Mondaire Jones, a Democratic former congressman looking to win a competitive House seat in the Hudson Valley, said there’s new enthusiasm in his race now that Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to be the presidential nominee this November.

“People here are enthusiastic about a new generation of leadership embodied by Vice President Kamala Harris,” Jones said.

Jones endorsed Harris on Monday after President Joe Biden announced the end of his reelection campaign. 

“It is indeed an endorsement of Kamala Harris and, more importantly, of the Democratic Party’s platform of lowering cost, continuing to cap the cost of prescription drugs, securing the border,” he said.

Biden’s imploding reelection effort had Democrats in competitive races across the nation worried he would drag down their chances of taking control of the House of Representatives this November.

Not that Jones thought Biden would be a drag on his campaign.

“Even with President Biden at the top of the ticket, I had a very clear path to victory,” he said.

But Rep. Mike Lawler, the Republican incumbent, believes it was Biden’s policies that were dragging down Democrats.

“I don’t think much changes because Kamala Harris was part and parcel of this administration from the economy to the border to the challenges around the world,” Lawler said. “She was there every step of the way.”

Lawrence Levy, an expert on suburban politics, laid out the stakes for a Democratic ticket with a weak nominee.

“It can just cause huge harm to candidates who have been perceived all along as doing a good job, but suddenly wake up after Election Day as losers,” Levy, dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, said.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is on the ballot this year, said she’s focused on sweeping these races.

“We have six battle ground districts right now in New York state,” she said. “I think we can win all six because this choice of what our values are and what we’re fighting for are so stark.”

From Suffolk County to Syracuse, all six swing-district Democratic candidates in New York have endorsed Harris.

“There has been such a surge of excitement around Vice President Harris — in grassroots donors and volunteers,” said Gabby Seay, spokeswoman for Battleground New York, a group focused on winning competitive House seats in the state.