Vulnerable GOP Rep. Mike Lawler Brings In More Than $1 Million For 2026 House Race

FIRST ON FOX: One of only two House Republicans serving in districts won by former Vice President Kamala Harris last year is set to announce he raised more than $1 million in the latest fundraising quarter.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., one of Democrats’ top targets for the 2026 midterm elections, will announce later Wednesday that he raised $1.1 million in the third quarter of 2025.

His campaign said it was the strongest third quarter the moderate House Republican has seen in a non-election year.

Lawler campaign spokesperson Chris Russell told Fox News Digital that the numbers show “our message is winning and our play on the field is unmatched.”

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Representative Mike Lawler leaves a House Republican Conference meeting March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

Russell then suggested that part of Lawler’s platform was campaigning on the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” passed by Republicans earlier this year, and which Democrats have sharply criticized.

“While our opponents scramble to appease a far-left base, Mike Lawler is building a coalition of working families, workers, law enforcement, Republicans, independents and mainstream Democrats who are fed up with chaos politics and radical extremists,” Lawler’s spokesperson said.

“Congressman Lawler implemented Project SALT, secured historic tax relief for middle and working class families, and will continue to focus on common-sense solutions that make life more affordable and Hudson Valley communities safer.”

His $1.1 million haul means Lawler’s campaign finished the quarter with $2.8 million in cash and $3.9 million raised so far for the 2026 election cycle.

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Then-Vice President Kamala Harris listens during an event with President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House in Washington, September 26, 2024. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

Lawler’s district includes suburbs just outside New York City that played a critical role in winning the Republican Party and then keeping it in the House in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

New York’s 17th Congressional District, which he represents, is currently rated +1 in favor of Democrats by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

The competitive seat has already attracted eight Democrats for a crowded primary against Lawler in next year’s general election, but it appears he has edged out at least several of them.

Army veteran Cait Conley raised more than $500,000 in the third quarter, former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky raised more than $340,000 and Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson raised $370,000, according to New York Political Playbook.

Then-congressional candidate Mike Lawler delivers a speech to supporters during an election night event on November 9, 2022 in Pearl River, New York. (Eduardo Muñoz Álvarez/AP Photo)

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Democrats nationally are betting big on energizing their base in response to President Donald Trump and his policies, a bet that paid off for the left in the 2018 midterms when it won the House of Representatives.

But this cycle, New York Republicans managed to grab their own bogeyman in democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the current front-runner for New York City mayor.

Lawler told Fox News Digital of Mamdani’s candidacy in June: “Frankly, for Democrats, this is a time to choose.” Are they aligning themselves with a radical socialist who engages in anti-Semitism, hates the police, believes illegal immigrants should have everything for free, and you know, that’s going to basically destroy New York City’s finances?

“They can’t have it both ways,” he said at the time.