In a bucolic setting at the northern end of the Metro-North’s Hudson line, Dutchess County is the image of a typical county in the state trying to keep the Republican and Conservative parties relevant.
Earlier this month, at the swanky, upscale Villa Borghese catering hall, nestled in the quiet countryside and surrounded by the privacy of tall pine trees in Wappingers Falls, just 90 minutes from Manhattan, the Dutchess County Conservative Party held a $125-a-ticket brunch, with sponsorships going for much more than that. The atmosphere outside was breathtaking – while inside, the venom focused on Democrats was vicious.
The keynote speaker for the brunch was Washington, D.C. resident Andrew Giuliani, a golfing buddy of President Donald Trump and the executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2026, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
Also among the speakers was 39-year-old area Congressman Michael Lawler (R- Pearl River, Rockland County) who is running for a third term next year.
A third speaker was Michael Henry, who is making his second run for state attorney general against indicted incumbent Letitia James. In 2022, Henry lost to James by nine percentage points (54.6 percent to 45.3 percent).
Don Minichino, chairman of the Dutchess County Conservative Party, was the emcee for the brunch. “An event like this stimulates the party faithful. It’s a relaxing time. We want to spread the word that the Conservative Party is here to stay… We mean business,” Minichino told The Jewish Press. “I would like to hear from them [the speakers] how more conservative they can be. There’s always room for improvement.”
Minichino said there are two groups of voters his team is reaching out to recruit – young conservatives and what he called “non-enrolled” voters. “The young conservatives are out there. They need somebody. They need a voice – and here we are, the Conservative Party. Come on over. Talk to us… We understand your voice. We’re here for you,” Minichino said, adding, “non-enrollees, we’re hitting really hard with our recruitment efforts.”
During his remarks to the party faithful, Minichino, 73, a Stormville resident, doubled down on a recent controversial social media post he made.
“I put something up on Facebook comparing the Democrats to the Nazi Party. It’s all true… It offended somebody. Too bad for her. Senator [Michelle] Hinchey got offended. Hinchey, being part-Jewish because of her mother [being Jewish] was offended by what I posted. Where was she when they were treating these students like garbage at Columbia? Where was Nadler, Schumer…? Where were they when the brownshirts were treating these Jewish students like garbage?” Minichino said. “I know how to control the narrative for some of these people up here. The liberals want to come after you. I’m a conservative and I’m sick of being called a Nazi by the brownshirts of this century. That’s what they are – brownshirts.”
Chairmen from neighboring counties attended as well. “An event like this wakes people up telling them that we’re still alive as a party,” Orange County Chairwoman Grace White told The Jewish Press. “Something like this lets people know that there are still conservatives, still people that want the freedoms that we represent.” She said that Orange County “isn’t as bad as Dutchess County – we’re a purple county and it seems as though it is getting bluer. Dutchess is very blue.”
White described the Conservative Party platform as “very pro-life, pro-Second Amendment. I know some people are not happy about the policies [President Donald] Trump is putting into place with regards to immigration. Given time, his policies are going to work.”
New York A.G. candidate Henry opened his remarks by taking a swipe at his likely Democratic opponent, Letitia James.
“I am not currently being investigated by the Department of Justice, my primary residence is in the State of New York, I never married my father in order to pay the mortgage,” Henry told the Dutchess County crowd. “I ran a close race in 2022. I finished with 46 percent. I was not planning on doing this again. I have a good life. I enjoy what I do. I’m not going through a midlife crisis. I don’t want to be a perennial candidate, but I will continue to travel this state.”
Henry continued to make his points with humor. “There is a movie, Thelma and Louise. I was thinking about how, at the end of the movie, these two outlaws were going to drive their car off a cliff. I almost feel like Kathy Hochul and Letitia James are the Thelma and Louise of New York and the car is the state of New York. The good news is, in 2026 we’re going to take the keys back before they drive the state off the cliff,” he jested. “In 2026, not only do we have a responsibility and an obligation to defeat Kathy Hochul, the worst governor in the country, but [also to defeat] the worst attorney general – not only in the country but in the history of the state of New York – Letitia James. [She] is turning the New York State Attorney General’s office into a national embarrassment.”
He continued, “Her crown jewel – her $500 million judgement against the President of the United States – gets tossed by one of the most liberal appellate courts in the State of New York, if not the country,” he said. “You all paid for that. Tens of millions of dollars for her deficient lawyering. She has forgotten that the New York State Attorney General is the people’s lawyer and not the enforcer for the Democratic National Committee.”
Noting that the New York State Attorney General’s office oversees a large portion of the state’s economy – hospitality, real estate, financial services, insurance – he said, “If you call that office right now, there are [recorded messages at] bureaus telling you they are under Covid restrictions. There is actually a bureau there that if you call, you hear a recording, welcome to the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman [who served from 2011-18]. This office typically has approximately 650 attorneys and now it is pushing almost 750 attorneys because Tish James is apparently not into limited government.”
Next up was Congressman Michael Lawler. He’s still reminding the party faithful about his surprise victory in 2022 over incumbent congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, then the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lawler won by 2,639 votes, less than one percentage point of the 286,688 total votes cast, according to Ballotpedia.
“Not only did we defeat Sean Patrick Maloney, but we ended Nancy Pelosi’s reign as Speaker of the House. Dutchess County was determinative of the outcome and determinative of whether or not Republicans were in the majority. That’s what really laid the groundwork and the foundation for the 2024 election,” Lawler said. “We had the ability to stop the Biden agenda dead in its tracks. We had the ability to focus on the issues that matter to the American people from Biden’s disastrous border policies to the outrageous and out of control spending and inflation that was crushing our economy. We were able to hold them accountable.”
