DCCC chair Maloney fends off challenge from Biaggi in New York House primary

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chairman of House Democrats’ campaign arm, is projected to fend off a challenge from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in the Democratic primary for New York’s 17th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:50 p.m.

Maloney’s decision to run in the redrawn 17th Congressional District rather than his current 18th District was controversial. It would have pitted the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who is tasked with electing more Democrats, against first-term progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who currently represents the district. Jones opted to run instead in the 10th District to avoid an awkward member-on-member primary.

Maloney was considered the favorite in the race, but Biaggi, whose grandfather was former Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.), was seen as a formidable challenger given her history. She beat former state Sen. Jeffrey Klein in the state Senate Democratic primary in 2018, considered a major defeat given that Klein had been a part of a group of Democrats who aligned themselves with Republicans in the state legislature. 

Biaggi also received endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the Working Families Party and Democracy for America.

Maloney, meanwhile, received coveted endorsements from The New York Times’s editorial board, former President Clinton and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 

Both Maloney and Biaggi have ties to the Clintons: Maloney was a senior adviser in the Clinton White House, and Biaggi served on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign as deputy national operations director.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the House seat as “lean Democratic.”