Most people don’t deal with potential forced retirement at 35 years old — but Rep. Mondaire Jones hardly has the typical day job.
Two years ago, Jones handily won a competitive primary to succeed retiring powerbroker Rep. Nita Lowey in New York’s 17th District, covering parts of Rockland and Westchester counties.
But ahead of Tuesday’s primary in the newly drawn 10th District straddling Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn, polling and endorsements suggest former House impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou and City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera are all in better position than the incumbent congressman.
“It’s unfortunate, as he is a good legislator,” political consultant Jake Dilemani told The Post, “but sometimes lightning does not strike twice.”
If Jones does lose Tuesday’s contest, he could blame his House colleague Sean Patrick Maloney as much as his opponents.
After Republicans successfully challenged the redrawn congressional district map dubbed the “Hochulmander” this past April, a court-appointed special master was tapped to make new lines.
The new map featured two districts spanning the Hudson Valley: the new 17th, which President Biden won by 10.2 percentage points over former President Donald Trump in 2020; and the 18th, which Biden won by 8.4 percentage points, according to an analysis by CUNY Mapping Service.
Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, quickly announced that he would run in the easier 17th District, arousing the ire of fellow Democrats.
“The thinly veiled racism here is profoundly disappointing,” Rep. Ritchie Torres tweeted at the time in support of Jones — who, like Torres, is a gay man of color.
But Jones eventually ceded his suburban turf and decamped to District 10 with the blessing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That move placed him on a collision course with others who had DC ambitions — just as Jones himself was eyeing the national stage by getting ready to go on the road and stump for other Democratic candidates.
Jones has also done himself no favors. One day after The Post reported in June that he had cast House votes from France while on a trip to actress Issa Rae’s wedding in July 2021, Jones requested to again designate a fellow lawmaker to vote by proxy.
A Jones spokesperson declined a request for comment.
Losing his bid to return to the House could mean the end of what once looked like a budding career in national politics, but experts aren’t betting against Jones just yet.
“He’s young enough to find another way to serve or get back on the public payroll,” political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post. “All he needs is an opportunity.”
