US Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) came clean and revealed he had been arrested in 2012 on a drunk driving charge.
The 39-year-old Hudson Valley politician, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country, disclosed that he’d been pulled over and charged with DWI after drinking on St. Patrick’s Day in the Big Apple.
“I was deeply disappointed in myself, but moreover disappointed that I let my dad down,” Lawler told News 12 in an interview Wednesday, noting that his father was a recovering alcoholic battling cancer at the time.
The congressman had previously revealed the charge to a group of students at Nanuet High School during a presentation on distracted driving last month.
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“It was not my proudest moment. It was something I was deeply embarrassed about,” he told the students.
“More importantly, I could’ve killed myself or someone else. I was grateful that I was pulled over and nobody was hurt,” he added.
Lawler was arrested along the Palisades Parkway on March 17, 2012, according to The Journal News at the time.
He was charged with driving while intoxicated, but later pleaded to the lower charge of driving while ability impaired, a misdemeanor.
Lawler is one of a handful of GOP-held toss up seats being targeted by Democrats as they attempt to retake the House in this November’s midterm elections.
The former GOP Assemblyman defeated lefty former Rep. Mondaire Jones in 2024 despite Vice President Kamala Harris winning the district.
His opponent in the November election is Democrat Cait Conley, a West Point grad and former intelligence official who is positioning herself as a centrist candidate.
Members of Congress serve two-year terms at a salary of $174,000.
