News: POLITICO New York Playbook: Party favorites prevail in primary, Part 1

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

POLITICO New York Playbook: Party favorites prevail in primary, Part 1

Jun 29, 2022

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Georgia Rosenberg

Presented by Equinor

Last night's primary delivered final answers to the big questions quite quickly, with the establishment showing it can still throw its weight — at least when it comes to low-turnout elections.

Gov. Kathy Hochul swept her race, as expected, with The Associated Press calling the contest within 30 minutes, with roughly 67 percent of the vote. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' hit 20 percent and Rep. Tom Suozzi's received 13 percent. Hochul, when claiming victory at her watch party, thanked Williams and said she looks forward to their partnership on behalf of New York City. No such s/o for Suozzi, who does not have an office to return to.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, whose fate was less certain but leaned on Hochul's machine, also cruised to a win over progressive activist Ana María Archila and former New York City Council Member Diana Reyna.

Republican party pick Rep. Lee Zeldin smoothly survived the four-way GOP primary for governor that included former Trump aide Andrew Giuliani, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and moderate businessman Harry Wilson.

In the Assembly, the majority of progressive challengers were beat back by incumbents, save for three assemblymembers — Jose Rivera (D-Bronx), Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh) and Kevin Cahill (D-Kingston) — who were set to lose their seats by late Tuesday night.

It's no surprise that party favorites mostly ruled the evening with turnout percentages in the teens. Voters heading to their polls for the first of two hot summer primary elections in a non-presidential year are likely those the machine has sent.

But it makes for an unpredictable general election in November, when candidates will need more widespread and sustained energy from a broader spread of voters. And that energy might be in short supply after they've already visited the ballot boxes a second time this summer, in August, for the state Senate and congressional primaries.

IT'S WEDNESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERE'S KATHY? Speaking after a meeting of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns.

WHERE'S ERIC? Making two public safety announcements and meeting with the president of Microsoft and the Shelby County sheriff.

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WHAT ALBANY'S READING

Hochul and Zeldin make clear their differences in New York governor race, by POLITICO's Anna Gronewold and Bill Mahoney: Republican leaders in New York have spent over a year touting Rep. Lee Zeldin as their best hope to recapture the executive branch. But while his conservative positioning and clout easily pulled him through the primary, Zeldin must now repaint himself as a viable gubernatorial candidate with multi-party appeal in a deep-blue state. Zeldin faces the daunting task of challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November after they each emerged victorious from their respective primaries Tuesday night. And Hochul quickly framed her Republican foes as "right wing extremists" set to strip abortion rights and gun control.

Republicans have lost each of the past 24 statewide elections — the last Republican to win statewide office was former Gov. George Pataki's election to a third term in 2002. The landscape hasn't gotten any better. New York now has nearly 6 million Democrats and about 2.7 million Republicans. There now are more voters registered as "blank" or no party than in the GOP, according to the Board of Elections most recent count. But Zeldin sees a path to victory by seizing on rising crime, population losses in the state and its high cost of living.

Three Assembly incumbents likely to lose, but most beat back progressive challenges, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: The vast majority of Democratic members of the state Assembly who faced primary challenges on Tuesday won their party's nomination with ease, but three appeared to be on track to lose. Asssemblymember Jose Rivera (D-Bronx) was poised to lose by a wide margin to George Alvarez in a three-way race. Rivera has served in either the Assembly or New York City Council since 1983. He was the chair of the powerful Bronx Democratic Committee until he was ousted by now Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie in 2008, and his tenure in Albany overlapped with that of two of his children. But he hasn't focused much on actually legislating in recent years, and has mostly become known for the ubiquitous selfie stick he uses to record all of the chamber's proceedings. Alvarez, an activist who was making what was at least his fourth run for office in recent years, had 47 percent of the vote with the vast majority of ballots counted. Rivera was at 27 percent, not much ahead of third-place finisher Emmanuel Martinez's 22 percent.

"New York's troubled ethics panel holds final meeting ," by Times Union's Chris Bragg: "After 11 tumultuous years, New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics conducted its final meeting on Tuesday. On July 8, the commission will cease to exist. The Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul agreed in the budget passed in April to replace it with a new ethics and lobbying oversight body — the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. JCOPE was created through an ethics reform agreement struck in 2011 principally by three former lawmakers: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Silver and Skelos were later convicted on federal corruption charges and forced from office. Last August, Cuomo resigned after a state attorney general's report concluded he had sexually harassed or acted inappropriately with multiple women, and the Legislature was poised to impeach him.

