Mondaire Jones
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's17th district
In office January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Nita Lowey
Succeeded by	Mike Lawler
Personal details
Born	Mondaire Lamar Jones (1987-05-18)May 18, 1987 (age 38) Nyack, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Stanford University (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Mondaire Lamar Jones^[1] (born May 18, 1987)^[2] is an American lawyer and politician. A member of theDemocratic Party, Jones was the U.S. representative forNew York's 17th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.

Before his 2022 defeat, Jones was described as a rising star in theprogressive wing of the Democratic Party.^[3] He was an advocate forMedicare for All and theGreen New Deal.^[4][5] In June 2020, he supported calls todefund the police, and said that his goal in running for Congress was to "fight systemic racism".^[6][7][8] When first elected, he became one of the two first openly gay Black members of Congress.^[9]

After the2020 redistricting cycle, Jones opted not to seek re-election in the redrawn 17th district; instead, he ran for Congress inNew York's 10th congressional district, located inNew York City. He finished third in the Democratic primary. In July 2023, Jones announced that he would run for Congress in the 17th district (his former district) in 2024, a race in which he distanced himself from his prior associations with progressivism. He was defeated by Republican incumbentMike Lawler in the general election.

Jones was born inNyack, New York, and grew up inSpring Valley, New York, where he was raised by a single mother,^[10] who worked multiple jobs to support him, and his grandparents.^[11][12] He graduated from public schools in theEast Ramapo Central School District.^[13]

Jones earned hisbachelor's degree fromStanford University in 2009. After graduating from Stanford, He worked in theU.S. Department of Justice during thepresidency of Barack Obama.^[14][15] He then earned hisJuris Doctor fromHarvard Law School in 2013.^[16][17]

After law school, Jones worked as a law clerk forAndrew L. Carter Jr. of theU.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also worked forDavis Polk & Wardwell for four years,^[5] and one year with theWestchester County Law Department.^[18][19]

Jones announced his candidacy for theDemocratic nomination to represent the17th district, including most of central and northwesternWestchester County and all ofRockland County, against 16-term incumbentNita Lowey. Three months after he entered the race, Lowey announced that she would not seek reelection.^[19][20] He advocated forMedicare for All and theGreen New Deal.^[4][5] He also expressed support for defunding the police.^[6][7][8]

In a crowded eight-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—Jones defeated attorney Adam Schleifer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of DefenseEvelyn Farkas,State SenatorDavid Carlucci, andState AssemblymanDavid Buchwald, among others, winning 42% of the vote.^[21] The Associated Press called the race for Jones on July 14, 2020, three weeks after the June 23 primary, the vote tabulation having been delayed because of a large number of absentee ballots due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[22]

In August, Jones filed a lawsuit against PresidentDonald Trump and Postmaster GeneralLouis DeJoy to reverse recent changes made to theUnited States Postal Service (USPS) that affected the agency's ability to deliver mail, including absentee ballots.^[23] Jones sued Trump and DeJoy "for violatingthe Constitution in their attempts to undermine the United States Postal Service and thwart free and fair elections this November."^[24] In September, U.S. District Court JudgeVictor Marrero granted an injunction against the USPS that required it to restore overtime and treat all mail-in ballots asfirst-class mail.^[25][26]

In the November general election, Jones faced Republican nominee Maureen McArdle Schulman, a formerFDNY firefighter, as well as several third-party candidates.^[27] The Associated Press called the race for Jones the day after the election.^[28] Along withRitchie Torres fromNew York's 15th congressional district, Jones was one of the first gay African Americans elected to theUnited States House of Representatives.^[14]

