Maloney, champion of overdraft reform, toppled by Nadler in New York primary

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat and financial policy heavyweight in Congress, was defeated by fellow Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler on Tuesday night after a bitter primary contest, according to a projection by The Associated Press.

For Maloney, the defeat comes after three decades of serving in the House of Representatives. The congresswoman will exit federal office in early January as the chair of the Oversight Committee as well as a longtime veteran of the Financial Services Committee. 

The unusual election between two of the most senior members of the House came after the 2020 U.S. census stripped one congressional seat from New York's delegation. A previous map designed by the state's legislature that favored Democrats was thrown out by a New York court in April, and the revised map pitted Maloney and Nadler against one another in the new 12th Congressional District centered on Manhattan. 

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

A third candidate running in the Democratic primary for the 12th District — attorney Suraj Patel — nearly unseated Maloney in 2020 but was overshadowed by the intense clash between Nadler and Maloney. 

First elected in 1992, Maloney has played a key role in passing major financial legislation, typically tied to consumer protection. In 2009, then-President Barack Obama signed a landmark credit card reform law championed by Maloney that introduced a "bill of rights" for consumers, including new disclosure requirements and limits on certain types of fees and interest rate increases. 

More recently, Maloney has championed the Overdraft Protection Act, which would introduce federal limits on how often banks can charge nonsufficient-funds fees and explicitly require customers to opt into overdraft programs. The bill passed out of the House Financial Services Committee along partisan lines in late July. 

The final days of the 12th District Democratic primary saw a flurry of powerful endorsements that went against Maloney. The New York Times endorsed Nadler earlier in August, as did Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — a powerful and unusual snub from the top member of the New York congressional delegation. 

Maloney had raised eyebrows in the election's closing weeks when she declared that President Biden would not seek reelection in 2024 in both a televised debate and Q&A with The New York Times — a comment she later walked back. 

On the campaign trail this summer, Maloney touted her experience in Congress and argued that the challenges ahead for Democrats — including the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court — would best be handled by a woman. She also questioned Nadler's fitness to serve, pointing to a New York Post editorial that suggested he was "close to senile" in comments to Spectrum News earlier this month.