"At Tuesday's meeting, Gerstman said that during her eight-month tenure, criticisms that JCOPE was ineffective or political had not been true, and she praised both the commissioners and staff. 'The media has been wrong, at least with respect to this commission, these commissioners, as we are currently constituted,' she said."

#UpstateAmerica: None of Buffalo's outdoor public pools will open this year because of a lifeguard shortage.

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WHAT CITY HALL IS READING

Rudy Giuliani should be investigated for reporting false crime , New York Mayor Eric Adams says, by POLITICO's Julian Shen-Berro and Madina Touré: Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani should be investigated for filing a false police report after "America's Mayor" apparently made an exaggerated police report about a spat with a Staten Islander over the weekend. Giuliani claims an employee at a borough ShopRite assaulted him while he was stumping for his son Andrew Giuliani's gubernatorial bid. Surveillance video shows the worker tap Giuliani, 78, on the back before chewing out the former mayor. The footage has prompted critics to mock Giuliani for claiming to "feel a shot on my back, like somebody shot me." The worker, identified by the Legal Aid Society as Daniel Gill, was charged with felony second-degree assault involving a person over the age of 65, but Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon downgraded the charges Monday to misdemeanors for assault, menacing and harassment.

— "Tell Adams to go f–k himself," was Giuliani's response to the New York Post. "What a f—king scumbag."

Adams-backed candidates succeed in Tuesday primaries — with a few big asterisks by POLITICO's Joe Anuta and Julian Shen-Berro: Mayor Eric Adams put his political capital to the test Tuesday night to help friends win their Democratic primaries, push back against challenges from the left and help allies vanquish their enemies. And while the new mayor came away with mostly wins, a close ally who received Adams' enthusiastic backing lost badly. … Adams had backed a slate of several Assembly members — many of them incumbents facing challenges from candidates backed by the Working Families Party. Assembly Member Michael Benedetto of the Bronx, for example, squared off against Jonathan Soto, a former staffer to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. … As of Tuesday night, Benedetto had secured around 56 percent of the vote with nearly all Election Day votes tallied, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections. … And while a handful of other Assembly incumbents backed by Adams appeared to be on similar tracks to win, Hercules Reid, a former staffer in City Hall and on the mayor's campaign, was set to lose to Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman by nearly 30 points, just a month after losing to her in a special election.

" New NYC school superintendent resigned from last job over sexual harassment allegations," by New York Daily News' Michael Elsen-Rooney: "A new Bronx superintendent left his former post as head of the Newburgh school system after an independent investigator found he sexually harassed a female subordinate, according to court documents. Roberto Padilla was accused of making inappropriate comments and advances towards two Newburgh educators during a work trip to California, according to a May lawsuit the women filed in state supreme court in Orange County. Padilla just landed a job heading up the South Bronx's District 7, as part of Schools chancellor David Banks rehiring of the city's 45 superintendent positions in a leadership shakeup."

Critics say city is cherry-picking Rikers violence-reduction stats, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: Mayor Eric Adams' administration is touting a reduction in violence on Rikers Island — but city data shows that stabbings and slashings have surged since the beginning of the year, and critics say the administration is cherry-picking numbers. At a City Council hearing Tuesday, Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina cited a 63 percent drop in stabbings and slashings in May of this year, compared to March. Adams touted the same statistic in a visit to Rikers last week. Yet in the first five months of the year, stabbings and slashings increased by 51 percent compared to the same period in 2021, from 142 to 214, according to city statistics.

"Lifeguard shortages, surprise closures disrupt NYC pools' opening day: 'Summer's going to be brutal,'" by Gothamist's Jake Offenhartz, Gwynne Hogan and Elizabeth Kim: "The reopening of New York City's public pools, a typically joyous occasion, was marred by unannounced closures and extended waits on Tuesday — the latest blow in a series of setbacks for the city's summer swimming programs. Despite an ongoing shortage of lifeguards, the Parks Department assured city residents this week that they would open all 51 of the city's pools to the public. But hopeful swimmers from Harlem to Bushwick said they arrived at the gates of their local public pools to find them locked. At the intersection of 135th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, young residents awaited the opening of the Abe Lincoln mini pool, despite an official explanation that the pool lifeguards never showed up."

