A little SALT with breakfast

Mike Lawler’s prominent Republican visitors keep showing up in the Hudson Valley with a similar complaint: The congressman will not leave them alone.

They seem to mean it as a compliment.

When President Donald Trump visited Rockland Community College in May, he recalled Lawler’s persistence on tax deductions with a blunt assessment: “This guy was a pain in the ass.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise offered his own version at an Oct. 1 campaign breakfast at the Hill Boulevard Diner in Jefferson Valley.

“He wears me out as majority leader, and I still showed up here,” Scalise said.

Scalise told supporters that Lawler and a coalition of House Republicans had made an increase in the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, a condition of supporting the party’s sweeping tax legislation last year.

The affectionate teasing came with examples: weekend phone calls, multiple salt shakers appearing on Scalise's table when out at a restaurant, and a tax-bill standoff that, in Scalise’s telling, required a pointed warning to Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

When Thune sought to remove the SALT changes in the Senate, Scalise said to Thune, “John, let me just explain it to you. If the SALT changes get altered in the Senate, there is no bill."

Scalise credited Lawler with forcing the issue, saying the congressman had assembled a coalition rather than acting alone.

“The one big beautiful bill would not have passed without him,” he said.

That account placed Lawler’s negotiating tactics at the center of a breakfast aimed at helping him win another term. The Republican faces Democrat Cait Conley in New York’s 17th Congressional District on Nov. 3.

Scalise also described weekend calls from Lawler proposing legislation, including efforts to combat antisemitism.

Lawler returned the praise, crediting Scalise with helping him get legislation through the House. He said more than two dozen of his bills had passed the chamber and 17 had been signed into law.

“That wouldn’t have happened without Steve,” Lawler said.

He recalled Scalise campaigning for him in 2022, when many people doubted his chances, and said the majority leader had remained an important ally.

Scalise was joined at the breakfast by Reps. John Joyce of Pennsylvania and Marc Messmer of Indiana, whom he introduced to the gathering.

Assemblyman Matt Slater opened the event, inviting retired New York City police officer Kevin Byrnes, who is also chair of the local GOP, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

“If you need Mike, he’s always accessible, always a phone call or text message away,” Slater said.

He credited Lawler with delivering federal funding to the district and said he works regularly with the congressman’s staff.

The morning’s most personal exchange involved the diner’s host, Maria Lluka, who is from Albania.

Lawler thanked her for appearing in a campaign advertisement about the tax legislation and said she had faced criticism because of her support for his campaign.

"Some of the Democrats who may have frequented here previously were a little nasty and started boycotting. So I just want you to know, we support you, we appreciate you,” he told her.

Lluka was visibly emotional, with tears in her eyes, as Lawler praised her. She told the gathering she was honored and expressed confidence in his reelection.

“We’re going to win. We’re going to win,” she said.

Lawler promised the diner's owner that he'd keep returning and bring more people with him. Slater had earlier described his own family’s affection for Lluka, joking that his children especially enjoy the ice cream she gives them.

Lawler and Scalise highlighted tax provisions for tipped workers, people earning overtime and seniors. Scalise argued that those benefits reach working households.

Lawler also focused on energy costs, rejecting efforts to blame him for rising utility bills and arguing that New York’s policies have constrained energy supply.

He reiterated his support for reopening Indian Point, lifting restrictions on natural gas extraction and building pipelines. Scalise echoed that argument, pointing to Pennsylvania’s natural gas production and criticizing New York’s approach to pipeline development.

Lawler also dismissed a public poll that he said showed him trailing Conley 48% to 46%, calling the result “B.S.” and insisting his campaign was positioned to win. “We’re not down two,” he told supporters. “We are doing everything we need to do to win on November 3rd, and we’re going to win on November 3rd.”

On Friday, Lawler's campaign shared an internal poll with the NY Post that showed his campaign is leading by three points.

At the breakfast, Lawler also stated that his campaign had raised over $2 million in the third quarter and cited Conley's campaign as saying that it had raised $5 million during that same time period. Overall, Lawler said he had raised over $11 million this election cycle and he estimated overall spending in the contest between himself and his opponent would reach approximately $60 million.

"The Democrats are working overtime to try and defeat us," Lawler said. "They find money under rocks. They find money from foreign governments."

He may have been referring to House committee investigations into ActBlue, a Democrat-affiliated political action committee. Three Republican-led House committees released a Sept. 16 report alleging that the fundraising platform failed to prevent illegal foreign contributions. ActBlue disputes those allegations.

Scalise urged supporters to focus on turnout, warning that friends who skip a midterm election could determine the outcome.

For all his joking about being worn out, Scalise made clear that he wanted Lawler back in Washington.

“We need him back in this majority so that his team can keep delivering for you,” he said.