Conley-Lawler debate: Was it decisive or divisive?

Congressional candidates Cait Conley and Mike Lawler shared the debate set on News 12 Monday night. NEWS 12 PHOTO

By JEFF MORRIS 

Republican Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley met for their first debate on Monday. The two are vying for the 17th Congressional District seat held by Lawler, and they appeared in a prerecorded hour-long forum hosted by News 12.

Within minutes of the program’s airing, both candidates were the recipients of effusive praise from their own campaigns. 

At 9:03 p.m., the Lawler campaign sent out a press release that said, “Congressman Mike Lawler won tonight’s News 12 debate decisively.” At 9:56 p.m., the Conley campaign’s press release said she “decisively took home the victory.”

One thing that was obvious to anyone watching was that the emphasis was on the candidates’ ability to talk fast. Each had 30 seconds for opening statements and 30 seconds to a minute to respond to questions. There were 15- to 30-second rebuttals at the discretion of moderator Tara Rosenblum, who at a couple of points rushed the candidates through “lightning rounds,” requesting one-word answers. At least one person online commented: “This format is very difficult to follow. It’s too fast.” 

The actual debate took place at the News 12 studio, while questioners were at a watch party at the Rye Brook headquarters of the Business Council of Westchester, which partnered with News 12. 

Israel, Palestine and antisemitism 

While the debate was to cover a wide range of topics, nearly 10 minutes were spent on the issues of aid to Israel, combating antisemitism, and views on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a Palestinian state. Both candidates said they support aid to Israel, while Conley tied that to her disapproval of policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Lawler insisted she needed to condemn Mamdani. They got into an extended scrum regarding whether Lawler consistently supported President Donald Trump and whether Conley supported Mamdani. 

Immigration

A similarly emotional exchange took place over the issues of immigration, sanctuary policies and public safety. Lawler condemned Gov. Kathy Hochul’s refusal to allow local cooperation with ICE and insisted Conley had to disavow it; Conley condemned the tactics used by ICE and insisted Lawler had not done anything to rein in their excesses.

“The fact that we have federal agents on American streets murdering American citizens without accountability is wrong,” she said. She said she believes that immigration enforcement is essential, “especially in getting violent criminals like who we are talking about off the streets and preventing terrorist groups and drug cartels and human traffickers from being in our communities.” 

However, she added, “What is happening under this administration, unfortunately, is not a focus on violent criminals, but what we’re seeing is them rolling up people like grandmas and nurses, people in our communities. So, I want to see that we are prioritizing the safety and security of our families. I will never waver in that.”

Lawler countered that he had opposed many administration policies and advocated for requirements for ICE agents to wear body cameras and not wear masks. Lawler said that since Trump took office, “Kathy Hochul has released over 7,000 convicted illegal immigrants back out onto our streets, refusing to honor detainer requests — murderers, rapists, drug dealers, gun traffickers, gang bangers.”

He said he supports securing the border “and stopping the massive influx of illegal immigration that we saw under Joe Biden, over 11 million people. And I want criminals deported out of this country. Period. Full stop.”

Iran war

The war with Iran was reduced to a lightning-round question, with the candidates asked to respond yes or no: Should the United States keep fighting in Iran until its nuclear program is permanently disabled? Lawler said it was more complicated than “yes.”

“They should not possess a nuclear weapon and we need to do everything in our power to make sure that that is eliminated as well as their financing of terrorism, which exploded when Cait Conley was on the National Security Council. Do not let Iran get a nuclear weapon.” 

Conley responded, “We woke up on a Saturday morning to find this administration getting us into yet another reckless war of choice in the Middle East — something I have firsthand experience in — without clear military objectives, without an exit strategy, without the support of our allies or the American people.” 

She said Lawler had “voted six times to give Donald Trump a blank check on this war in Iran without accountability.”

Women’s reproductive rights

On the issue of women’s reproductive rights, Conley said, “We absolutely need to codify Roe v. Wade, but we have to also understand what this administration has done and its war against women’s healthcare.” 

She accused Lawler of voting for restrictions on federal funding to Planned Parenthood, “one of the largest providers of healthcare to working women in the country,” and said he has voted over 11 times to restrict abortion access, including “for service members like myself, brave women serving in our active duty military.” 

Lawler said he is against a federal ban on abortion.

“I’ve said that repeatedly and would not support legislation to do that,” he said. “I’ve also pushed back against the effort to ban access to mifepristone.” 

He said he has led on the issue of access to in vitro fertilization, introducing legislation to make it easier for women and families to be able to plan and to get access to treatments, including creating a new tax credit to help pay for these very costly procedures.

AI, data centers, Flock cameras

The candidates clashed again when asked about tackling AI concerns, which led to further disagreements about industry ties, data centers and Flock cameras.

Lawler said he disagrees with Trump and thinks there is a need to slow AI development, and that he co-sponsored the Stop Rogue AI Act with Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat. He wants all new models tested before they go live. Conley said she wants to regulate AI while keeping U.S. leadership and supports state authority to regulate. She said Lawler voted against allowing states to regulate AI “at a time where Congress is absolutely dropping the ball.”

Regarding data centers, Conley said she supports a moratorium. Lawler said he is for local zoning control and supports moratoriums in Orangetown and East Fishkill. Conley charged that five were built in Rockland with three more coming; Lawler said they predate his time in Congress and were for the financial sector. Conley countered that three are being built there right now, and that he voted for “The One Big Ugly Bill” to give some $80 billion in tax breaks to data center developers.

Conley said Lawler is taking “hundreds of thousands of dollars from big tech”; Lawler called Conley “the AI candidate for the AI industry” who is “bought and paid for by them.” 

It was hard to separate them on Flock cameras. 

Lawler said they have been used to solve real crimes, but AI raises real privacy concerns; he wants federal-state-local collaboration on regulation. 

Conley said the federal government must set data privacy protections and pointed to Congress’s failure to regulate social media as a warning.

There were also questions and answers about the cost of living and the housing crisis; utility bills, energy costs and Indian Point; Social Security; tariffs and Trump’s trade policy; and college costs and student loan debt.

Each candidate repeatedly accused the other of lying. 

Lawler said, “You have a very difficult time with the truth.” 

Conley said, “The man just lies.” 

In the end, Rosenblum thanked them both for what she called “a spirited debate.”