Major health care union backs Cuomo's mayoral bid
NEW YORK — New York City's largest private sector union endorsed Andrew Cuomo's mayoral bid Friday, adding to the list of politically influential labor organizations backing the scandal-scarred former governor.
The union, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, cited Cuomo's 'record of delivering for health care workers' and his work securing a $15 minimum wage, expanding paid family leave, winning marriage equality and defending immigrant rights.
'New York is at a crossroads, and we need leaders who will stand up for working people, fight for good union jobs, and ensure every New Yorker — no matter their zip code — has access to quality healthcare, affordable housing, and a living wage,' President George Gresham said in a statement Friday. 'At a time when our city is facing enormous challenges, we need leaders with the experience and vision to deliver real results — our members recognize that Governor Cuomo is the clear choice to lead New York forward.'
The union represents 200,000 health care workers within the five boroughs and played a large part in getting former Mayor Bill de Blasio elected, making it one of local politicians' most coveted endorsements.
It may not be the most consequential now, though. The union's political power has softened from years without a permanent political director and an increasingly disenchanted membership. Lawyer Maya Wiley won the union's support in the 2021 mayoral race, to no avail.
President George Gresham, a longtime Cuomo ally who eventually called on him to resign, urged the union's top officers weeks ago to throw their support behind his candidacy. But the endorsement landed on the union's backburner, as Gresham campaigned for reelection and grappled with fallout from a nine-month POLITICO investigation into his lavish spending of union funds.
The union's internal election — its first contested leadership race since 1989 — is being conducted by mail through the end of the month.
Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi did not respond to requests for comment on the POLITICO investigation into Gresham's spending.
The union has donated heavily to Cuomo's gubernatorial campaigns in the past and, through an advocacy arm co-led by the Greater New York Hospital Association, spent millions on television ads in 2018 praising his health care policies.
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Meet the judge: Senior District Judge Charles Breyer — a Bill Clinton appointee, and the 83-year-old kid brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer — will hear arguments at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) in San Francisco. And those who enjoy trying to read the judicial runes should note there's something for everyone in Breyer's record, per POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein. On the one hand … As a former Watergate prosecutor, Breyer has discussed the importance of holding presidents to account. 'The Constitution was set up … to allow an examination of the way our government operates,' he has said. Equally, recalling his time as a Bay Area attorney during the civil unrest of the 1960s, he stressed the importance of shutting out human sympathies and pressing ahead with the job in hand. 'There were riots,' he recalled. 'You did your task.' All gone quiet: The streets of LA were again pretty quiet last night, with the downtown curfew still in place. 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The former DOGE leader had phone calls with chief of staff Susie Wiles and Vance on Friday, WSJ's Natalie Andrews and colleagues scooped, and then with Trump himself Monday, NYT's Jonathan Swan and Teddy Schleifer revealed. Wiles had urged Musk to make peace. TRADING PLACES: Trump lauded the progress in U.S.-China trade talks, saying the superpowers' agreement is back on track, per Reuters. But Beijing's concession this week was to green-light rare-earth export licenses for only another six months, which could give China continued leverage, WSJ's Lingling Wei and colleagues scooped. Meanwhile, Bessent said the July 8 deadline to strike trade deals with many countries would likely get pushed back, per POLITICO's Ari Hawkins. HOGG TIED: The DNC officially voted to remove Vice Chairs David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta and redo their elections over a procedural issue, POLITICO's Elena Schneider scooped. But Hogg chose not to run again and exit the DNC after clashing with leaders over supporting younger candidates' primary bids, Semafor's Dave Weigel scooped. TALK OF THE TOWN JD Vance reportedly traveled to Montana to meet with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch at their family ranch. Stacey Plaskett had a colorful response to an online commenter who called her a 'twat' over her tense exchange with Scott Bessent. Leland Vitter, an anchor for NewsNation, got married to Rachel Putnam this weekend in California, where their dog served as ring bearer. Phil Murphy is excited about partnering with Men in Blazers for World Cup shows. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — David Plouffe and Chris LaCivita will sit down for a moderated conversation at Coinbase's State of Crypto summit today, talking about elections and crypto in politics. It'll stream on YouTube and X. Plouffe, the veteran Democratic strategist, is joining Coinbase's global advisory council, POLITICO's Christine Mui and Chris Cadelago scooped. Plouffe, a former top aide to Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, tells POLITICO he'll bring his skills as a storyteller to an industry whose regulatory struggles have turned into a fight for credibility and stability. Among his charges will be 'outreach to tech-savvy voters who flocked to Democrats during the Obama era, but have shifted to the right in recent years.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Meet the DC Tech CEO With a Flip Phone and No Social Media,' by Washingtonian's Jessica Sidman: 'Danny Hogenkamp [is] the 31-year-old CEO of Grassroots Analytics, a DC company specializing in fundraising software for nonprofits and Democratic campaigns. … He may be a young tech guy, but he's also a self-described 'Luddite' … And he's on a mission to get others to unplug more, too.' SPORTS BLINK — Republicans extended their winning streak at the Congressional Baseball Game to five years last night, triumphing 13-2 over Democrats, per Roll Call's Hunter Savery. 'At this level of play, errors are often the deciding factor,' he writes with restraint. The charity game pulled in more than $2.8 million, selling 31,000 tickets. An impressive dive by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) rocketed around social media. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a party for Sally Quinn's new novel, 'Silent Retreat' ($19.99), hosted by David and Eve Ignatius on Tuesday night: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Antony Blinken and Evan Ryan, Gina Raimondo, Bob Woodward and Elsa Walsh, Jon Meacham, Tim Shriver and Linda Potter, Jamie Gangel and Dan Silva, Wolf Blitzer, Pamela Brown, Margaret Carlson, Mary Jordan, Josh Dawsey, Andrea Mitchell, Tyler Pager, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Rafe Sagelyn, Shawn McCreesh, Bradley Graham, Evan Thomas, Jamie Gorelick, Kara Swisher, Don Graham and Amanda Bennett, Jane Mayer and Bill Hamilton, Elisabeth Bumiller and Steve Weisman, Leon Wieseltier, and Michael and Afsaneh Beschloss. — The American Telemedicine Association kicked off its third annual Hill day with a reception Tuesday night at the Capitol Hill Club, where Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) spoke. Also SPOTTED: Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.). — SPOTTED at the Future of Privacy Forum's annual D.C. privacy forum yesterday: Gabby Miller, Nick Rossi, Jared Bomberg, David Lieber, Steve Lang, Leigh Feldman, Lindsey Finch, Jules Polonetsky, Tyler Park, Alan Raul and John Verdi. — The National Confectioners Association hosted its annual Congressional Baseball Game soiree last night, also celebrating National Candy Month, at Royal Sands Social Club. SPOTTED: Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Troy Carter (D-La.), John Downs, Elise Fennig, Brian McKeon, Christopher Gindlesperger, Carly Schildhaus, Ben Jenkins, Tara Rush, Chloe Hunt, Christian Newton, Jonathan DaCosta, Ed Schultz, Emily Dimiero, Courtney Clark, Joe Maloney, Casey Clark, Kristina Peterson, Nicholas Wu, Taylor Giorno, Brad Bosserman, Betsy Klein, Elizabeth Elkind, Morgan Phillips, Deirdre Heavey and Jerry Hagstrom. — The Appalachian Trail Conservancy held its centennial gala last night at Union Station, where Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) received the Centennial Award of Excellence. Jennifer Pharr Davis interviewed John Mackey, and the group announced a $50 million fundraising initiative. SPOTTED: Sandra Marra, Jim LaTorre, Brendan Mysliwiec, Jeri Ward, Ed Clark, Ellen Shultzabarger, Mike Mahoney, Mamie Parker, David Startzell, Stewart Verdery and Jill Jackson. — The New Hampshire State Society hosted an 'Experience New Hampshire' event on the Hill yesterday, with speakers including Michael Skelton, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), British Ambassador Peter Mandelson, Navy Secretary John Phelan, Atul Gawande, Kelly O'Donnell