Republican congressman Mike Lawler says he won't run for New York governor

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Republican congressman Mike Lawler says he won't run for New York governor

2025-07-23 23:31 Last Updated At：23:41

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler on Wednesday announced he will run for reelection in his suburban New York swing district rather than launch a long-anticipated campaign for governor.

The congressman has been openly considering a run for governor for months and was viewed as a potentially strong challenger to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

But in an interview on the “Fox and Friends” morning show on Wednesday, Lawler said he was abandoning his statewide ambitions to instead defend his battleground seat as Republicans try to retain their threadbare control of the House in next year's midterm elections.

“Keeping the House majority is critical if we are going to continue to move this economy in the right direction,” he said, adding that running was “the right thing to do for me and my family and my district.”

The decision came as another prominent House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, also has been eying a candidacy for governor after her nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was pulled over concerns about Republicans’ tight margins in the House.

In a statement, Stefanik called Lawler a “great, effective, and hardworking” representative. Stefanik, who represents a northern New York district considered to be solid Republican territory, said she would make her decision on whether to run for governor after the November elections this year.

“Republicans are more unified than ever in our mission to fire the Worst Governor in America Kathy Hochul in 2026,” she said.

Lawler's district, in the Hudson Valley north of New York City, has been considered a crucial swing seat in recent elections and Democrats are expected to again dedicate heavy resources to flip it next year. In his Fox interview, Lawler noted that he’s one of few Republicans who won a seat in a district Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Kamala Harris won last year.

Lawler, a political moderate, held a series of sometimes raucous town halls in his district over the spring — at a time when Republicans were being advised to skip the forums that were drawing angry questions about President Donald Trump’s agenda. He is now coming off a successful fight to raise the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes, a significant pocketbook issue in New York and some other places primarily on the East and West coasts.

Trump in May endorsed Lawler for reelection to Congress , calling him “a Strong Champion, and Highly Effective Representative” in a post on his Truth Social platform. The endorsement, which came as Lawler was still mulling a run for governor, was widely considered to be a public nudge for the congressman to remain in Washington rather than risk his competitive House seat.

Hochul, in a post on X after Lawler's announcement, said the congressman “doesn’t have the spine to face me.”

Hochul is facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, amid a public feud between the two Democrats.

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.