FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 12, 2026
CONTACT: press@caitconley.com
Statement on Massive MAGA Dark Money Spending Attacking Cait Conley in Final Days of NY-17 Primary
The same Republican effort that supported an anti-Semitic sex therapist in Texas and tried to stop veteran Rebecca Bennett in New Jersey has now come to New York spending nearly $1 million in an attempt to stop Cait Conley, proving that Mike Lawler and Donald Trump are afraid to run against Cait in November
OSSINING, NY – Responding to a plea from Beth Davidson, a MAGA Dark-Money Super PAC is now spending nearly $1 million falsely attacking veteran Cait Conley, the frontrunner in the NY-17 Democratic Primary to face Mike Lawler. This dark money group is falsely attacking Cait because Lawler and Donald Trump know that Cait is the only candidate who can beat Lawler in November and flip NY-17 blue.
This is the latest in a string of MAGA efforts to interfere in Democratic primaries to get weaker Democratic nominees – an effort that has failed everywhere it has been tried. Previously, these same Republican efforts attempted to elevate an anti-Semitic sex therapist in Texas who called for Jews to be put in prison, worked to stop Navy veteran Rebecca Bennett in New Jersey, and attacked union firefighter Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania – all unsuccessful.
However, unique to New York, career political operative and politician Beth Davidson has actually called on these outside groups for support in a desperate attempt to save her flailing campaign, directing them with a redbox message they are now mirroring exactly.
16-year Army combat veteran and Democratic frontrunner Cait Conley released the following statement:
“Republican dark money Super PACs are targeting me with false attacks because they know I’m the only candidate who will beat Mike Lawler in November.
Mike Lawler and his MAGA allies are scared, and they should be. As a West Point Grad and Army Special Operations combat veteran, I have spent my entire life serving our country and taking on the hardest fights when the stakes couldn’t be higher. If they think this is going to intimidate me, they have no idea who they are messing with. And Republicans are seriously underestimating NY-17 democrats who will see through their political lies and deceit. I’m ready to bring real leadership to Congress, not more political games.
I am running to stop the greed, corruption, and chaos caused by this Trump Administration and enabled by cowards in Congress like Mike Lawler. They know I will rein in ICE and demand accountability for the abuses of power we have seen, and they are scared of it. Make no mistake – they will fail here as well. We have the momentum and we will win on June 23rd and take the fight right to Mike Lawler.”
Here are the facts:
- Progressive Champions PAC was newly created out of thin air on May 11 and set up in a way that will not require it to disclose the source of its money before the June 23rd primary. Yet evidence shows that it is linked to the same network of shadowy Republican entities that have been meddling in other Democratic primaries. The group shares a little-used bank with Real Change PAC, which meddled in Democratic primaries in Maine and New Jersey.
- Press has already noted this meddling.
- In the nearby battleground district NJ-07, the GOP recently spent $650K to try to defeat Navy Veteran Rebecca Bennett. Their efforts were wildly unsuccessful.
- A Republican Super PAC spent $1.7 million targeting firefighter Bob Brooks in his democratic primary in PA-07, also unsuccessful.
- Similar Republican efforts attempted to elevate an anti-Semitic sex therapist in Texas who called for Jews to be put in prison.
- Republicans are lying about Cait Conley’s record of service to her country in a desperate attempt to stop her from winning this primary, promoting lies pushed by Mike Lawler while trying to interfere in the Democratic primary to ensure a weaker opponent for Lawler.
- As has already been reported on, the allegations are false:
- Cait Conley does not work for or with ICE.
- Cait Conley does not work for or with Palantir.
- Cait consults for two technology firms. These companies have nothing to do with immigration enforcement, and neither have contracts with ICE.
About Cait Conley:
Cait Conley is a fourth-generation Hudson Valley native and the daughter of a postal worker and a construction worker. She is a decorated combat veteran and national security expert who has spent her life answering the call to serve. That call began on 9/11, when, as a junior in high school, she watched the Twin Towers fall. The next day, she started the process for applying to West Point — earning acceptance and becoming the first in her family to graduate from college and then going on later to attend graduate programs at Harvard and MIT. Cait served 16 years as an active duty Army officer, deploying six times to take down the world’s most dangerous terrorists, and later led counterterrorism efforts on the National Security Council and at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Throughout her career, Cait has been called upon to solve the toughest problems and fix things that are broken. That’s why Cait is running for Congress — to fix a broken system and fight for a better future for New Yorkers.
Learn more about Cait online at CaitConley.com.