House Republicans aim to turn Democratic civil war into midterm weapon

NEW CITY, N.Y. - The battle for the House majority will be won or lost in congressional districts like New York-17, NY-3, and NY-4, three crucial swing seats in suburban New York City.

And as Republicans work to hold onto their razor-thin House majority in this autumn's midterm elections, they view the ongoing battle between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party as political ammunition as they portray Democrats as radicals.

"Democrats have gone further and further and further to the left with no end in sight," Republican Rep. Mike Lawler argued in a Fox News Digital interview.

Lawler, a two-term lawmaker who represents NY-17, which covers much of New York City's northern suburbs, spoke soon after three far-left Democrats backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated more moderate, establishment-backed rivals in showdowns that drew outsized national attention.

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Two of primary winners were aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and two of the defeated candidates were congressional incumbents.

"My district is impacted significantly by what happens in New York City. Many of my constituents work in the city, they're cops, firefighters, nurses, teachers," Lawler said.

He charged that "these radical socialists are taking over the Democratic Party, not just for Congress, but the state legislature. And as I said last year, Zohran Mamdani would become the face of the Democratic Party and its leader, and that is precisely what he is doing."

Lawler's Democratic challenger in the midterms is not backed by either the DSA or two other far-left groups, the Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party.

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But Lawler, pointing to Democratic nominee Cait Conley's stance on key issues, argued, "The fact is that she agrees with them from a policy standpoint, even if she doesn't couch herself in the same title of socialist."

"My opponent would be a rubber stamp for the radical socialists who are coming, and she wouldn't have the ability to stand up to these people and push back, and the fact is the Democrats have gone further and further and further to the left with no end in sight," he charged.

But Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said that any GOP push to paint Democrats as far left radicals are "desperate attacks."

"The midterms will ultimately be a referendum on who is going to lower costs and help improve the lives of everyday Americans - which House Republicans have failed spectacularly to do. In the purple, majority making districts, " DelBene argued in a statement to Fox News Digital.

She charged that "Republicans already know they’ve lost the American people, and that’s why they are resorting to desperate attacks that aren’t actually about the pocketbook issues, but just baseless spin that falls flat with voters who are eager to reject Republicans."

Conley, a West Point graduate and military combat veteran who was awarded three Bronze Stars during six deployments to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, pushed back on Lawler's criticism.

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"Voters are sick of political insiders, politicians, political operatives who care more about their next reelection than they do solving the actual problems with the time they are given to represent their people," Conley told Fox News Digital, indicating Lawler, a political strategist before serving as a state lawmaker and then winning election to Congress.

Conley emphasized that "we need new leaders, not people who are part of the political insider network."

The race in NY-17 is among two to three dozen across the country that will determine if the GOP holds its razor-thin House majority.

So are the showdowns in NY-3 and NY-4, which are located in New York City's eastern suburbs on Long Island.

"I think it will definitely affect us in Nassau County since we're a border county," Jeanine Driscoll, the GOP nominee in NY-4 told Fox News Digital, as she referred to the far-left Democratic victories in neighboring New York City. "Bringing in three ultra left wing people who are proclaiming themselves to be socialists, really communists, is going to wake people up."

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Driscoll, the receiver of taxes in the town of Hempstead, America’s largest township by population, is challenging Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen, who flipped the district two years ago.

Just to the north, in NY-3, Republican nominee Mike LePetri is facing off against veteran Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who narrowly topped LePetri in 2024.

"Frankly, the people of Long Island and northeast Queens are scared. They're concerned about the future of America if you have the Democrat Party take over the House of Representatives," LePetri told Fox News Digital.

Gillen and Suozzi are among a group of moderate House Democrats who earlier this year launched the "Promise to America," a centrist political pledge that rejects socialism, supports secure borders, and promotes fiscal responsibility and economic growth.

"I call myself a new kind of old-fashioned Democrat. Someone who believes in the traditional values," Suozzi said in a recent "Fox and Friends" interview.

Suozzi emphasized, "We’re for capitalism, not socialism. We’re for safety, not lawlessness. We’re proud of America. Not ashamed of America. And we need to be promoting those things."

"There are people in the Democratic Party that are left of center that don’t agree with the far left. And we just need to do a better job organizing because you’ll see big rallies for people who are extremists, far right, far left, but if I show up and say ‘hey lets work together to solve the problems that we face in our country,’ you’re not going to get a big rally for that," Suozzi said.

But LePetri charged that Suozzi "is two faced. He says one thing, but votes exactly with his conference."

And Driscoll, speaking of Gillam, argued, "they claim they're moderate. If you look at her voting record, her voting record is not moderate."

Top Republicans are using the recent victories by the far-left as a cudgel to bash Democrats in competitive races.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of a "communist" threat.

Vice President JD Vance argued recently on Fox News’ "The Ingraham Angle" that Democrats have "a view that the United States is an evil country that must be dismantled from the ground and then built back up. That's communism at its core, and you see more and more momentum in that direction from the Democrat Party."

But CJ Warnke, communications director at the Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC, told of Fox News Digital that "Republicans are grasping for straws because they have no record of success to run on. They've spent the last year supporting tariffs, health care cuts, and the Iran War — all of which have caused prices to skyrocket. Their poll numbers are sinking and this is a desperate ploy to save their campaigns — and it will fail."