Playbook PM: A pre-primary scramble across New York

From: POLITICO Playbook - Friday Aug 19,2022 05:26 pm

Aug 19, 2022

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The race between Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and progressive challenger Alessandra Biaggi hinges in some ways on a stylistic clash. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND — There are just four days until New York’s primaries and a crucial bellwether House special election. And many of the highest-profile races look like they’re going down to the wire, as several new stories this morning lay out.

Outside groups have flooded New York’s congressional primaries with $9 million in barely regulated spending, more than three times the total in the last midterm cycle, NYT’s Dana Rubinstein reports. The contributors range from longtime players (“real estate and police groups”) to new entrants (the crypto industry) to dark-money super PACs with unknown funders. The money is sweeping across both Republican and Democratic primaries, taking aim at or boosting candidates from the left, right and center.

On the Democratic side in particular, bitterly contested House primaries have riven the party after state Dems’ attempt at gerrymandering gave way to a court-ordered map that scrambled many district boundaries.

The politics of identity has emerged as a key fault line, with fields fracturing over age, gender, race and religion just as much as ideology and policy positions, WaPo’s Colby Itkowitz reports . That dynamic is on clear display in the race between Reps. JERRY NADLER and CAROLYN MALONEY — but then there’s SURAJ PATEL, too, drinking a mango White Claw with voters in Central Park and minting new campaign shirts that say, “Change the vibes.”

“It’s a city that’s in constant change,” says former Rep. JOE CROWLEY, who knows from heated New York primaries. “The politics are not void of that change. That’s something special about New York.”

Just outside the city, the race between Rep. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY and progressive challenger ALESSANDRA BIAGGI hinges on a stylistic clash, with Biaggi more vocal about criticizing the Democratic establishment, Timmy Facciola reports for the Albany Times Union. They also have some stylistic differences in how they approach tough interviews, he finds: “Biaggi kept her cool” when asked about allegations of creating a difficult workplace environment. But when Facciola pressed Maloney on several subjects, including super PAC spending in Dem primaries, the congressman hung up less than halfway through the brief interview.

In one instance, establishment Republicans may be wishing that their primary actually were a little more bitter:

Could CARL PALADINO, longtime New York gadfly and far-right courter of controversy, actually make it to Congress? He has a good shot at winning a contested House GOP primary in a red district next week, in part because — his recent statement calling for AG MERRICK GARLAND’s execution aside — “he managed to make it 11 weeks through a 12-week sprint to win the GOP nomination without saying anything incendiary or overtly racist,” Bill Mahoney reports from Depew.

Paladino’s history of offending just about everybody gives NICK LANGWORTHY, the state party chair and his primary opponent, a shot at winning. But instead of Paladino’s usual bombs, “the race has been one in which both candidates lay out similar ideas about how [President JOE] BIDEN needs to be held accountable and inflation needs to be reined in.”

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ALL POLITICS

SIGN OF THE TIMES — Rep. MARCY KAPTUR (D-Ohio), facing a tough reelection bid in a district that’s now much more Republican, jabs Biden in a new TV ad: “Marcy Kaptur: She doesn’t work for Joe Biden; she works for you,” NYT’s Shane Goldmacher reports. The ad criticizes Biden on manufacturing and hits her Republican opponent as “extremist.” It’s “a relative surprise” from a lawmaker who’s been friendly with Biden, Goldmacher writes.

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE — Congressional Leadership Fund is pouring another $750,000 into Maine’s 2nd District and going up with its first ad against Democratic Rep. JARED GOLDEN. The spot hits Golden for his vote in favor of Dems’ reconciliation bill (with some dramatic maritime b-roll).

— Some Republicans in tough races are giving DONALD TRUMP the VOLDEMORT treatment: Don’t say his name. Guidance from NRCC Chair TOM EMMER (R-Minn.) advises candidates to focus on issues like the economy and crime and stay away from Trump talk, CNN’s Mel Zanona reports . The trick, of course, is to avoid discussions of the former president even as the FBI Mar-a-Lago search and Jan. 6 developments constantly push him back into the headlines.

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — New Hampshire Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU, who broke national Republicans’ hearts by opting not to run for Senate, isn’t helping out the man who may clinch the nomination instead: “I don’t take him as a serious candidate. I don’t think most people do,” Sununu said of polling frontrunner DON BOLDUC on WGIR-AM’s “New Hampshire Today,” calling him “kind of a conspiracy-theorist-type candidate.”

— Trump is the reason MEHMET OZ won the GOP’s Pennsylvania Senate nomination, but he’s concerned about Oz’s standing in the race, Rolling Stone’s Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley report : “He’s going to ‘fucking lose,’ unless something drastically changes, Trump has said privately.”

THE BIG PICTURE — The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter dives into what’s underlying the recent “vibe shift” in Democrats’ favor — and whether it will actually translate into success at the polls in November. A recent spate of negative attention on Republicans — from abortion to Jan. 6 — has tanked their polling numbers on whether the party is focused on the “right things,” she finds. “In other words, it’s not that voters think Democrats are doing better; it’s that they think Republicans are as out-of-touch … as Democrats.”

