Mondaire Jones

Mondaire L. Jones (born May 18, 1987) is an American lawyer and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2021 to 2023. The district included most of central and northwestern Westchester County and all of Rockland County. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones is one of the two first openly gay Black members of Congress in history. As a member of Congress, Jones was described as a rising star on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. After redistricting, he sought election in 2022 in New York's 10th district after DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney chose to run in . Jones lost the Democratic primary in to attorney Dan Goldman. In July 2023, Jones announced that he would seek election to his former seat in in the following year. Early life and career Jones was born in Nyack, New York, and grew up in Spring Valley, New York, where he was raised by a single mother, who worked multiple jobs to support him, and his grandparents. He graduated from public schools in the East Ramapo Central School District. He earned his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 2009. After graduating from Stanford, Jones worked in the U.S. Department of Justice during the presidency of Barack Obama. He then earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2013. After law school, Jones worked as a law clerk for Andrew L. Carter Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also worked for Davis Polk & Wardwell for four years, and one year with the Westchester County Law Department.