Stacy Caridi, a Jewish Democrat who is deputy mayor of Montebello, N.Y., said on Monday that she is endorsing Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), whom she praised for his support for Israel and his record of confronting Jew-hatred, Jewish Insider reported.
Caridi, who serves in Rockland County in the Hudson Valley, made the endorsement in a campaign video.
“Mike stands with Israel, and he stands up to antisemitism,” she said. “He calls it out when it comes from the Right, and he calls it out when it comes from the Left.”
“I’m putting my community ahead of my party and supporting a candidate who works for all of us,” she said, of endorsing across the aisle.
Caridi said in the video that she has known Lawler, who is not Jewish, since his time in the New York State Assembly. She cited his ties to Rockland County, where he grew up, attended Suffern High School and now lives with his family.
Rockland County is home to about 90,000 Jews and has the largest Jewish population per capita of any U.S. county, according to New York State.
Caridi credited the congressman with bringing more than $120 million in federal funding to the district, including $5 million for sidewalks and road-safety projects across Ramapo and its villages.
“No one knows this community better than Mike does, and he delivers,” she stated.
The congressman praised Caridi, who, he said, “judges people by their work, regardless of party.”
Ally Chemtob, a Democrat and member of the New Castle Town Council, has also endorsed Lawler.
“We have faced an explosion of antisemitism in all aspects of our lives,” Chemtob said. “We have also watched many we thought were our allies abandon us, but we have also been reminded of who our true friends are, who is willing to stand with us.”
Lawler’s relationship with the Jewish community “transcends partisan concerns,” Chemtob said.
“My support for Mike is personal, because when I look beyond party labels to someone I know and trust, I see someone who cares about the safety and well-being of my children,” she said.
Lawler is running against Cait Conley, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and later served as director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council during the Biden administration.
Conley has also positioned herself as a pro-Israel Democrat. AIPAC is fundraising for Lawler on its website.
