VoterLens
United States Military Academy at West Point—graduate; Harvard University Kennedy School of Government—Master of Public Policy; Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Master's degree in Business Administration
Data last updated 10/27/2026
Cait Conley is a fourth-generation Hudson Valley native and decorated combat veteran who served 16 years as an active-duty Army officer, including six overseas deployments in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. She later served as Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council and as a senior advisor at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, working on critical infrastructure and election security.
Committee Assignments: No committee assignments available.
Cait Conley supports expanding access to affordable healthcare through a public insurance option, defending the ACA and Medicaid, lowering prescription drug costs, protecting reproductive healthcare, and investing in hospitals, local providers, Planned Parenthood, veterans’ care, and the VA system.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley supports allowing everyone to opt in to a public insurance option regardless of age to expand coverage and reduce marketplace costs.
SourceConley supports defending the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid while expanding Medicare to include vision, dental, and hearing coverage.
SourceConley supports cracking down on Big Pharma price gouging, ending pay-for-delay schemes, capping insulin at $35 for everyone, and allowing Medicare to negotiate more prescription drug prices.
SourceConley supports passing Roe v. Wade into law to protect abortion, contraception, IVF, and a woman’s right to make personal healthcare decisions without political interference.
SourceConley supports restoring federal funding for Planned Parenthood by repealing legislation that cut off Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood clinics.
SourceCait Conley frames her Economy & Jobs agenda around lowering costs for working families, ending the SALT tax cap, strengthening worker bargaining power, expanding job training, and supporting small businesses. She also links education, infrastructure, and AI policy to job creation through apprenticeships, local union work, retraining, and workforce preparation.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley says she supports ending the SALT tax cap entirely, arguing it raises taxes on middle-class New Yorkers.
SourceConley says she supports passing the PRO Act and other pro-worker legislation to level the playing field between workers and employers.
SourceConley says she supports investing in trade skills and work retraining programs to help Hudson Valley workers adapt to a changing job market.
SourceConley says she supports small businesses by cutting red tape, expanding access to affordable capital, and helping them attract talent through more affordable healthcare.
SourceConley says she supports expanding BOCES, career and technical education, community college programming, and union-employer apprenticeship partnerships focused on future jobs.
SourceCait Conley supports comprehensive immigration reform that pairs border security and targeted enforcement against violent criminals and human traffickers with protections for immigrant communities. Her platform backs ICE accountability measures, ending 287(g) local-police agreements, a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and Dreamers, and modernization of USCIS processing.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley says she would rein in ICE by requiring body cameras, standard law enforcement uniforms with visible ID, and prohibiting masked agents.
SourceConley supports revoking 287(g) agreements so local police can focus on protecting their own communities rather than carrying out federal immigration enforcement.
SourceConley supports creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and Dreamers who are part of local communities, pay taxes, and contribute to the economy.
SourceConley supports investing in technology and staffing at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to cut backlogs, expedite asylum claims, and reunite families faster.
SourceConley says immigration enforcement should focus on dangerous criminals and human traffickers rather than long-standing community members.
SourceCait Conley frames climate change as a national security crisis and supports expanded clean-energy investment, renewable-energy permitting, grid modernization, and climate-resilient infrastructure. She opposes reopening Indian Point and says she would press utilities and corporations on accountability, pollution, and electric bills.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley says she would invest in clean energy and expand federal investments in solar, wind, and geothermal projects.
SourceConley says she would deliver investments for critical energy, water, sewer, and transportation infrastructure and expand federal BRIC grant programs to make the Hudson Valley more resilient.
SourceConley says she would cut outdated red tape to move renewable energy projects forward and increase energy supply through wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal resources.
SourceConley calls for the United States to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and recommit to climate leadership.
SourceConley opposes reopening Indian Point, saying energy supply should instead come from renewable projects and grid modernization that can lower bills.
SourceCait Conley’s education platform emphasizes public investment from early childhood through workforce training, including universal pre-K, affordable childcare, strengthened public schools, expanded BOCES/CTE/community college pathways, and lower student-loan costs. She also opposes voucher programs that divert money from public education.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley supports federal subsidies and tax credits to expand affordable childcare and investment in universal pre-K, framing early childcare as early education.
