Hochul wins with House uncertain

From: POLITICO New York Playbook - Wednesday Nov 09,2022 12:10 pm

Nov 09, 2022

By Anna Gronewold , Erin Durkin and Julian Shen-Berro

Gov. Kathy Hochul has made history for the second time in her 15 month tenure. Hochul is not only the first woman to be governor of New York, she is the first woman New Yorkers have explicitly chosen to lead the state .

"The glass ceiling like the one that's above us here today has finally been shattered in the state of New York, and you made it happen," she told supporters at her Capitale watch party in Lower Manhattan.

It seemed a sure thing New York would reelect its incumbent Democrat until sometime last month when Republican challenger Lee Zeldin began to surge in polls with closer margins than Team Hochul felt comfortable with.

But, to visible relief at Hochul HQ, the governor made sufficient showing — if not particularly strong, compared to past Democratic incumbents — throughout the night, even as results came a little later than many expected, in part due to technical difficulties on Zeldin’s Long Island home turf.

A Wi-Fi outage caused Suffolk County officials to delay publication of 450,000 election night results for state, federal, and local races. That meant that instead of uploading results on nearly 1500 memory cards at regional hubs around the county, they had to drive the cards throughout county polling places to election board headquarters in Yaphank.

Zeldin did not concede Tuesday night, citing the Suffolk delays. “What’s going to happen is over the course of these next couple of hours you’re going to see the race continue to get closer and closer and closer,” he said.

But many outlets, including POLITICO, had called the state for Hochul before midnight.

We can’t offer the same resolution for the majority of New York’s competitive congressional races that remain too close to call even this morning.

Hope you’ve got some nails left to bite — control of the House is still up in the air .

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? In New York City with no announced public schedule.

WHERE’S ERIC? Speaking at the BioFuture Conference and Women of Service for America ceremony, signing child care bills, speaking at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce’s Tenth Biennial Business Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner and receiving an award from the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

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WHAT ALBANY'S READING

“ N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James declares victory ahead of final tally ,” by New York Daily News’ Michael Gartland: “Incumbent New York State Attorney General Letitia James declared victory on Tuesday evening after NBC News and MSNBC projected that she would win against Republican challenger Michael Henry. … ‘Tonight, we heard from New Yorkers from across the state, and I am so proud to earn a second term as your Attorney General. Over the past four years, we have worked tirelessly to make New York a place where there is only one system of justice for all, and tonight is an affirmation of all that we have accomplished,’ James said in a statement.”

“ New York voters overwhelmingly pass Environmental Bond Act ,” by Times Union’s Brendan J. Lyons: “The $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Energy, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act was overwhelmingly passed by voters — and lawmakers said it will not result in a tax increase. The act…will devote millions of dollars for water infrastructure improvements across the state, with at least $200 million earmarked for upgrading wastewater systems. Roughly $250 million will pay for local stormwater projects, which municipalities — especially in areas prone to flooding. Other projects include replacing lead service lines that provide water to residences.”

“ New York’s 1% Pour Late Cash Into Governor’s Race ,” by City Limits’ David Brand: “A late torrent of cash has poured into the race for governor, with Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin taking in a combined $3.5 million from wealthy New Yorkers, out-of-towners and interest groups in the final week before Election Day, finance records show. Much of the fresh funding came from real estate developers, large-scale landlords and heads of speculating private equity firms, along with a slew of billionaires, attorneys, sports gambling execs, an Eric Adams-aligned political action committee and the New York Yankees. All told, at least 173 contributors gave $1,000 or more to Hochul, the moderate Democratic incumbent, since Halloween as she sought to fend off a challenge from far-right Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, according to the most recently available filings Tuesday morning. Those contributions totaled more than $1.6 million.”

#UpstateAmerica: Some votes in Washington County had to be hand counted due a paper jam.

CAMPAIGN MODE

Republican Nicole Malliotakis defends NY-11 seat , by POLITICO’s Erin Durkin: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis won reelection as New York City’s lone GOP House member Tuesday in a rematch against the moderate Democrat she unseated two years ago. Malliotakis fended off challenger Max Rose in New York’s 11th Congressional District, which covers the relatively conservative borough of Staten Island and a right-leaning slice of Brooklyn. Malliotakis had 62 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Rose Tuesday night. “What an amazing, amazing mandate from the people of Staten Island and southern Brooklyn,” Malliotakis said at an election night party. “That’s what this race was always about — about stopping the disastrous policies that we’ve seen under one-party rule,” she said. “I’m very hopeful that we will see a balance come to both our state and our country tonight.” Rose conceded the race in his own election night speech. “While tonight’s outcome is certainly not what we hoped for, in this party and as proud Americans we respect the outcomes of elections,” he said.

