ABOVE: U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Ny.) conceded defeat early Nov. 9, a surprising turn of events for the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) as the party more broadly managed to avoid a “red wave” of Republican victories in the midterm elections.
The candidates are reportedly only 3,000 votes apart in the race for New York’s 17th Congressional District. Maloney’s Republican challenger Mike Lawler, who serves in the New York State Assembly and was previously chair of the state’s Republican Party, told supporters it was premature to declare victory.
“We’ll have to wait a little bit longer for the voters of this district to serve Sean Patrick Maloney the best dish of Chef Boyardee, and I can promise you, it will be served cold,” he said.
The comment referred to Maloney’s advice to families struggling with high costs amid record inflation. “Well, I grew up in a family where if the gas price went up, the food price went down, so by this time of the week we’d be eating Chef Boyardee if that budget wasn’t gonna change,” Maloney said during an interview that drew backlash from critics.
Maloney, who in 2012 became the first openly gay member of Congress to represent New York, has served on the U.S. House’s Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He also co-chairs the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.
Maloney joined Congress before members’ benefits were extended to their same-sex partners, telling The New York Times, “They would be explaining what your benefits were, then all of a sudden this embarrassed look would flash across their face like, ‘Oh, sorry. I guess this doesn’t apply to you.’”
Last year, he became the first openly gay chair of the House Democrats’ campaign committee, which is the sixth highest-ranking Democratic position in the chamber.
