Democrat Loses Primary to Alleged Republican Imposter

A former Republican voter appears to have defeated Democrat Mondaire Jones in the left-wing Working Families Party's primary for New York's 17th Congressional District.

As of 8:55 a.m. ET on Wednesday, ex-GOP backer Anthony Frascone led Jones 244 votes to 183, with 92 percent of votes counted. Frascone's lead of 61 is larger than the number of votes yet to be counted, meaning he has defeated Jones. Between 2021 and 2023, Jones served as representative for New York's 17th district but lost his seat to Republican Mike Lawler in November 2022.

Tuesday saw primary elections across the country ahead of the main contests in November. In a blow to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, candidates he endorsed in South Carolina, Colorado and Utah all suffered defeats to GOP rivals.

New York allows fusion voting, meaning more than one political party is able to nominate the same candidate. Thus had Jones won on Tuesday, he would have been the candidate of both the Democrats and the Working Families Party (WFP). However, his defeat means November's election against Lawler could also be contested by Frascone on behalf of the WFP, which could potentially pull away votes from left-leaning voters.

Ravi Mangla, the WFP's communications director, told Newsweek that the party would refuse to endorse Frascone despite his primary win.

"Mr. Frascone is not our endorsed candidate and we reject his cynical attempts to try to spoil the election," he said.

According to Politico, Frascone, who has no official campaign website or social media presence, previously voted Republican and ran for office as an Independence Party candidate in 2011.

Speaking to the publication ahead of Tuesday's vote, Mangla suggested Republican activists were attempting to hijack the ballot line to prevent Jones being endorsed.

"We reject any attempt by GOP operatives to hijack our ballot line and are making sure WFP voters in the district know that there's a primary on Tuesday," Mangla said.

The WFP had already pulled its financial and campaign support from Jones after he backed George Latimer's successful attempt to unseat fellow Democrat Jamaal Bowman in a primary for New York's 16th Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday night with a roughly 10-point lead for Latimer. Bowman, who came under fire for his aggressive criticism of Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza, had been one of a group of left-wing House Democrats nicknamed "The Squad."

However, the WFP didn't rescind its endorsement of Jones and said it would back him against Lawler in November. Jones campaign spokesperson Shannon Geison accused Republicans of trying to "steal" the WFP endorsement before the vote on Tuesday.

"With no record of accomplishment and a voting history similar to that of [Georgia Republican] Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Lawler is nervous about winning in NY-17," Geison told Politico. "That's why MAGA Republicans are trying to steal the Working Families Party line."

Newsweek has contacted Jones's official campaign along with the New York Republican State Committee via online contact form and email for comment.