Village of Tarrytown Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley is one of the many Democrats vying for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the 17th Congressional District next year. A huge pickup opportunity for her party, she said that rather than devolve into a chaotic storm of name-calling and political gamesmanship, candidates are aligned around the idea of sending the people’s choice into the general election with the full support of Democrats in the district.

Phillips-Staley is carving out a progressive lane for herself. She believes the party has seen defeat in recent years, and to Lawler, because it has abandoned its working-class roots for donors and corporate interests, and voters have noticed and abandoned ship. While she hasn’t suggested she could change her party’s appr

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