"Here's Eric Adams' plan for making child care more affordable," by Chalkbeat's Christina Veiga and Alex Zimmerman: "Former Mayor Bill de Blasio dramatically expanded free preschool in New York City, an incredibly popular initiative that made it free for every 4 year old. Now, Mayor Eric Adams is looking to leave his own mark on the early childhood education system, releasing a blueprint on Tuesday for making it easier-to-use for families and more streamlined for providers. The 38-page plan calls for helping families access care more easily and expanding services to reach 41,000 more children in high-needs neighborhoods over the next two years. It also focuses on strengthening the workforce who serve the city's youngest children."

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FROM THE DELEGATION

"De Blasio draws criticism from Congressional Black Caucus over Nina Turner comments," by Jewish Insider's Matthew Kassel: "Bill de Blasio drew criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday over recent comments in which the former New York City mayor said he wished a friend and former two-time Democratic House candidate in Cleveland, Nina Turner, had been elected to Congress. The caucus viewed de Blasio's remarks as dismissive of a fellow member, freshman Rep. Shontel Brown, who defeated Turner in two consecutive cycles in Ohio's 11th Congressional District, most recently in last month's Democratic primary. The CBC's political action committee endorsed Brown over Turner, a former Ohio state senator and progressive stalwart who had cast herself as a future Squad member."

AROUND NEW YORK

— NYPD counterterror chief John Miller is leaving the department.

— The decline in new Covid-19 cases in the city has stalled .

— Adams defended the arrest of a popular subway saxophonist at the Herald Square station.

— Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

— The City Council heard bills that would identify locations for more public bathrooms.

— The Landmarks Preservation Commission is considering whether to landmark a Park Slope home that houses a lesbian history archive.

— A Saudi man was charged in Brooklyn with lying to federal officials about using an Instagram account to harass and threaten dissidents.

— The Metropolitan Museum of Art will now cost $30 for out-of-state residents.

— Kim Pegula, owner of the Bills and Sabres, is "progressing well" in a Florida hospital.

— Todd Kerner is stepping down as chair of Saratoga County's Democratic Party.

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SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Laura Rozen … Josh Meyer … CNN's Evan Pérez … Emily Spain … Tamera Luzzatto of Pew Charitable Trusts … BerlinRosen's Cathy Rought … The Hill's Hanna Trudo … Amish Shah … Caroline Eisen

MAKING MOVES — Ayana Robertson will be the new general counsel at JASA. She was formerly deputy general counsel at Safe Horizon. ... Dale Degenshein has been promoted to be office managing partner of the New York office of Armstrong Teasdale. ... Natalie Munio is joining NBC as a publicist. She previously was a publicist at Warner Bros. Discovery. ... Michael Held , the former general counsel at the New York Fed, is joining WilmerHale as a partner in its New York office, starting July 18. Held, who joined the New York Fed in 1998 as a staff attorney, played key roles in the bank's responses to the 2008 financial crisis and the market turmoil that resulted from the pandemic, and also helped shepherd the industry's LIBOR transition. (h/t Morning Money)

WEEKEND WEDDING — Alexis Kleinman, branded content editor at Axios and an alum of HuffPost and the New York Times, on Saturday married Dr. Chris Mezias, a research scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in a wedding in Hunter, N.Y. in the Catskills. The couple met on Bumble. Pic

Real Estate

"The Flight of New York City's Wealthy Was a Once-in-a-Century Shock," by The New York Times' Nicole Hong and Matthew Haag: "When roughly 300,000 New York City residents left during the early part of the pandemic, officials described the exodus as a once-in-a-century shock to the city's population. Now, new data from the Internal Revenue Service shows that the residents who moved to other states by the time they filed their 2019 taxes collectively reported $21 billion in total income, substantially more than those who departed in any prior year on record. The IRS said the data captured filings received in 2020 and as late as July 2021."

" 'We have no rights with this management': Flatbush Gardens tenants rally for better living conditions," by Brooklyn Paper's Jada Camille: "Residents of Flatbush Gardens — a sprawling apartment complex more than 59 buildings and 2,000 units — rallied against mismanagement and "unjust" living conditions on June 27, claiming management has long overlooked rodent infestation, crumbling walls and ceilings, and improper plumbing. According to tenant Jocelyn Fenton, the light fixtures in her apartment are a disaster, and the doors have such large gaps that they allow for rodents and bugs to get into her home."