NY Dems stopped what would’ve been the funniest outcome of 2022
getrektnolan on
**Pelosi Blamed New York for House Losses. Hochul Wants Another Chance.**
The New York governor has rebuilt the state Democratic Party to help flip key swing seats in November. But can she stanch her own political bleeding?
In the bitter weeks after Democrats lost their House majority in 2022, party leaders searched for explanations. There was painfully high inflation. Qualms about the southern border.
Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, singled out a less predictable culprit: New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul. Ms. Pelosi argued that Democrats had lost five key races there because Ms. Hochul’s lumbering campaign misjudged discontent about crime, pulling down the whole ticket.
Two years later, close allies of Ms. Hochul say she remains embarrassed and indignant over blame that she believes was unfairly cast. But her frustration is also fueling a decision this fall to put the full force of her governorship into proving that she, and her state, can set things right for Democrats.
The governor has positioned the House races at the center of everything from her galloping fund-raising schedule to state policymaking, most notably halting New York’s most significant public transportation project in a generation amid opposition to it from must-win suburbs.
She is also trying to transform the state’s Democratic Party from a perennial punching bag into a sophisticated turnout operation with 37 field offices and nearly 100 staff members. While the coordinated campaign is a partnership with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, Ms. Hochul has covered most of the $5 million price tag.
“If we’re sincere about electing Democrats, then why wouldn’t we use this power that’s out there,” she said in a recent interview after headlining a fund-raiser for a local county party in the Hudson Valley.
The turnabout, and New York’s strategic importance, has made Ms. Hochul’s maneuvering a consequential subplot in the broader fight for Congress. And it is no act of political charity.
With re-election looming in 2026 and potential challengers already circling, Ms. Hochul’s own political future may depend on her ability to mend frayed relationships with her fellow Democrats and overturn the perception, fair or not, that she is a political featherweight.
There is also a more tactical objective: One of the Republican incumbents her party hopes to defeat, Representative Mike Lawler, has made little secret of his eagerness for the state’s top job. Defeating him now would help deny him a platform in two years.
“She gets the joke,” Charlie King, a veteran Democratic strategist, said. “There have been a number of missteps. We can acknowledge that. But now she’s turning stuff around pretty well on the political front.”
It may be a risky gambit. Associating herself so closely with the performance of other candidates could backfire if Democrats fall short. And polls show Ms. Hochul remains deeply unpopular in key suburban swing districts that her party is trying to win back.
Republicans are almost gleeful at her return to the campaign stage.
“Birds of a feather flock together,” said Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the House Republicans’ primary super PAC. “We hope Gov. Hochul spends a great deal of time campaigning with New York Democrats on their shared agenda that has led to higher crime and a migrant crisis.”
People who have spoken with Ms. Hochul said that Ms. Pelosi’s criticism, which the former speaker repeated during August’s Democratic National Convention, had stung.
But the governor insists her approach during this election has more to do with defeating Trumpism and moving toward a more collaborative approach to campaigning.
Before becoming governor unexpectedly in 2021, Ms. Hochul, 66, had spent much of her career as one of New York’s legion of down-ballot candidates for local and congressional office and had developed a jaundiced view of the state party.
“The state party for the most part was operated as an arm of the governor’s campaign and everything else was either an afterthought or a nonpriority,” Jay Jacobs, the longtime state party chairman, conceded.
He recalled the first time he pitched Ms. Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, a plan to build a robust party apparatus dedicated to year-round organizing and voter turnout in 2009.
Mr. Cuomo, he said, complimented his use of bullet points. But when it came to actually spending money on other candidates, Mr. Jacobs said, the former governor was “a miser.”
In an interview, Ms. Hochul said she wanted to overhaul the party as soon as she took office, but was overwhelmed by having to build out her administration and put together a campaign for a full term as governor she barely foresaw. She ended up scraping out victory.
Now, halfway through that first full term, Ms. Hochul said the time was right.
“I didn’t need anybody’s comments, right or wrong, to motivate something that I knew should have happened 30 years ago,” Ms. Hochul said of her actions since then.
“It would be a nice, easy conclusion to draw. ‘Oh, she’s trying to avenge her name for losing the House,’” she continued. “Well, I didn’t lose the House. There were other large states that lost the same number we lost.” Those states, the governor agreed, included Ms. Pelosi’s home state of California.
The changes she has made this cycle have won Ms. Hochul credit, including from some hardened critics of the state party, like Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez of New York. Moderate Democrats have also been pleased to see her use the state budget to try to reduce crime further and increase the production of new housing units.
Others are skeptical.
“More money is always better than less money,” said Howard Wolfson, a veteran Democratic strategist who advises Michael R. Bloomberg, a top donor to House Democrats. “But the problem last time was that voters were concerned about crime and immigration, and nobody seemed to be doing anything.”
