New York Democratic ex-Rep. and current congressional candidate Mondaire Jones is coming under fire for championing proposed legislation while in office that would have allowed convicts including rapists and murderers to vote from prison.
At the time, Jones called the federal ban preventing incarcerated felons from voting a “form of slavery.”
Jones did not seek re-election in the 17th district in 2022 because of redistricting, which swung the political area pro-Republican. He instead ran in the 10th District Democratic primary and lost.
He is now trying to mount a comeback in the 17th district against Republican Hudson Valley Rep. Michael Lawler, with the pair facing off in November.
But his championing of the controversial prison voting measure in 2021 could come back to haunt Jones.
He pushed for the proposed amendment along with left-wing “Squad” Rep. Cori Bush, who just lost her primary re-election last week. The proposed amendment was defeated 328 to 97 in the House in 2021 — with even many Dems including Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York voting against it.
States such as New York restored voting rights to parolees after they’ve served their sentence — but not while they’re still in prison.
“When people are convicted of a crime and are sentenced to, for example, serving time in an incarcerated setting, that is their punishment,” Jones told The Appeal: Political Report, a prisoners’ rights group after the amendment was defeated in 2021.
“It should not be accompanied arbitrarily by the deprivation of a right as fundamental as the right to have a say in who represents one in office. We count people in incarcerated settings in the census for the purpose of the allocation of federal dollars,” he said.
“Every human being then deserves to be able to vote in their best interest. Anything less than that is inhumane and a form of slavery. Indeed it is the ‘New Jim Crow,’” Jones asserted.
But law-enforcement groups and Lawler slammed Jones for caring more about criminals than their victims.
“Cop killers and murderers are some of the most heinous and dangerous criminals. Their actions devastate families and cause unimaginable heartbreak,” said Vincent Vallelong, president of the NYC Sergeants Benevolent Association, in a statement.
“I cannot imagine how any elected official could justify allowing them to vote from prison. It defies logic and is an affront to all common sensibilities.”
If Jones’ amendment became law, the cop-killers and murderers involved in the infamous 1981 Brinks robbery case in Rockland County — which is part of the 17th district — would have been given the right to vote, said Larry Ayers, president of the Rockland County PBA.
The armed hold-up led to the killings of Nyack police Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown as well as Brink’s guard Peter Paige.
“It’s appalling that former Congressman Mondaire Jones believes convicted felons, including cop-killers and murderers, deserve the right to vote from prison,” Ayers said.
“This amendment by Mondaire Jones would have given the terrorists who committed the 1981 Brink’s Robbery and those who killed Paula Bohovesky, a sixteen-year-old Pearl River girl, the right to vote from behind bars.”
Jones’ advocacy for criminals is reason is enough not to return him to office, Lawyer’s campaign said.
“Extremist Mondaire Jones is so radical that he wants to let cop-killers, child rapists, and murderers vote from prison,” said Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russel.
“From trying to defund the police, blaming them for ‘white supremacy, to even letting those that kill cops vote, it’s clear Mondaire Jones can’t be trusted with any seat in public office ever again. Voters in the Hudson Valley will make that overwhelmingly clear this November when they reject radical Mondaire Jones and his divisive, extreme ideology once and for all.”
Jones defended his voting advocacy for criminals.
“It’s a shame Mike Lawler wants to disenfranchise American citizens. Is this the best he’s got after getting caught on camera saying the plurality of voters in his district—Democrats—`hate this country?’ ” said Jones campaign rep Shannon Geison.
“If Lawler wants to show he supports the police, he can start by apologizing for voting to defund law enforcement three times in his first term in Congress, and by withdrawing his support for a convicted felon named Donald Trump.”
