Rep. Lawler Concedes NY-17 to Democrat Cait Conley After 300 Westchester Ballot Scanners Fail

Republican Representative Mike Lawler conceded New York's 17th Congressional District to Democratic challenger Cait Conley on the night of November 4, 2026, flipping a key suburban seat and contributing to Democrats retaking the House majority. The race was complicated by a county-wide technical malfunction: approximately 300 ballot scanners failed when polls opened at 6 a.m. in Westchester County. The state Board of Elections attributed the failure to a programming change for one municipality that was not reflected in machines elsewhere, causing them to reject — but not miscount — ballots. Officials implemented emergency procedures: completed ballots were placed in orange bags under bipartisan supervision for later tabulation. County Executive Ken Jenkins assured voters: "Your votes will be counted. Period." Despite the technical chaos, election-night projections placed Conley ahead, and Lawler told supporters that when all Westchester votes were counted the next day "it's going to be pretty clear we're going to be short." County officials called the failure "completely unacceptable" and announced a bipartisan investigation. CBS New York also confirmed the scanner failure story and Lawler's concession call.