee due to the COVID-19 pandemic and prevailing New York law prohibiting election officials from processing absentee ballots until eight days after election day after all in-person votes have been tabulated, the race won't be called until after June 30.

The stakes:

On Tuesday, voters will select a Democratic nominee to replace long-time Rep. Nita Lowey, the chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, in the Hudson Valley-based 17th Congressional District , a safely Democratic seat which includes parts of Westchester County and all of Rockland County.

The Democratic field includes State Senator David Carlucci , State Assemblyman David Buchwald , former Obama administration Assistant Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas , former federal prosecutor Adam Schleifer, and attorney and activist who worked in the Department of Justice under the Obama administration.

Progressives and many establishment figures alike are rallying behind Jones, who has raised $1.1 million this year and has been endorsed by Sanders, Warren, both the Congressional Black Caucus' and Congressional Hispanic Caucus' PACs, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and many of its high-profile members including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

If elected, Jones would also make history as one of the first Black members of the LGBTQ+ community to serve in the US Congress.

A poll of the race commissioned by the Greenburgh Democrats and conducted by Public Policy Polling on June 15 found Jones leading the field with 25% of likely voters indicating they will vote for him, Farkas and Schliefer tied for second place with 14% each, and Carlucci at 11%.

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