{"id":1445,"date":"2026-07-20T16:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2026-07-20T16:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:13:01","slug":"gop-lawmaker-admits-to-drunk-driving-arrest-in-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=1445","title":{"rendered":"GOP Lawmaker Admits To Drunk Driving Arrest in 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>A noted GOP lawmaker made a startling admission this week, taking many of his colleagues by surprise.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1986227\" data-uid=\"121f7\">\n<div id=\"mgw1986227_121f7\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., acknowledged this week that he was arrested in 2012 on a drunken driving charge.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The 39-year-old Hudson Valley Republican, who represents one of the nation\u2019s most competitive House districts, said he was stopped and charged with driving while intoxicated after drinking on St. Patrick\u2019s Day in New York City.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was deeply disappointed in myself, but moreover disappointed that I let my dad down,\u201d Lawler told News 12 in an interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler noted further that at the time, his father was a recovering alcoholic battling cancer, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler said he had previously disclosed the 2012 drunken driving charge during a presentation on distracted driving at Nanuet High School last month, where he discussed the incident with students as part of a broader conversation about the dangers and consequences of impaired driving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was not my proudest moment. It was something I was deeply embarrassed about,\u201d he told the students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore importantly, I could\u2019ve killed myself or someone else. I was grateful that I was pulled over and nobody was hurt,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler was arrested on March 17, 2012, along the Palisades Parkway, according to reporting by The Journal News at the time.<\/p>\n<p>He was initially charged with driving while intoxicated but later pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of driving while ability impaired, a traffic violation under New York law.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler represents one of a small number of Republican-held swing districts that Democrats are targeting as they seek to regain control of the House of Representatives in this November\u2019s midterm elections, The Post\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2077393059445121167&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativebrief.com%2Fgop-lawmaker-7-102879%2F&amp;sessionId=33c427fbda93a0426c935efcbe0289ba23e1aa0f&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"2077393059445121167\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A former New York state assemblyman, Lawler won reelection in 2024 by defeating former Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat, even as Vice President Kamala Harris carried the district in the presidential race.<\/p>\n<p>Lawler is facing Democrat Cait Conley in November.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a former intelligence official, Conley has sought to position herself as a centrist candidate as she campaigns to unseat the incumbent Republican.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani strengthened his influence within Democratic politics Tuesday after all three congressional candidates he endorsed won their primary races earlier this month, delivering a major victory for the city\u2019s growing democratic socialist movement.<\/p>\n<p>The results marked\u00a0a significant test\u00a0of Mamdani\u2019s political clout following his rise to prominence in New York politics.<\/p>\n<p>His endorsed candidates scored victories in several closely watched House races, defeating establishment-backed opponents and reshaping the political landscape ahead of November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n<p>Among the night\u2019s biggest upsets were victories by Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier.<\/p>\n<p>Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., while Avila Chevalier unseated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.<\/p>\n<p>In New York\u2019s open 7th Congressional District, Democratic Socialist candidate Claire Valdez also prevailed despite outgoing Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez backing a different candidate in the race.<\/p>\n<p>The victories completed a clean sweep for Mamdani\u2019s slate of endorsed candidates.<\/p>\n<p>Following Valdez\u2019s win, Mamdani appeared at a celebration event where he addressed supporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe old politics that got us into this crisis is not the politics that\u2019s going to get us out of this crisis,\u201d Mamdani told the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Many political observers viewed the mayor\u2019s decision to intervene aggressively in congressional primaries as a gamble.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the outcome reinforced his standing as one of the most influential figures in New York Democratic politics.<\/p>\n<p>With the districts expected to remain safely Democratic in November, the primary winners are widely viewed as strong favorites to join Congress next year.<\/p>\n<p>The results also expanded the presence of democratic socialist-aligned lawmakers within New York\u2019s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A noted GOP lawmaker made a startling admission this week, taking many of his colleagues by surprise. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., acknowledged this week that he was arrested in 2012 &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1447,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/1447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}