“ House Democratic Campaign Chair Sean Patrick Maloney Trailing in N.Y .,” by Wall Street Journal’s Kristina Peterson: “Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the chairman of House Democrats’ campaign arm, was losing his own re-election race in a largely redrawn district Tuesday night, setting up what could be a coup for Republicans. Mr. Maloney was trailing with 46% of the vote, compared with 55% for GOP state lawmaker Mike Lawler, with 69% of votes counted for the Hudson Valley area seat, according to the Associated Press. A sitting House campaign committee chair hasn’t lost re-election since 1992, when the House GOP campaign chair Guy Vander Jagt lost his primary, according to the Cook Political Report. It’s been even longer since a sitting House campaign committee chair lost a general election. The last time for that was 1980, when House Democrats’ campaign chairman Jim Corman lost his seat in California, according to Cook.”

“ Conole leads Williams in Congressional District 22 with 26% of votes in, AP says ,” by Syracuse Post-Standard’s Kevin Tampone: “Democrat Francis Conole is leading Republican Brandon Williams 59.4% to 40.6% in the race for the House of Representatives seat in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. About 26% of the votes have been counted, AP said. The campaign has been one of the most competitive and closely watched in the nation. It’s considered a tossup by multiple analysts and both parties are counting on a victory to help them win control of the House.”

“ Rep. Pat Ryan wins full congressional term with victory in NY-18 race ,” by Spectrum News’ Luke Parsnow: “Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan has secured a full term in Congress, defeating Republican Colin Schmitt in the race for New York’s 18th Congressional District after Schmitt conceded early Wednesday morning. With 93% of votes counted early Wednesday, Ryan held a modest 50.4% to 49.6% lead over Schmitt, according to The Associated Press. Ryan's victory is his second congressional race in the past three months.”

“ Marc Molinaro leads Josh Riley in undecided race for NY-19 seat ,” by Spectrum News’ Luke Parsnow: “The open race for New York's 19th Congressional District between Republican Marc Molinaro and Democrat Josh Riley remains too close to call as of Wednesday morning, though Molinaro holds a slim lead, according to the latest unofficial vote totals. With 95% of the expected vote reporting, the Dutchess County executive leads 51% to Riley's 49%, a vote difference of 6,185 votes. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.”

“ Nick LaLota wins to keep Lee Zeldin’s NY-1 House seat in GOP hands ,” by New York Post’s Nolan Hicks: “Republican Nick LaLota defeated Democrat Bridget Fleming in their battle to represent much of the North Shore and eastern Long Island in Congress. The Associated Press called the race around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday with LaLota holding a 55.7% to 44.3% edge and 91% of the vote counted. The win keeps the 1st district — which had been repped in Congress by Republican Lee Zeldin, who opted to run for governor of New York rather than seek re-election in the largely redrawn seat — in Republican hands. It covers large swaths of northern and eastern Suffolk County, including the Hamptons.”

“ G.O.P. Retains House Seat on Long Island, a Swing-District Battleground ,” by The New York Times’ Liam Stack: “Representative Andrew Garbarino, a Republican, won his race in the Second Congressional District on Long Island, a key battleground in the battle for the House. The race was called early Wednesday morning by The Associated Press. Mr. Garbarino’s victory was largely expected: In the four House races on Long Island this year, Mr. Garbarino was the only Long Island incumbent running, and his district, which stretches across the southeastern parts of the island, leaned conservative in 2020.”

“ Republican George Santos wins, flipping Tom Suozzi’s NY-3 House seat ,” by New York Post’s Carl Campanile: “Republican George Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman to flip retiring Rep. Tom Suozzi’s Long Island house seat red. The Associated Press called the race for Santos just after 1:30 am with the Republican holding a 54.2% to 45.8% lead and 90% of the votes counted. Santos, a 34-year-old finance executive who lost to Suozzi two years ago, ran for the NY-3 congressional district seat on a conservative platform of cutting taxes, demanding border security and railing against the Democrats’ unpopular state cashless bail law.”

“ Rep. Joe Morelle re-elected to third term in Congress, beats La’Ron Singletary in NY-25 ,” by Spectrum News’ Luke Parsnow: “Rep. Joe Morelle has won a third full term in Congress, the Associated Press projects, defeating Republican challenger La’Ron Singletary. Morelle will return to Washington to represent the Rochester area in the 25th Congressional District seat, which encompasses all of Monroe County and five towns on the eastern border of Orleans County.”