GEORGIA ON MY MIND — A federal judge upheld a Georgia law that bars people from giving food and drink to voters waiting in line, ensuring that it will stay in place at least through the November election. He said voting rights groups failed to prove it was unconstitutional. More from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

2024 WATCH — Much like voters across the country, significant majorities of Californians say they’re opposed to another Biden or another Trump run in 2024, per a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies/L.A. Times poll. Notably, if Biden doesn’t run, Democratic primary voters pick Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM as their top choice to replace him (25%), followed by Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and home-state VP KAMALA HARRIS at 18% apiece.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH

THE INVESTIGATIONS — Fulton County, Ga., DA FANI WILLIS argued for Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM’s (R-S.C.) subpoenaed testimony not to be delayed in a new filing today, arguing that “it would also delay the revelation of an entire category of relevant witnesses or information.” More from Bloomberg … The filing

CONGRESS

WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE HIGHLIGHTING — From 2014 to 2021, Rep. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-Texas) and his wife claimed homestead exemptions on separate properties in an apparent violation of tax law that saved the couple thousands of dollars, The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek reveals. The congressman said it was an accidental oversight by his wife, and his office said the couple plans to pay any necessary back taxes. But Republicans are already pouncing on the news as Gonzalez faces a tough reelection fight in South Texas. “Property-tax experts agreed that the Gonzalezes’ situation was problematic, but not unheard of,” Svitek writes.

GUNS IN AMERICA — Carolyn Maloney is introducing new bills that would tax assault weapon manufacturers 20% of their revenue and force them to track crimes committed with the guns, WaPo’s Jackie Alemany reports. Her House Oversight Committee has been investigating top gun manufacturers for months.

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

COMING ATTRACTIONS — Biden will host a “United We Stand Summit” to tackle “hate-fueled violence” on Sept. 15, the White House announced this morning. The event will comprise panels, conversations and a keynote speech from Biden, all centered on refuting the likes of the tragedies in Charlottesville, Buffalo, El Paso and Pittsburgh — and highlighting the impact of such hate on American democracy. It will include politicians from both parties and multiple levels of government, community leaders, civic groups and others. More from The Guardian

MUCK READ — KURT DelBENE, chief information officer at the VA and a former Microsoft exec, has kept about $15 million in “future grants of Microsoft stock” despite the company’s competition for big VA contracts, HuffPost’s Molly Redden reveals. DelBene, the husband of Rep. SUZAN DelBENE (D-Wash.), was able to leap the apparent conflict of interest because the administration gave him a broad ethics waiver after “DelBene elected to sell the stock as it vests to an irrevocable trust that benefits the DelBenes’ two adult children.” The VA defends his integrity, but the situation doesn’t sit right with government ethics experts.

WALTER SHAUB: “This is just an astonishing waiver to give a government CIO.”

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JUDICIARY SQUARE

RAISING THE BARR — “Appeals court says DOJ improperly redacted memo to AG Barr on Trump obstruction,” The Hill

TERROR REPORT — EL SHAFEE ELSHEIKH, one of the notorious “ISIS Beatles” whose group killed JAMES FOLEY, KAYLA MUELLER and others, was sentenced to life in prison today in federal court in Alexandria. More from the BBC

POLICY CORNER

THE TAXMAN COMETH — Republicans have seized on the reconciliation bill’s infusion of spending for the IRS as a chief talking point to slam the Democratic legislation. NYT’s Alan Rappeport and Tiffany Hsu dive into the debate today to separate fact from fiction, writing that although the GOP has long criticized the agency, the new onslaught of attacks has pushed “unfounded conspiracy theories … often distorting facts to make their points.” The rhetorical onslaught comes amid a period of outrage on the right over perceived government overreach and targeting of conservatives. But the Biden administration says ordinary Americans have nothing to worry about if they’re paying their taxes.

— WSJ’s Laura Saunders also breaks down what the bill will — and won’t — do with regard to the IRS.

ABORTION FALLOUT

IN THE STATES — A Michigan judge today blocked prosecutors from enforcing a law banning abortion in the state’s most populous counties, potentially clearing the way for the procedure to continue for now. More from the Detroit Free Press

WAR IN UKRAINE

THE NEXT TRANCHE — The U.S. will announce another batch of military aid to Ukraine today totaling almost $800 million, per AP’s Lolita Baldor and Matthew Lee. The package will include Howitzers, ammunition, Javelin missiles and “at least a dozen Scan Eagle surveillance drones … portable, long-endurance drones which are launched by a catapult and can be retrieved.”

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AMERICA AND THE WORLD

DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — Chinese President XI JINPING is making plans to potentially meet with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN on a new Central Asia stop next month, WSJ’s Keith Zhai scooped. Notably, China started planning for the Putin meeting only after its warnings failed to stop Speaker NANCY PELOSI from visiting Taiwan, he reports: “China’s leadership is concerned that intensified tensions with Washington over Taiwan could lead to an accidental military encounter.”

PLAYBOOKERS

MEDIA MOVE — Alex Burns is leaving the NYT, where he’s been a national political correspondent: “sometimes life calls for a change and this is one of those moments for me.”

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Dave Noble will be director of White House Management and Administration and Office of Administration and assistant to the president, per Reuters. He currently is chief of staff for the Peace Corps, and is an Obama White House alum.

TRANSITION — Kristen Waggoner will move up to become the next president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom. She’ll also continue as general counsel, a role in which she’s won multiple Supreme Court cases.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jack Aldrich, VP in BlackRock’s official institutions group, and Astrid Parenty , senior designer at Moët Hennessy USA, welcomed Gaël Amerling Aldrich-Parenty on Aug. 11.