GOP candidate unseats Democratic leader in historic upset: Dems 'took it for granted'

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NY Republican Mike Lawler snatches House seat from DCCC chairman

New York Republican Rep.-elect Mike Lawler says ‘people wanted change’ and that redistricting gave him the ‘opportunity’ to win, beating House Democratic campaign chief Sean Maloney.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Sean Patrick Maloney was defeated by GOP nominee and State Assemblyman Mike Lawler in a historic House loss in Tuesday's midterm election.

Lawler, who ran heavily on crime and the economy, will unseat the longtime congressman who was first elected in 2013, The Associated Press projects.

"I think he took it for granted." Lawler said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "As recently as a month ago he was traveling to Paris, London and Geneva to raise money for the DCCC. He did not start campaigning seriously in the district until a couple of weeks ago."

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Assemblyman Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for the 17th Congressional District, unseats longtime Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. (Reuters)

Maloney has come under fire in recent days for suggesting that families struggling with the impacts of inflation eat Chef Boyardee. 

These comments come on the heels of Maloney's frequent trips to high-end European cities over the summer to raise money for House Democrats. 

Lawler made crime a key focus of his campaign, running in a district where over half of the households have a cop, veteran or first-responder living in them, according to Lawler. 

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Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has held New York's 17th Congressional seat since 1992. (Getty Images)

Despite this big-ticket win, the upset was one of only a handful House pickups for Republicans on a night where many political analysts and polls predicted a "red wave." The balance of power in the House is still in play with many races still uncalled.

Lawler still believes it is feasible to tamp down inflation and address crime, despite a potentially slim Republican majority in the House. A "majority is a majority," Lawler said.

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"You have to be able to find compromise, and you have to be able to work across the aisle," said Lawler, who will soon be representing a district in Congress with 70,000 more Democrats than Republicans.