Neighbor News
Rep. Barbara Lee Endorses Mondaire Jones for Congress in NY-17
Progressive champion and Oakland-area Representative Barbara Lee backs Mondaire Jones for Congress in NY-17
SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY — Representative Barbara Lee today endorsed NY-17 Democratic Congressional Candidate Mondaire Jones, citing Mondaire’s humble upbringing and commitment to working families in her endorsement.
"We can count on Mondaire to fight for working people, because he grew up knowing what it's like to struggle," said Representative Barbara Lee. "I'm proud to endorse him because working families need more champions in Congress. I know that he will fight tooth and nail every day for people all across his district who are struggling just to get by."
“I’m proud to receive the endorsement of Representative Lee, a progressive force in Congress who has always put working people first,” said NY-17 Democratic Congressional Candidate Mondaire Jones. “Amidst a global pandemic and racial unrest, she has shown true leadership in co-authoring a resolution to condemn police brutality and calling for a commission to combat white supremacy. She isn’t afraid to stand up for what’s right in the face of national crises and I can’t wait to work alongside her when I’m elected to Congress.”
Mondaire Jones has also been endorsed by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Sec. Julián Castro, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Deb Haaland, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. David Cicilline, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Equality PAC, NY Working Families Party, United Auto Workers, Hispanic Democrats of Westchester, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, The LGBT Victory Fund, The Collective PAC, and more than 40 elected officials and community leaders in Rockland and Westchester Counties. He recently announced that his campaign had raised over $827,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Unlike many of his opponents, Jones is not accepting corporate PAC money in his campaign and has also signed the No Fossil Fuel Pledge. When elected, Mondaire will make U.S. history as the first openly gay, black member of Congress.
About Mondaire: Mondaire Jones is a 33-year-old former litigator in the Westchester County Law Department and former Department of Justice staffer during the Obama Administration. A resident of South Nyack, he is running to represent New York's 17th Congressional District. A product of East Ramapo public schools, Mondaire was raised in Section 8 housing and on food stamps in the Village of Spring Valley by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to provide for their family. He later graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of the nonprofit Rising Leaders, Inc. and has previously served on the NAACP’s National Board of Directors and on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Mondaire is a progressive running to fight for bold solutions to our biggest problems: a Green New Deal, tuition-free public college and student debt forgiveness, Medicare for All, and a full restoration of the SALT deduction for families in Westchester and Rockland.
