Mondaire Jones has a difficult choice right now, and I don't envy him. DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney selfishly put Jones in a bad spot by immediately saying he'd run for #NY17 instead of #NY18 as soon as NY's new draft map came out. Now Jones must decide between #NY17 & #NY16
Assuming the map is finalized as-is, Jones would represent 3x as much of #NY17 as Maloney. He's also vastly more progressive than SPM, one of the most centrist Dems in the House. Jones even had more cash on hand than Maloney as of 3/31! $2.9 mil vs. $2.1 dailykos.com/stories/2022/4…
Of course, Maloney has access to lots of $, so Jones would be taking on a huge fight. But Maloney didn't fare well the last time he ran in a primary against more progressive foes: He took just 25% and finished third in the primary for AG in 2018 ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.htm…
On the flipside, Jones lives in White Plains, which would be moved into #NY16 on the new map. But if he chooses that race, that would pit him against Jamaal Bowman, another progressive Black congressman who was also elected in 2020
Bowman had just $400K on hand at the end of 1Q, but he also represents 3x as much of #NY16 as Jones. And while Jones can easily out-progressive Maloney, he can't say the same about Bowman. Plus progressives really don't want to see that fight happen
As for partisanship, #NY16 would be safely blue (Biden+44). The new #NY17 would be tougher than the current version: Biden+10 instead of Biden+20. For a progressive like Jones, that could be trickier in a general election, but he's a very savvy pol & ran even w/Biden in 2020
Meanwhile, Maloney ought to be running for #NY18, which is actually friendlier than his current 18th: Biden+8 vs. Biden+5. He also currently represents 71% of the new district
Lot of House Ds were pissed at MI Rep. Andy Levin for eschewing a much tougher district (Trump+1) & forcing a primary; they should be even angrier at Maloney, who job is literally to preserve the Dems' majority but wants to abandon a vulnerable seat politico.com/news/2022/03/3…
The nightmare scenario for progressives: Jones and Bowman run against one another, splitting the vote and allowing Westchester County Legislator Vedat Gashi, who has been challenging Bowman from the right, to slip through with a plurality jewishinsider.com/2022/04/bowman…
UPDATE. A sign of which way Jones is headed?
https://twitter.com/allymutnick/status/1526341346751021056
A note on geography. Maloney says he's the only member who lives in the proposed #NY17. But Mondaire Jones was born in Nyack, grew up in Spring Valley, and lived in South Nyack until a couple of years ago—all towns in Rockland County, all in the 17th District
(Jones moved to White Plains around the time he got sworn into office last year. White Plains is in the current #NY17 and was also in the 17th on the map that got struck down. Only the special master's draft map has moved it out of the 17th)
Mondaire Jones' chief of staff -->
https://twitter.com/ZachFisch/status/1526353568449585152
A senior Democratic aide ... granted anonymity to kiss Maloney's backside? Like, seriously, if you're gonna play the suck-up, don't you want the target to know? politico.com/news/2022/05/1… 
LOL, Punchbowl printed the exact same anonymous quote kissing Sean Maloney's ass as Politico did punchbowl.news/archive/5-18-2…
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