SourceConley supports expanding BOCES, Career and Technical Education, and community college programming, including apprenticeships linked to unions and employers.
SourceConley supports capping interest rates on federal student loans so borrowers do not pay far more than the original loan amount over time.
SourceConley opposes voucher programs that she says strip funding from public education, and education-union coverage describes her as supporting public education and opposing vouchers.
SourceConley supports modernizing aging public school infrastructure, fully funding lunch programs for qualifying students, and increasing funding for early childhood programs such as Head Start.
SourceCait Conley frames public safety around both law enforcement accountability and prevention: she supports border security and enforcement focused on violent criminals while opposing what she describes as abusive or unsafe ICE tactics. She also supports gun-safety measures such as universal background checks, closing private-sale loopholes, and federal help for state red-flag laws, plus safety standards for emerging AI risks.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Conley says she supports passing universal background checks to protect lawful gun owners while stopping criminals from obtaining firearms.
SourceConley supports closing exemptions for unlicensed dealers, including gun-show, online-sale, and private-transfer loopholes.
SourceConley supports federal grants to help states adopt extreme-danger laws that respect due process and keep guns away from domestic abusers or people who may harm themselves.
SourceConley says immigration enforcement should focus on dangerous criminals, drug cartels, human traffickers, and terrorist organizations rather than long-standing community members.
SourceConley supports reining in ICE by requiring body cameras, standard law-enforcement uniforms with visible identification, and prohibiting masked agents; in an October 2026 debate she also called a Bronx ICE shooting incident a public-safety hazard.
SourceBallotpedia
https://ballotpedia.org/New_York%27s_17th_Congressional_District_election,_2026_(June_23_Democratic_primary)Fetched: biography, committee assignments
Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
https://ctc.westpoint.edu/scholars/cait-conley/Fetched: biography, education, professional background
VOTE411
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-detail.do?id=3358858Fetched: biography, education, professional background
CBS News New York
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/mike-lawler-cait-conley-ny-district-17-congress-race-election/Fetched: age, biography
FEC API
https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/H6NY17171/totals/Fetched: totalRaised, totalSpent, cashOnHand
Ballotpedia News
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/06/24/cait-conley-d-defeated-beth-davidson-d-effie-phillips-staley-d-and-two-other-candidates-in-the-democratic-primary-for-new-yorks-17th-congressional-district/Fetched: endorsements
VoteVets endorsement via Cait Conley campaign
https://caitconley.com/votevets-endorses-battled-tested-combat-veteran-cait-conley-for-congress-in-new-yorks-17th-congressional-district/Fetched: endorsements
Communications Workers of America District 1
https://cwad1.org/press-releases/communications-workers-america-district-1-endorses-cait-conley-usFetched: endorsements
Human Rights Campaign
https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-pac-endorses-pro-equality-champion-cait-conley-for-u-s-houseFetched: endorsements
End Citizens United
https://www.endcitizensunited.org/news/end-citizens-united-endorses-cait-conley-for-new-yorks-17th-congressional-districtFetched: endorsements
Elect Democratic Women
https://electdemocraticwomen.org/elect-democratic-women-endorses-cait-conley-for-new-yorks-17th-congressional-district/Fetched: endorsements
The Stated Record
https://statedrecord.com/issues/new-york-us-house-17-2026/health-care-costsFetched: issuePositions
VOTE411 Voter Guide
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/m/candidate-detail.do?id=72372108Fetched: issuePositions
Guides.vote
https://guides.vote/guide/2026-new-york-ny-17-us-house-voters-guide/Fetched: issuePositions
The Stated Record
https://statedrecord.com/issues/new-york-us-house-17-2026/college-costs-and-job-trainingFetched: issuePositions
United Federation of Teachers
https://www.uft.org/new-york-teacher/news-stories/getting-out-vote-changeFetched: issuePositions
Political.org
https://political.org/2026/10/15/rep-mike-lawler-and-democrat-cait-conley-clash-over-ice-sanctuary-laws-and-bail-reform-in-final-ny-17-debate/Fetched: issuePositions