— “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer cruised to an easy victory over Republican challenger Joe Pinion Tuesday, winning a fifth consecutive six-year term that will allow him to pass Daniel Patrick Moynihan as the Empire State’s longest serving US senator.”

— AS EXPECTED in Western New York: “Nick Langworthy (R) took the win in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, Claudia Tenney (R) won a re-drawn 24th district and Brian Higgins (D) will serve a 10th term in Congress after winning re-election in the 26th district.”

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What City Hall's reading

New York City overwhelmingly supports racial justice ballot measures , by POLITICO’s Joe Anuta: Voters in New York City widely adopted a trio of local ballot questions aimed at promoting equity and racial justice on Tuesday. The measures create a new office of racial equity within the city government, change how poverty is gauged to better reflect life in New York City and add a preamble to the City Charter that spells out City Hall’s commitment to righting past injustices perpetrated against various communities. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio empaneled a Racial Justice Commission in the aftermath of intense nationwide protest for racial equity in 2020. The group spent more than a year hearing public testimony before coming up with the trio of ballot measures that passed Tuesday. The new Office of Racial Equity will likely be integrated with the existing Mayor’s Office for Equity and will monitor various programs — such as trash pickup or street repaving — for disparities by race. The ballot measure will establish a permanent racial equity commission and also require the city and its agencies to publish racial equity plans every two years.

“ NYC Mayor Adams disappointed that political action group allied with him pumped $10K into Lee Zeldin’s GOP bid ,” by New York Daily News’ Chris Sommerfeldt: “Mayor Adams voiced disappointment Tuesday that a political group closely aligned with him donated $10,000 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin on the eve of his electoral showdown against Gov. Hochul. ‘I’m disappointed, but I don’t have any say-so on the PAC and how the money is spent,’ the Democratic mayor told reporters of the five-figure Zeldin contribution from Striving for a Better New York, a political action committee founded by the Rev. Alfred Cockfield. Cockfield, a Brooklyn pastor and prominent Adams supporter, launched the PAC last fall with an aim to boost moderate Democratic political candidates who see eye to eye with the mayor on public safety and other issues.”

“ Thousands of asylum-seeking students in NYC spread out across more than 300 schools ,” by WNYC’s Gwynne Hogan: “New York City schools have enrolled thousands of migrant students in more than 300 schools since July, according to newly released Education Department data analyzed by Gothamist. While individual reports have emerged across the city of school communities stepping up to embrace the newcomers, the new data offers the clearest picture yet of how thousands of new students living in homeless shelters and other temporary housing are enrolling in public schools in every borough. The education department data shows that 369 schools have received at least a total of 5,851 students identified through Mayor Eric Adams’ Project Open Arms, which aims to connect asylum-seekers with city services. City officials confirmed that the bulk of the students are migrants.”

“ Fire Dept.’s First Female Boss Takes Over an Agency Resistant to Change ,” by The New York Times’ Chelsea Rose Marcius: “Laura Kavanagh had been out celebrating: The next day she would become the New York Fire Department’s acting commissioner, and she had gathered with friends on a Thursday night to toast her success. Her phone rang as she was walking up the stairs to her home in Clinton Hill. It was 12:05 a.m. on Feb. 18 and a firefighter, Jesse Gerhard, 33, had collapsed in his firehouse in Queens and died. He had responded to a fire in Far Rockaway one day before, where he had been doing his work amid heavy smoke. The previous commissioner, Daniel A. Nigro, had retired at midnight and Ms. Kavanagh was now in charge.”

AROUND NEW YORK

— Tropical Storm Nicole is expected to cause rainfall this weekend.

— A woman who accused law professor Alan Dershowitz of sexual abuse said she may have been mistaken as they settled lawsuits against each other.

— Colgate University is returning more than 1,500 items to the Oneida Indian Nation that were once buried with ancestral remains.

— The task force advising the state on opioid settlements is recommending the largest portion of the funds go toward harm reduction.

— City private schools saw headcount drop by 2.2 percent from last school year, tracking similar enrollment declines in public schools.

SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) (6-0) … Sarah Isgur … POLITICO’s John Harris … Sarah Godlewski … HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney … Capital One’s Jill Shatzen Kerr … Sunshine Sachs’ Claire Tonneson … The Economist’s Idrees Kahloon … Glenn Gerstell … Matthew Dolan ... Kevin Sullivan … Nancy Jacobson of No Labels … David Dixon