“The jury is out on whether those problems have been solved to the satisfaction of voters,” he added.
Most Democrats contesting seats in November have been happy to accept the governor’s financial and logistical support. Ms. Hochul and Mr. Jeffries helped arrange a breakfast in August to help smooth out the relationship between Laura Gillen, a Democrat running to unseat Representative Anthony D’Esposito on Long Island, and Black clergy members, according to people familiar with the event.
And on a recent Sunday, Ms. Hochul trekked to the rural Hudson Valley to headline a fund-raiser for the Orange County Democratic Party at a trendy wine-tasting venue. Beforehand, she huddled in the basement with Representative Pat Ryan, who is defending a vulnerable district, to discuss what else Democrats in Albany could do to help.
Yet not a single House swing seat candidate lists Ms. Hochul’s endorsement on their website. When Mondaire Jones, the Democrat challenging Mr. Lawler, walked with the governor along the streets of Tarrytown north of New York City, his campaign neither notified reporters of the joint appearance nor posted anything about it later on social media.
After his meeting with Ms. Hochul, Mr. Ryan said the party’s new coordinated campaign had improved things “night and day” since 2022.
Asked if he would appear publicly with her, Mr. Ryan was noncommittal.
“We’ll see what the next 57 days hold here,” he said.
The race between Mr. Lawler and Mr. Jones may have extra resonance for Ms. Hochul, with Mr. Lawler openly entertaining a bid for governor in 2026.
“Obviously my focus is on the congressional race,” he said in a recent interview. That did not stop him from laying out a case that Ms. Hochul had exploded the state’s budget without adequately addressing what he called the state’s affordability crisis.
“She is probably the most feckless governor in America,” Mr. Lawler said.
Ms. Hochul responded in kind.
“I hope his constituents who he’s asking to vote for him for Congress know that they are just being used to further his ambition,” she said.
The governor wanted to make her own ambition clear. “There’s no scenario where I’m not running,” she said.
surreptitioussloth on
If hochul has actually rebuilt the state democratic party, then new york is even more fucked
Hochul is bad on policy and unpopular. She’s overseen significant republican gains in new york that cost dems the house
She should be primaried
arcturus_mundus on
If dems nominate Hochul again and the republicans nominate a barely moderate candidate that is not full on MAGA loon then Hochul will lose. The NY state dems suck and Kathy “black kids in the Bronx” Hochul sucks even more.
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NY Dems stopped what would’ve been the funniest outcome of 2022
**Pelosi Blamed New York for House Losses. Hochul Wants Another Chance.**
The New York governor has rebuilt the state Democratic Party to help flip key swing seats in November. But can she stanch her own political bleeding?
In the bitter weeks after Democrats lost their House majority in 2022, party leaders searched for explanations. There was painfully high inflation. Qualms about the southern border.
Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, singled out a less predictable culprit: New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul. Ms. Pelosi argued that Democrats had lost five key races there because Ms. Hochul’s lumbering campaign misjudged discontent about crime, pulling down the whole ticket.
Two years later, close allies of Ms. Hochul say she remains embarrassed and indignant over blame that she believes was unfairly cast. But her frustration is also fueling a decision this fall to put the full force of her governorship into proving that she, and her state, can set things right for Democrats.
The governor has positioned the House races at the center of everything from her galloping fund-raising schedule to state policymaking, most notably halting New York’s most significant public transportation project in a generation amid opposition to it from must-win suburbs.
She is also trying to transform the state’s Democratic Party from a perennial punching bag into a sophisticated turnout operation with 37 field offices and nearly 100 staff members. While the coordinated campaign is a partnership with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, Ms. Hochul has covered most of the $5 million price tag.
“If we’re sincere about electing Democrats, then why wouldn’t we use this power that’s out there,” she said in a recent interview after headlining a fund-raiser for a local county party in the Hudson Valley.
The turnabout, and New York’s strategic importance, has made Ms. Hochul’s maneuvering a consequential subplot in the broader fight for Congress. And it is no act of political charity.
With re-election looming in 2026 and potential challengers already circling, Ms. Hochul’s own political future may depend on her ability to mend frayed relationships with her fellow Democrats and overturn the perception, fair or not, that she is a political featherweight.
There is also a more tactical objective: One of the Republican incumbents her party hopes to defeat, Representative Mike Lawler, has made little secret of his eagerness for the state’s top job. Defeating him now would help deny him a platform in two years.
“She gets the joke,” Charlie King, a veteran Democratic strategist, said. “There have been a number of missteps. We can acknowledge that. But now she’s turning stuff around pretty well on the political front.”
It may be a risky gambit. Associating herself so closely with the performance of other candidates could backfire if Democrats fall short. And polls show Ms. Hochul remains deeply unpopular in key suburban swing districts that her party is trying to win back.
Republicans are almost gleeful at her return to the campaign stage.