and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Also SPOTTED: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.). — DLA Piper hosted a 'Policy Matters' event with Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Richard Burr and Charlie Dent yesterday. SPOTTED: Karina Lynch, Saxby Chambliss, Jim Blanchard, Tony Samp, Steve Phillips, William Minor, Rachel Rothstein, Andrew Sperling, Robert Hood and Sarah Walter. — The Insured Retirement Institute held a reception at Gatsby before the Congressional Baseball Game yesterday. SPOTTED: Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.) and George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Wayne Chopus, Paul Richman, John Jennings, Heath Wheat, Michael Sinacore, Cody Hollerich, Alexis Alber, Jeanne Wilson, Zoe Wong, Victoria von Stein, Carol Danko, Annie Webb, Seaver Sowers, Andrew Vermilye, Jen Fox, James Sonne, Nicole Petrosino and Stephen Chang. — SPOTTED at the Power to the Patients pre-party before the Congressional Baseball Game at The Bullpen yesterday, featuring a performance by Gin Blossoms: Cynthia Fisher, Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Sam Watters, Charlie Chapman, Tyler Sanderson, Rachel Schilke, Hailey Bullis, Cami Mondeaux, Ryan Schmelz, Madeleine Rivera, Victoria Knight, Zach Halaschak, Allie Raffa, Reese Gorman and John Brooks. — The International Dairy Foods Association hosted its 41st annual Capitol Hill ice cream party and ice cream social yesterday at Union Square Park. They also released results from a survey of more than 1,000 Hill staffers, which found cookie dough to be the most popular flavor — and also, bafflingly, that 3 percent of staffers prefer to bite the cone before the ice cream. SPOTTED: Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Reps. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Troy Downing (R-Mont.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Virginia Foxx (R-Va.) and Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.). MEDIA MOVES — Terry Moran, recently ousted as senior national correspondent at ABC over his post about Stephen Miller, is quickly pivoting to Substack 'in this time of such trouble for our country.' … Adam O'Neal was named the next opinion editor at WaPo as the section moves in an ideological direction under Jeff Bezos. He currently is Washington correspondent for The Economist. Announcement video … Maxine Joselow will be a climate policy and politics reporter at the NYT. She previously covered that beat for WaPo, and is a POLITICO's E&E News alum. … … Brian Carovillano is joining Versant as SVP for standards and editorial partnerships for news for MSNBC and CNBC. He most recently has led the NBCUniversal News Group standards team, and is an AP alum. … Claudia Meyer-Samargia is joining MSNBC's PR team as a comms manager, leading press efforts for the 'Morning Joe' franchise. She previously was a comms manager at NBC News. TRANSITIONS — Jim Pinkerton has joined the Tax Cut Victory Alliance as co-chair, alongside Steve Moore. A Reagan and Bush White House alum, Pinkerton will help push to pass the reconciliation bill. … Henrietta Levin is now senior fellow for the Freeman chair in China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She most recently was deputy China coordinator for global affairs at the State Department. … Austin Gage is now a senior associate at Innovative Federal Strategies. He previously was legislative director and counsel for Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Alexa Kissinger, an attorney at Kirkland and Ellis and an Obama White House alum, and Gareth Rhodes, managing director at Pacific Street Group, welcomed Felix Arthur Kissinger Rhodes on June 1. He joins big sister Inez. Pic — Edith Jorge-Tuñón, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, and Cristina Jorge-Tuñón, budget analyst at the Maryland Department of Budget and Management, recently welcomed Mateo Jorge-Tuñón, their second son. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) … Carrie Budoff Brown … Mayra Macías … Dag Vega … Bloomberg's Kevin Sheekey … Alex Castellanos … Rabbi Levi Shemtov … Chris Lu … Lilia Dashevsky … Michael Finnegan … Joyce Kazadi ... Eli Zupnick ... FICO's Dan Archer … Matt Wolking … former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham … Matt Mowers … former Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) … Peter Schechter … Mort Rosenblum … Coco Pannell Smith … Julie Andreeff Jensen … Luis Miranda … Morgan Viña of National Security of America and Invariant … Bryce Bozadjian … Abigail Ross Hopper of the Solar Energy Industries Association Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. 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