Mondaire Jones loses Working Families Party primary to mystery candidate in final count

Former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones has lost his bid for the Working Families Party line in the 17th District to a former Republican from Rockland County who Jones charged was a plant by the local GOP.   

The counting on Wednesday of 142 outstanding absentee and affidavit ballots in Rockland County solidified the election-night lead of Anthony Frascone, a Congers resident who circulated petitions to challenge Jones.

Jones had hoped for the minor party line in his campaign to oust Rep. Mike Lawler, R-Pearl River.

Rockland was the site of a surprising increase in enrollments in the Working Families party in June, when almost 200 voters registered in the minor party from June 6 to June 15, according to a report in Gothamist. Most of the new voters live in Spring Valley and Monsey, the report said.

In 2023, Rockland had 822 active Working Families Party voters, so the new enrollees boosted the party's membership by more than 20%. There were just 1,674 enrolled in the party in the 17th Congressional District in 2023.

Democrats and Working Families Party spokesman Ravi Mangla said Frascone's victory was part of a Republican effort to hijack the line and hurt Jones' chances in November. Mangla said Frascone did not do any outreach to party leaders and had a very low-key campaign. He said the party may launch a voter enrollment drive in Rockland to counter the influx.

"We are now cognizant of their attempts to steal our line," Mangla said. "Frascone is not our candidate. The only way Republicans think they can win this race is by stealing our line."

Jones spokeswoman Shannon Geison, who maintained that Lawler had a hand in the Working Families Party initiative, said Democrats can win without the WFP line, noting Rep. Tom Suozzi's win in a special election in Nassau County this spring.

"Notwithstanding Mike Lawler's manipulation of the Working Families Party primary, Mondaire Jones is poised to defeat him as the Democratic nominee this fall in this district, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 80,000," said Geison. "When Lower Hudson Valley residents learn of Mike Lawler's frequent votes against access to abortion and Social Security and Medicare, as well as the fact that he would be a reliable vote for Donald Trump's dangerous agenda, they will reject him out of hand."

Frascone said Thursday morning he planned to issue a statement later in the day. Since then, he has yet to return phone messages seeking comment.

Lawler’s campaign sent out mailings in the lead up to the primary, highlighting displeasure by progressive Democrats with Jones’ endorsement of Westchester County Executive George Latimer in his 16th District campaign against Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Bowman remains on the Working Families Party line following his defeat in the Democratic primary.

Democrat Reichlin-Melnick also lost Working Families line

Another Democrat endorsed by the Working Family Party in Rockland lost his bid for the line on Tuesday.

Former state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, D-Nyack, who is seeking to regain his seat in the 38^th District, lost to Barbara Francis, 150 to 73.  The district includes most of Rockland County.

New York election law allows candidates to run on multiple party lines, with candidates on minor party lines typically garnering a few percentage points in the general election. Those votes can make a difference in a tight race.

Mangla also noted that supporters of Westchester County Executive George Latimer encouraged Republicans and unenrolled voters to enroll as Democrats this year so they could vote for Latimer in the Democratic primary. The Latimer campaign disavowed any connection to the voter enrollment effort.

Bowman's campaign also reached out to unenrolled voters to become Democrats so they could vote in the primary. Latimer won that race.

“It has been an unusual year, with lots of cross-party things going on,” said Mangla. “The only Working Families Party primaries in the state involved Mondaire Jones and Reichlin-Melnick.”

Geison had maintained that Republicans were trying to “steal” the line with Frascone’s appearance on the ballot.

Other Democrats had questioned Lawler’s mailings that highlighted displeasure with Jones by progressive Democrats. But Lawler spokesman Chris Russell said the campaign wanted to let voters knew about the criticism of Jones.

“It was mostly news accounts of their very public spat with Mondaire, so voters were fully informed,” he said.

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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.