“Birds of a feather flock together,” said Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the House Republicans’ primary super PAC. “We hope Gov. Hochul spends a great deal of time campaigning with New York Democrats on their shared agenda that has led to higher crime and a migrant crisis.”
People who have spoken with Ms. Hochul said that Ms. Pelosi’s criticism, which the former speaker repeated during August’s Democratic National Convention, had stung.
But the governor insists her approach during this election has more to do with defeating Trumpism and moving toward a more collaborative approach to campaigning.
Before becoming governor unexpectedly in 2021, Ms. Hochul, 66, had spent much of her career as one of New York’s legion of down-ballot candidates for local and congressional office and had developed a jaundiced view of the state party.
“The state party for the most part was operated as an arm of the governor’s campaign and everything else was either an afterthought or a nonpriority,” Jay Jacobs, the longtime state party chairman, conceded.
He recalled the first time he pitched Ms. Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, a plan to build a robust party apparatus dedicated to year-round organizing and voter turnout in 2009.
Mr. Cuomo, he said, complimented his use of bullet points. But when it came to actually spending money on other candidates, Mr. Jacobs said, the former governor was “a miser.”
In an interview, Ms. Hochul said she wanted to overhaul the party as soon as she took office, but was overwhelmed by having to build out her administration and put together a campaign for a full term as governor she barely foresaw. She ended up scraping out victory.
Now, halfway through that first full term, Ms. Hochul said the time was right.
“I didn’t need anybody’s comments, right or wrong, to motivate something that I knew should have happened 30 years ago,” Ms. Hochul said of her actions since then.
“It would be a nice, easy conclusion to draw. ‘Oh, she’s trying to avenge her name for losing the House,’” she continued. “Well, I didn’t lose the House. There were other large states that lost the same number we lost.” Those states, the governor agreed, included Ms. Pelosi’s home state of California.
The changes she has made this cycle have won Ms. Hochul credit, including from some hardened critics of the state party, like Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez of New York. Moderate Democrats have also been pleased to see her use the state budget to try to reduce crime further and increase the production of new housing units.
Others are skeptical.
“More money is always better than less money,” said Howard Wolfson, a veteran Democratic strategist who advises Michael R. Bloomberg, a top donor to House Democrats. “But the problem last time was that voters were concerned about crime and immigration, and nobody seemed to be doing anything.”
“The jury is out on whether those problems have been solved to the satisfaction of voters,” he added.
Most Democrats contesting seats in November have been happy to accept the governor’s financial and logistical support. Ms. Hochul and Mr. Jeffries helped arrange a breakfast in August to help smooth out the relationship between Laura Gillen, a Democrat running to unseat Representative Anthony D’Esposito on Long Island, and Black clergy members, according to people familiar with the event.
And on a recent Sunday, Ms. Hochul trekked to the rural Hudson Valley to headline a fund-raiser for the Orange County Democratic Party at a trendy wine-tasting venue. Beforehand, she huddled in the basement with Representative Pat Ryan, who is defending a vulnerable district, to discuss what else Democrats in Albany could do to help.
Yet not a single House swing seat candidate lists Ms. Hochul’s endorsement on their website. When Mondaire Jones, the Democrat challenging Mr. Lawler, walked with the governor along the streets of Tarrytown north of New York City, his campaign neither notified reporters of the joint appearance nor posted anything about it later on social media.
After his meeting with Ms. Hochul, Mr. Ryan said the party’s new coordinated campaign had improved things “night and day” since 2022.
Asked if he would appear publicly with her, Mr. Ryan was noncommittal.
“We’ll see what the next 57 days hold here,” he said.
The race between Mr. Lawler and Mr. Jones may have extra resonance for Ms. Hochul, with Mr. Lawler openly entertaining a bid for governor in 2026.
“Obviously my focus is on the congressional race,” he said in a recent interview. That did not stop him from laying out a case that Ms. Hochul had exploded the state’s budget without adequately addressing what he called the state’s affordability crisis.
“She is probably the most feckless governor in America,” Mr. Lawler said.
Ms. Hochul responded in kind.
“I hope his constituents who he’s asking to vote for him for Congress know that they are just being used to further his ambition,” she said.
The governor wanted to make her own ambition clear. “There’s no scenario where I’m not running,” she said.
If hochul has actually rebuilt the state democratic party, then new york is even more fucked
Hochul is bad on policy and unpopular. She’s overseen significant republican gains in new york that cost dems the house
She should be primaried
If dems nominate Hochul again and the republicans nominate a barely moderate candidate that is not full on MAGA loon then Hochul will lose. The NY state dems suck and Kathy “black kids in the Bronx” Hochul sucks even more.
https://preview.redd.it/2pnbbr9a5spd1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=e586219de07d5afec77a527512061db823870ca2
Kathy Hochul preparing to cost the Democrats the House two cycles in a row