Trump tests midterm coattails with visit to Lawler's 'Harris district'

Source: Roll Call

Posted May 22, 2026 at 5:41pm


President Donald Trump put his midterm coattails to the test Friday by trekking into a New York House district won by Kamala Harris in the last presidential election.

“It’s this radical turnaround, and we better do it fast, because we’re not going to have a New York left, and we got to have New York left,” Trump said to cheers. “Guys like Mike Lawler, guys like Bruce Blakeman, you put them in, they’ll turn it around.

“With the help of your great congressman … we got your taxes cut,” he added. “Your take-home pay has soared, and all of the other things that we did. … The Democrats, they want to raise your taxes.”

That was a reference to New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who was Trump’s host for an event in Suffern, a city tucked into the southern tip of the Empire State. Lawler won the 17th District by 6.3 percentage points in 2024, while the former Democratic vice president bested Trump there by 1 percentage point. It was one of only three House districts won by a GOP candidate and Harris. Blakeman, a Republican, is the county executive in Nassau County, and is running to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/05/22/trump-tests-midterm-coattails-with-visit-to-lawlers-harris-district/