Tom and Jessica Gorman, whose daughter Sheridan was killed in Chicago this spring, have stepped into one of the country's most competitive House races with a 30-second TV ad supporting Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. The spot began airing Wednesday morning in New York's 17th Congressional District.
Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University Chicago freshman, was shot on March 19 while walking with friends along Lake Michigan. Prosecutors have charged Jose Medina, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela who had prior encounters with law enforcement and had been released before the shooting.
In the ad, Tom Gorman blames sanctuary policies championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow Democrats for his daughter's death. Jessica Gorman closes the spot by saying the family is choosing Lawler.
The Policy Dispute
Hochul signed a law earlier this year that bars local police in New York from cooperating with federal immigration authorities on enforcement. Chicago has operated under a similar sanctuary policy for years.
Lawler's Democratic challenger, Cait Conley, says on her campaign website that she supports a federal ban on 287(g) agreements, which deputize county and local police to carry out certain immigration functions under ICE supervision. Her campaign argues that ending those agreements lets local officers concentrate on local crime instead of absorbing federal work at local taxpayers' expense, while still holding offenders accountable.
At a News 12 debate on Monday night, the Gormans asked Conley directly whether she would overturn sanctuary laws, and she did not give a clear answer. Jessica Gorman later told the New York Post that she respects Conley's military service but found the response "cowardly."
In a statement, Conley called Sheridan's death devastating and inexcusable, said the government had failed her, and said police and immigration agents need the resources to confront cartels, traffickers and violent criminals. Conley attended the March vigil for Sheridan in Yorktown.
A Race That Could Decide the House
Lawler also appears in a second ad attacking Conley and Hochul over the state's sanctuary law. His campaign says it is putting seven figures behind the two spots over the coming weeks.
The district spans Rockland and Putnam counties and parts of Westchester and Dutchess, and it has many households with police officers, firefighters or veterans. About one in five voters is Jewish. Polling shows a near-even race, and the result could help determine which party controls the House next year.
Lawler, a former state assemblyman, is seeking a third term. Conley, a West Point graduate and Army veteran who worked at the Department of Homeland Security under President Biden, is making her first run for office after winning a five-way Democratic primary.
The Gormans say they were not politically active before their daughter's death. Jessica Gorman spoke at the Republican National Committee's midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 10.
Based on reporting by the New York Post (nypost.com). Photo: Rep. Mike Lawler, official portrait, 118th Congress (U.S. House of Representatives, public domain).
