In the latest sign that New York voters are fed up with Democrats ignoring the core crime and inflation issues that mean the most to them heading into the polls on Nov. 8, Republican challenger Mike Lawler has a real chance to topple the House Democrats’ chief campaign chief, five-term incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.

In what is shaping up to potentially be a “red wave” election, an independent analysis released Monday rates that race for the 17th Congressional District just north of New York City as a toss-up.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its rating for NY-17 in the Hudson Valley from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up” after seeing how much money Republican groups are pouring into the race and how Democrats are playing defense on pressing voter issues including inflation and crime, which have been their primary concerns, according to several recent polls.

Meanwhile, in the race for governor, Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul is locked in a surprisingly close contest with Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in blue-leaning New York, buoying GOP candidates in down-ballot races.

The Maloney-Lawler contest is one of nine competitive congressional races in the state that could well determine whether Republicans take control of the US House of Representatives from Democrats.

Maloney is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lawler is a state assemblyman representing much of Rockland County that is part of the redrawn congressional district.

Damaging stories about Maloney’s eyebrow-raising hires to his legislative and campaign payrolls have not helped his cause.

He used more than $7,000 in taxpayer and donor funds to employ his husband’s personal trainer — leading to calls for an ethics probe.

Over the summer, Maloney came under fire by ethics experts — including a former Democratic Federal Elections Commission chairwoman — for using congressional and campaign funds to hire Harold Leath as his “body man” and pay for his move from Florida in 2014, The Post first reported.

Leath — who was registered to vote in New York using the address of Maloney and husband Randy Florke’s home —  appeared in online photos with the couple’s kids, at events that included their 2014 wedding and swimming in what appeared to be the pool on their estate.

The Maloney camp defended the hires as appropriate.

A House Republican super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, is spending $4 million in ads blasting Maloney for saying, during a 2018 debate for state attorney general, that he supported the campaign to eliminate cash bail.

Maloney now counters that he insisted there should be safeguards in the state law approved in 2019 to keep dangerous people off the streets, while not keeping poor defendants locked up simply because they lacked cash to post bail.

“When Republicans’ top super PAC announced an ad buy against Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-17) in April, many assumed it was a gambit to troll or distract the DCCC chair. But two weeks out from Election Day, Maloney finds himself in deep danger, simultaneously fighting for his political life in his Hudson Valley seat and desperately trying to prevent Democrats from being swept out of the House majority,” the Cook Political Report said.

The analysis noted that internal polls show a tight race and that three-quarters of the district is new to Maloney following redistricting. Maloney decided to run in the 17th CD instead of his existing 18th CD after the lines were redrawn following the Democrats’ disastrous gerrymandering debacle that was struck down by the courts.

“The CLF and NRCC have outspent Democratic groups $3.5 million to $384,000 so far, and the climate for Democrats in the state has deteriorated in the last few weeks as GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin has surged in the governor’s race. Republicans have lampooned Maloney over revelations he hosted posh DCCC fundraisers in Paris and Geneva earlier this month, and for hiring his husband’s personal trainer as a part-time driver on his congressional payroll,” the Cook analysis said.

“A Maloney defeat would be historic: a sitting DCCC/NRCC chair hasn’t lost reelection since 1992 (when NRCC Chair Guy Vander Jagt lost his primary in Michigan), and hasn’t lost a general election since 1980, when DCCC Chair Jim Corman lost in California.”

Lawler, meanwhile, said he has the momentum.

“The Maloney campaign is in full meltdown, and this rating upgrade comes as no surprise. Sean Maloney championed cashless bail, raised taxes on the middle class, and spends his time partying in Europe instead of listening to his constituents at home. Now, he’s planning to raid funds raised for other candidates as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He’s in a real spiral,” said Lawler campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly.

Maloney’s campaign sought to downplay the claim that he’s in peril and noted he has won previous competitive races.

“This race is and always has been competitive, just like the 5 others that Rep. Maloney has won. While MAGA Mike Lawler is alienating voters left and right with his anti-choice extremism and open use of racism and anti-Semitism, Rep. Maloney is campaigning on his strong record of results for the Hudson Valley,” said Maloney campaign spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg.