Chatzky Enters Race with Call for ‘Compassion and Empathy’ as Lawler Camp Slams ‘Clown Car’ of Dems and GOP Hurls ‘Loser’ Label

By Tessa Wheeler

Peter Chatzky, a longtime Briarcliff Manor official, formally launched his congressional campaign yesterday, joining an increasingly crowded Democratic field aiming to unseat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in next November’s race for New York’s 17th — a high-profile and rare congressional swing district.

Chatzky has been involved in Briarcliff politics for over two decades—in 2003, he was elected mayor, and he’s currently in his seventh year as deputy mayor. Now, he’s stepping out of Briarcliff and setting his sights on Congress.

 “Washington is really broken,” Chatzky said in an interview with The Examiner. “It needs to be fixed.”

Chatzky has been elected to office five times in Briarcliff Manor. He said the village’s nonpartisan caucus system has taught him to operate outside of party definitions, so he’s worked alongside people all across the political spectrum—from “ultra-liberals” to conservatives. Because of this, Chatzky stressed, he “know[s] how to get things done.”

Communication is key to his politics, he also said. Through frank conversations with constituents and lawmakers across the ideological map, he said he has found mutual agreement more often than not, observing that at the core “the right thing to do is often the most popular thing.”

Crowded Contest

In announcing his campaign, Chatzky joined the ranks of at least a half dozen others challenging Lawler— Rockland County legislator and former Nyack school board member Beth Davidson; Army combat veteran and former CISA advisor Cait Conley; former WNYW political reporter Mike Sacks; ex-FBI intelligence analyst John Sullivan; Westchester-based nonprofit executive Jessica Reinmann; and Tarrytown village trustee Effie Phillips-Staley — along with other possible entrants, such as former Katonah-Lewisboro school trustee Liz Whitmer Gereghty and MTA board member Neal Zuckerman, making it hard to say whether the final primary lineup has fully taken shape.

While respectful of his opponents, Chatzky emphasized his track record as a public servant and lawmaker in Briarcliff Manor—he’s personally drafted and enacted more than 70 local laws. “I know how to represent people,” he said in a wide-ranging phone interview on Thursday. “I know how to work with other legislators, despite whatever party they’re in.”

Work “across the aisle” isn’t what Chatzky’s looking to do, as to him that phrase implies weak compromise. Instead, Chatzky said he is a proponent of coalition-building, informed by his experience in a nonpartisan environment. He believes that through person-to-person collaboration, the best and most community-serving practical solutions arise.

“There’s hatred and divisiveness instead of compassion and empathy,” Chatzky said of the current political climate. “I have faith that our democracy can work again. That’s really why I jumped in.”

The longtime businessman leads Napa Group, LLC, a software firm he founded in his 20s in 1993 that serves major banks around the world. 

He said his private-sector experience, combined with his experience as a legislator, uniquely qualifies him to represent NY-17 in Washington.

Chatzky has also done work to engage a larger audience in local politics through social media, where he said he’s used a humorous approach to communicate with constituents, also deploying email lists and other online notification systems to keep residents informed. 

Lawler Camp, GOP Cite ‘Clown Car’ of Democrats, Label Chatzky a ‘Loser’

Lawler’s camp and the Republican Party were quick to criticize Chatzky’s campaign.

“The clown car of radical Democrats running in NY-17 just added a caboose in Mr. Chatzky, who, just like every candidate before him, will lose an election by November 2026,” Lawler campaign spokesperson Chris Russell said when contacted earlier today by The Examiner. 

Additionally, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) published a response to Chatzky’s campaign on its website. 

“Another day, another out-of-touch Westchester liberal running to inevitably lose to Mike Lawler,” press secretary Maureen O’Toole remarked. “New York voters aren’t interested in another loser Democrat like Peter Chatzky.” 

Chatzky, for his part, said he hopes to “end the hatred,” emphasizing his dismay over the current political climate. Still, he hopes to be a force for policy change in Washington, believing that success doesn’t have to come “at the peril of those less fortunate.”

“We’re one America,” he remarked. “We can all be successful together.” 

Oh SNAP: Social Safety Nets Take Center Stage

Chatzky said his core platform aligns with Democratic priorities, but he’s especially focused on social safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has served over 70,000 people in Westchester alone. SNAP is facing proposed federal cuts.

“You see the Trump Administration and people like Lawler backing this,” he said. “When you start decimating programs like SNAP, it just doesn’t make any sense. There’s all this evidence that every dollar spent on SNAP, on making sure that people are well fed, will generate more than a dollar-fifty in productivity to our economy.” 

He also stressed that programs like SNAP don’t just serve a moral imperative but also make financial sense.

“You can’t cut programs for the neediest that are demonstrably better for our economy,” Chatzky asserted.

He describes his campaign as one prioritizing unity, transparency, and community. 

“As the entire society blossoms, so will America,” he said.

The Chatzky Bunch

Chatzky joked that his family is like a “Brady Bunch.” When he and wife Susan married, they each brought two children from a previous marriage to form a supportive blended family.

While Chatzky’s four children are all grown and living in four different states, they’ve offered to help with his campaign—specifically, with social media advertising. Chatzky has significant support, too, from his wife Susan Chatzky, who’s done work with Planned Parenthood, the Center for Safety and Change, and Rockland Pride. It was she who, after seeing the response to Chatzky’s municipal leadership, encouraged him to run for Congress.

His ex-wife, the prominent financial journalist Jean Chatzky, remains a close friend and supporter. Some of Chatzky’s fellow graduates of Penguilly Nursery School still call him a friend, too—he prides himself on his ability to maintain relationships over time.

When asked what he loves most about District 17, Chatzky answered, “I love small-town feel […] I find that people willingly look out for each other. There’s a sense of community pride here, and I’ve had a chance to get involved.”

Chatzky says it’s his faith in democracy that emboldened him to join the race, as well as the chance to push back against the Trump administration and “lapdog Republicans.” 

“Democracy will prevail,” Chatzky remarked. “And we all deserve a better America.”