Mondaire Jones
Mondaire Jones | |
|---|---|
| Member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Nancy Pelosi |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district | |
| In office January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Nita Lowey |
| Succeeded by | Mike Lawler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 18, 1987 Nyack, New York, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Mondaire Lamar Jones (born May 18, 1987) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones was the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.
Before his 2022 defeat, Jones was described as a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He was an advocate for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. In June 2020, he supported calls to defund the police, and said that his goal in running for Congress was to "fight systemic racism". When first elected, he became one of the two first openly gay Black members of Congress.
After the 2020 redistricting cycle, Jones opted not to seek re-election in the redrawn 17th district; instead, he ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district, located in New York City. He finished third in the Democratic primary. In July 2023, Jones announced that he would run for Congress in the 17th district (his former district) in 2024, a race in which he distanced himself from his prior associations with progressivism. He was defeated by Republican incumbent Mike Lawler in the general election.