Republican incumbent Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley vie for NY-17 seat in northern suburbs

Republican incumbent Mike Lawler and challenger Cait Conley are campaigning for the hotly contested seat in New York's 17th Congressional District. 

The district includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties, most of northern Westchester and a sliver of southern Westchester. They are diverse communities where residents have the overriding concern of affordability. 

CBS News New York's Tony Aiello spoke to voters who brought up the price of gas, heating, groceries and other household expenses.

Who is Cait Conley? 

Conley is a single, 41-year-old West Point graduate with a distinguished record of military service, including combat. She was born in the Hudson Valley but recently moved to the district.  

Democrats recruited her specifically to challenge Lawler. Conley has never held office.

Her economic platform includes full restoration of the SALT deduction for state and local taxes, limits on power company profits and lobbying reforms.

"Ratepayers shouldn't be paying for monopoly utility companies or Big Pharma to hire lobbyists to try to buy their way to political outcomes," Conley said. "That's wrong, and that needs to stop."

Conley is pinning the affordability blame on two-term incumbent Lawler. 

"Literally everything has gotten harder because instead of fighting for people, he's been fighting for special interests," she said.

Who is Mike Lawler? 

Lawler is a lifelong Rockland County resident. He is 41 and married with two children.

He prides himself on community outreach and often touts his ranking as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress.

His economic platform includes increasing domestic energy production, limiting insurance companies from owning healthcare providers and stabilizing Social Security.

"Take all new offshore oil leases and the revenues from it and put it into the Social Security Trust Fund. The actuaries say it'll be right-sized in five years," he said. 

Lawler is walking a political fine line when it comes to President Trump, who rallied with the congressman in May.  Mr. Trump's approval rating is in a nosedive, and he is an issue for some voters.

Lawler said his record of working with Democrats such as Josh Gottheimer shows his independence.

"It's why I was praised by Joe Biden as the type of Republican he could work with. It's why President Trump has praised me even though he's called me a 'pain in the ass,'" he said.

Meanwhile, Conley said the district residents deserve better. 

"They deserve a public servant, not a puppet.  And he's the latter," she said. 

The race is a toss-up.

Lawler is counting on his Rockland County base, including support from the Orthodox community. Conley needs a strong turnout from members of unions supporting her.