One need not look beyond the raucous, combative and occasionally catty town halls to get the sense that Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, is facing a tough re-election fight.
Now, Democrats looking to flip his seat are scrutinizing a complex and lucrative web of political and financial ties among his campaign, several nonprofits and a political consulting firm, Checkmate Strategies, that he founded before he became a state legislator.
Mr. Lawler, 39, sold his stake in the company in 2023, but not before Checkmate Strategies was paid more than $720,000 by entities connected to him. Those included the Orangetown Republican Committee, the Rockland County Republican Committee and his own campaign.
The arrangement, which was first reported by Politico, does not appear to violate the law. Even so, the appearance of Mr. Lawler using his political influence to lure business to his company has been seized on by watchdog groups and Democrats seeking to reclaim a seat that Mr. Lawler won in 2022 by defeating Sean Patrick Maloney, then the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Battleground New York, a pro-Democrat super PAC, sent a letter last week to the Federal Election Commission asking it to investigate Mr. Lawler for violating federal campaign finance laws. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has targeted Mr. Lawler’s swing district, called him a “corrupt self-dealer” in a news release.
Rachael Fauss, a senior policy adviser for Reinvent Albany, a government watchdog group, argued that the arrangement should be illegal, even if current laws allow it.
“The leaders of political committees, the candidates as well as the leaders of nonprofits, should be prohibited from self-dealing, and that includes contracting with firms where the leaders of those groups stand to gain financial benefits,” Ms. Fauss said.
“When donors to campaigns are making contributions, the expectation is that it goes to run an effective campaign for office, not to line the pockets of the candidate who’s running for office.”
Chris Russell, a spokesman for Mr. Lawler, co-founded Checkmate Strategies with the congressman in 2018 and bought out Mr. Lawler’s share of the company in 2023. Mr. Russell strenuously denied that Mr. Lawler had done anything improper, and said Mr. Lawler had regularly sought and adhered to ethics guidelines and guidance.
“This same baseless and false attack has been launched by political hacks on the left and their phony ‘good government’ groups every year for the last four years,” Mr. Russell said in a statement. “The truth is that Congressman Lawler has followed, and often gone above and beyond, the guidance of House Ethics, the F.E.C., and state regulators every step of the way.”
Mr. Lawler declined to provide a copy of the guidance he received from the House Ethics Committee. Mr. Russell called the buyout, which Mr. Lawler reported was for a sum up to $50,000, a “private business transaction.”
“Should there be any future payments, they will be reported on his future public financial disclosures as required by law,” Mr. Russell said.
Questions were also raised about money sent to Checkmate Strategies by two advocacy groups: 17 Forward 86, which focuses on economic development in Sullivan and Orange Counties, and New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, which focuses on natural gas.
Mr. Russell said that Checkmate Strategies had won bids to represent the groups, and that Mr. Lawler was hired afterward to lead 17 Forward 86 and New Yorkers for Affordable Energy.
A copy of the bid proposals, provided by Checkmate Strategies and reviewed by The New York Times, calls for the firm to manage the “day-to-day” operations of coalition building, public relations, lobbying and government relations. Mr. Russell said Mr. Lawler did not receive money beyond Checkmate’s consulting fee, which ranged from $7,500 to $8,000 per month.
On Mr. Lawler’s financial disclosure form for the 2020 calendar year for the State Assembly, he listed that he was the director of both groups; he disclosed receiving $150,000 to $250,000 in income from Checkmate Strategies. The following year, Mr. Lawler did not list any affiliation with the two advocacy groups; he disclosed that he again earned between $150,000 and $250,000 from Checkmate Strategies.
On Mr. Lawler’s 2022 House financial disclosure forms, he reported earning more than $241,000 from the firm from January 2021 to July 2022.
While Mr. Lawler was in the State Assembly, his campaign paid Checkmate Strategies more than $110,000 in 2020 and 2021.
The Orangetown Republican Committee paid Checkmate Strategies more than $26,000 from 2019 to 2021 for campaign consulting and mailing when Mr. Lawler was chairman. The Rockland County Republican Committee paid Checkmate Strategies more than $17,000 for professional services and campaign mailings from 2020 to 2021, when Mr. Lawler was in the group’s leadership.
After he sold his interest in Checkmate Strategies upon entering Congress, Mr. Lawler continued to use the firm for work ranging from graphic design to video editing. Mr. Lawler’s congressional campaign paid Checkmate Strategies more than $88,000 in 2025 and 2026, according to federal campaign records.
Mr. Russell said payments from Mr. Lawler’s congressional and Assembly campaigns to Checkbook Strategies were not self-dealing because he was “internally firewalled” from “firm profits related to his own races.” Mr. Russell provided no evidence of that arrangement.
“This is exactly what people hate about politics and why they’re losing faith that government will actually solve their problems,” said Cait Conley, one of several Democrats running in a primary to unseat Mr. Lawler. “The Hudson Valley deserves a public servant, not a political operative.”
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
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