Following redistricting, the17th district included the residence ofSean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic incumbent in the neighboring18th district and chair of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee.^[29] Jones was no longer in the court drawn 17th district. According toThe Guardian, "Maloney decided to run in New York's 17th congressional district rather than his longtime, more urban, 18th district, even though that meant booting out the newer Mondaire Jones, his fellow Democrat and the incumbent congressman in the 17th district".^[30] According toThe Hill, Maloney's decision "infuriated Jones and his allies, particularly those in theCongressional Black Caucus, who accused Maloney of putting his own political survival over the interests of the party".^[31] In 2024,City & State reported that in actuality, Maloney had privately offered to withdraw from the primary, but Jones declined Maloney's offer in order to run in another district.^[32]

Jones opted not to challenge Maloney in the redrawn 17th district; instead, on May 20, 2022, he announced that he would seek election inNew York's 10th congressional district.^[33] The district is located entirely inNew York City, an area Jones had not represented nor lived in until he moved toCarroll Gardens, Brooklyn before the primary; prompting accusations of 'carpetbagging'.^[34]

He finished third in the Democratic primary, behind winning candidate attorneyDan Goldman and runner-upstate assemblymemberYuh-Line Niou respectively.^[35] Jones received 18.2% of the vote.^[36]

In July 2023, Jones announced his candidacy to return to Congress, running in the17th district after relocating toSleepy Hollow, a village within the district's boundaries.^[37][38]

After theremoval of SpeakerKevin McCarthy, Jones tweeted a photo of McCarthy andLawler meeting with Jewish leaders inRockland County. The photo's caption read: "Well that was a waste of time." The post was condemned as antisemitic by DemocratsJared Moskowitz andJosh Gottheimer. Jones took down the tweet and apologized for any misunderstanding. Following the removal Moskowitz and Gottheimer took down their response and Moskowitz accepted Jones's apology and emphasized his record of opposing antisemitism.^[39]

Jones's entry into the race solidified his position as the Democratic frontrunner, effectively clearing the primary field. By April 2024, he had raised over $3 million for his campaign.^[40]

On Election Day, Jones was defeated by Republican incumbentMike Lawler.^[41]

Jones voted to certify the2020 United States presidential election and later voted to impeach duringTrump's second impeachment. He andTed Lieu co-wrote a letter to the Attorney Grievance Committee of the New York State Supreme Court-Appellate Division asking forRudy Giuliani to be disbarred due to his role in theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack.^[42]

Jones successfully lobbiedU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt the deportation of Paul Pierrilus, who was scheduled to be the last person to be deported during the Trump administration. Pierrilus, a constituent of Jones's, was to be deported toHaiti, a country he had never been to, before Jones intervened.^[43]

Jones, SenatorEd Markey, RepresentativeHank Johnson, andHouse Judiciary chairJerry Nadler pushed for an expansion of theSupreme Court from 9 seats to 13.^[44] Around the same time, Jones called for a "ThirdReconstruction" in aWashington Post opinion piece.^[45] He criticized PresidentObama for supporting the 9-memberstatus quo system of the Supreme Court and opposing the court's expansion.^[46]

• House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee^[47]
• House Judiciary Committee^[48]
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law
  • Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet
• House Committee on Education and Labor^[49][50]
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment
• House Committee on Ethics^[51][50]

• Congressional Progressive Caucus^[52]
• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus (co-chair)^[53][50]

In 2023, Jones was appointed to theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights, a federal agency focused on investigating and reporting on civil rights issues.^[54][55] The same year, he joinedCNN as an on-air contributor^[56] and began working with the nonprofit Future Forward USA Action, which supports progressive causes.^[57][58]

Jones publiclycame out as gay at the age of 24^[14][15] and is a member of the First Baptist Church of Spring Valley.^[59] In 2020, marking the 50th anniversary of the first gayPride parade,Queerty recognized Jones as one of 50 individuals "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people."^[60][61]

• List of African-American United States representatives
• List of LGBT members of the United States Congress

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• Campaign websiteArchived October 11, 2020, at theWayback Machine

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at theLibrary of Congress
• Profile atVote Smart
• Appearances onC-SPAN

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