Lawler also reminisced about his 2024 re-election bid. “Last year, not only did President Trump make history by winning a second [non-consecutive] term, but we were able to keep the House. We kept it with three seats…Three seats that made the difference between whether or not we could advance President Trump’s and our agenda through Congress. Three seats that made the difference whether or not we could get a tax bill that actually cut taxes rather than raise them. Three seats that made the difference whether or not we would actually bend the curve on spending and start to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse out of government. Three seats that made the difference whether or not we would secure our border and stop this massive influx of illegal immigration. That’s the difference,” Lawler said. “When you think your vote doesn’t matter, when you think all hope is lost, remember that a seat like ours is the only reason we have been able to pass this legislation and stop the disastrous policies of the Biden administration.”
Earlier this year, Lawler decided not to run for governor against Hochul, but he didn’t hold back from attacking her.
“Next year, it is vital that we are unified, that we are working together as one ticket and one team. That we are doing everything in our power, not just to defeat Kathy Hochul, the worst [expletive] governor in America, but that we do everything in our power to keep control of the House of Representatives,” Lawler said as he jazzed up the attendees. “It means that in Dutchess County we have to defeat Pat Ryan next year. It means we have to hold my seat.”
He talked about what he considers his major accomplishment. “I’m proud of the fact that I was able to deliver on my number-one promise which was to lift the cap on SALT [State and Local Taxes] and provide real tax relief in New York. We delivered on our promise,” he said. “It matters for New York. It matters for our district. Ninety percent of my constituents will be able to fully deduct their state and local taxes next year.”
Earlier this year, President Trump encouraged House Republicans to pass a spending bill that boosts the SALT cap to $30,000, up from the current $10,000 deduction. Lawler and other blue-state Republicans representing high-tax areas argued that this proposed increase was insufficient.
Lawler also said he feels the tide turning in Dutchess County, with it becoming a blue or purple county. He lashed out at the impact the New York City mayoral race will have on voter enrollment in the county.
“The voting patterns are shifting. More and more New York City residents are moving up here. If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor, you’ll have a lot of New York City residents moving up here…” he said. “The reality is you have an avowed Socialist who is on the precipice of being mayor of the financial capital of the world. Someone who has talked about seizing control of private property. Someone who has talked about being against capitalism, wanting to ban billionaires and millionaires despite the fact that he is a trust fund baby from his millionaire mother.
“He is somebody who has talked about defunding the police, shutting down prisons, legalizing prostitution. He wants government-run grocery stores, free busing, and freezing the rent. These challenges facing New York – it boils down to one thing: failed, feckless, incompetent leadership. It’s on Republicans to turn it around.”
With Andrew Giuliani close by, Lawler recalled a Big Apple that was shinier than it is today. “This is a far cry from the days of Rudy Giuliani as mayor of New York City. When you think about what Mayor Giuliani was able to do during his two terms and what Mayor Bloomberg was able to do based on that foundation he was given, you had 20 years of Republican governance,” Lawler said. “It was Republican governance for 20 years that made that city what it became.
“Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams, and now potentially Zohran Mamdani are going to destroy it all with one fell swoop because of disastrous leadership. By the way, Andrew Cuomo is not a solution to Zohran Mamdani. I’m sorry. The man signed cashless bail into law, he made New York a sanctuary state, he banned natural gas, shut down Indian Point, he killed 15,000 seniors sending them to their deaths in those nursing homes, he is not a solution.”
Lawler did not mention Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, though he told The Jewish Press he did endorse Sliwa.
The final speaker at the brunch was Andrew Giuliani, who was appointed to a plum and respected position by the president to run the 20-member White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The World Cup is due to take place this coming summer. New York and New Jersey were picked to host the final match at the Meadowlands Stadium. Spread over 16 stadiums internationally, there will be 48 teams from 28 counties participating in the prestigious World Cup competition.
“President Trump was actually going to give the role, shockingly enough, to Andrew Cuomo, but he used his hands too much. You can’t use your hands in soccer, Andrew. You can’t do that,” Giuliani, 39, joked in his opening remarks.
Then Giuliani got serious and focused his remarks on the leadership in Washington, D.C.
“The Democrats are off bickering and trying to shut down the Trump agenda. It is the perfect juxtaposition about somebody who actually is coming in every single day and fighting for We the People versus the Democrats, led sadly by two New Yorkers, [Senator] Chuck Schumer and [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, who look at each and every one of us and say ‘Well, they are impeding my path to power,’” Giuliani said.
Then he took aim at the New York City mayor’s race and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, whom he called “an avowed communist.”
“[He’s] somebody who went after Bill de Blasio because he felt he didn’t defund the police enough. Think about that,” Giuliani pointed out. “If [Mamdani] gets elected here, come January you are going to have all the cops that hit their 20-year mark or hit their 15- or 10-year mark, and can start getting benefits, they’re all going to retire. You’re not going to have anywhere near the numbers from a recruiting standpoint which, by the way, the NYPD is struggling to recruit anyway. You might get some of the quantity to stay, but all of the quality is going to go and leave for Florida, Texas – all of the places where they actually look at law enforcement and believe that this person is an important member of the community…You’re going to have them all leave and see New York City spiral really, really quickly.”
The son of the former mayor also bolstered Michael Henry’s campaign for state Attorney General and took aim at the incumbent, Letitia James.
“It’s so key to making sure this persecution through prosecution does not continue on. That’s why Michael Henry in his race might be the most important race, not just in the state but in the entire country,” he said. “When you saw what Letitia James was able to do to weaponize the government against their political opponents, there is sadly no one better at persecuting your political opponents than Letitia James.”
All the speakers noted that the younger Giuliani has come a long way from being the pesky brat at age 7 goofing around on stage while his father was being sworn into office. That is probably a moment he will never live down.