In Key New York Race Debate, Lawler and Conley Spar Over Data Centers, ICE, and Trump

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Democratic challenger Cait Conley clashed over President Donald Trump, immigration enforcement, and data centers on Sept. 28 in their first televised debate, five weeks before an election that could help decide which party controls the House.

The hour-long News 12 debate was built mostly around viewer questions. Lawler, who is seeking a third term, holds one of the few Republican seats in a district former Vice President Kamala Harris carried in 2024. Conley is an Army veteran and former counterterrorism director on the Biden administration’s National Security Council.

Conley’s claim that Lawler has voted with Trump “100 percent of the time” came up repeatedly, and Lawler disputed it each time.

Answering a question on mental health care, Conley pointed to Lawler’s vote for the Republican-backed tax and spending law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“He voted for the one big ugly bill that was record cuts to Medicaid that have impacted nearly half a million New Yorkers,” Conley said. She later added, “If he cared so much about the health care of our families, of people in our district, then he would not have voted 100 percent of the time with Donald Trump’s agenda.”

Lawler pushed back, saying, “There she goes again. I have not voted 100 percent of the time.”

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“We also voted to protect Medicaid by requiring eligibility verification, proof of citizenship, and work requirements so that able-bodied adults without dependent children are working. And we’re not taking away from the disabled, working moms, children, our seniors. Medicaid is growing by 25% even with the common sense reforms that we put in place to protect the system, which doubled under the Biden administration,” he added.

Lawler also pointed to his endorsement earlier this month from Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine).

“What I’ve done is actually do my job, which is to represent my constituents and actually work in a bipartisan way,” he said. “Why do you think Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, endorsed me?”

The debate’s immigration section opened with a question from Tom and Jessica Gorman of Yorktown. Their 18-year-old daughter, Sheridan, was fatally shot in Chicago in March. The couple said the man charged with her murder was in the country illegally and had been released under the city’s sanctuary policies. They asked whether the candidates support New York’s new law ending local agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Conley did not say whether she supports the law.

“I do believe that border security is national security. I do believe that immigration enforcement is essential, especially in getting violent criminals like who we are talking about off the streets,” Conley said. “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.”

Lawler, referring to New York’s Democratic governor, said, “I am against Kathy Hochul’s disastrous new law, and I support any legislation that will end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country. I support fixing our broken immigration system. It’s why I’ve led on the Dignity Act.”

Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced the Dignity Act in July 2025, with Lawler and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) among its original cosponsors. It now has 39 cosponsors, 20 Democrats and 19 Republicans, and has not received a vote since it was sent to committee. The bill would fully fund border security, end the practice of releasing illegal immigrants into the country while their asylum cases are pending, and require all employers to use E-Verify, the federal system that checks whether a worker is legally allowed to work in the United States.

For immigrants already living in the country illegally, the bill would create a seven-year legal status that lets them live and work here legally. They would have to pay restitution and keep a clean record, and the status could be renewed. It would not grant citizenship. People brought to the country illegally as children, often called Dreamers, would get legal status and a path to permanent residency.

Both candidates said ICE agents should wear body cameras and identification and should not wear masks.

The sharpest exchange came over artificial intelligence.

“Look, Cait Conley is the AI candidate for the AI industry. She’s bought and paid for by them. Only one of us is receiving a paycheck by AI and big tech, and that’s her,” Lawler said. “She’s received hundreds of thousands of dollars for a no-show job in which she can’t tell you what she does, except that she moved up here to run for Congress.”

Conley responded: “I am very proud of my career, to include over 16 years in the military, four years at West Point, more time in the reserves, where I am actually out there going wherever my country needed me to go. That meant Baghdad instead of Bedford. And I do not need to have my service attacked by a guy who never left the comfort of his couch after 9/11.”

Lawler’s campaign said in a statement after the debate that two AI companies have paid Conley $328,283 in salary and consulting fees since January 2025, citing the financial disclosure she filed with the House in May.

Conley went after Lawler’s record on the issue, saying five data centers have been built in Rockland County “on Mike Lawler’s watch,” with three more on the way, and said she supports a moratorium on data centers.

Lawler said the facilities were built before he took office and support the financial industry, not AI.

“It’s up to the town. The local jurisdictions have the authority. I support local control of zoning. Always have, always will,” he said.

Both campaigns claimed victory after the debate.

“That was a total victory, from the opening statement to the closing one. Mike Lawler walked onto that stage with nearly four years of results for the Hudson Valley, and he won on the debate stage again,” Lawler campaign spokesman Ciro Riccardi said in a press release.

He said Conley could not give the Gormans a yes or no answer, would not denounce New York City Mayor Mamdani, and could not defend her claim about Lawler’s voting record.

“The contrast between Cait Conley and Mike Lawler has never been clearer than it was on the debate stage tonight,” Conley campaign spokeswoman Maddy Rosen said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

She called Lawler a “former utility lobbyist” who votes with Trump “even when it harms” voters.

Conley “articulated clear plans to rein in Washington corruption, lower middle-class taxes, and bring forward the better, more affordable future the Hudson Valley deserves,” she said.

The party committees weighed in as well. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said Conley refused to answer questions and stood by “harmful positions like sanctuary policies,” and that Lawler “clearly articulated his record as a consensus builder in Congress.”

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Riya Vashi said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that Lawler has “repeatedly sold out to billionaires and corporations” and that Conley “has a plan to tackle corruption in Washington and make life more affordable.”