Alvin Bragg wins Democratic nod in Manhattan DA reelection bid
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for another term in office, fending off a more moderate challenger, Decision Desk HQ projects.
Bragg, who received widespread national attention over his successful prosecution of President Trump, defeated Patrick Timmins, a former prosecutor in the Bronx who ran on a more moderate platform. Timmins argued that the district attorney's office under Bragg should have been more aggressive in prosecuting certain crimes.
Bragg, the first African American to hold the office, ran in 2021 on a more progressive platform calling for an end to prosecuting lower-level nonviolent crimes and lesser charges and sentences for nonviolent crimes as well. He faced some criticism during his tenure over accusations that he backed away from some of what he called for.
But Timmins sought to challenge Bragg from the center, as others have successfully done in some major cities in recent years.
But Bragg seemed likely to easily win the nomination, with one internal poll showing him well ahead.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
In shock to Democratic politics, Zohran Mamdani wins NYC primary for mayor
Mamdani said his city would be one "governed as a model for the Democratic Party," which would prioritize the needs of the working class and fight Trump. NEW YORK − Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic Socialist state Assembly member, upset mainstream Democratic politics by defying expectations and taking a commanding lead in the June 24 New York City mayoral primary. Just after midnight, he addressed supporters, saying he and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the moderate Democrat who was the frontrunner, need to bring the nation's largest city together. "Tonight, we made history," Mamdani boasted to a celebrating crowd in Queens. With 96% of the vote counted, Mamdani led Cuomo 44% to 36% in first place votes. Less than two hours after polls closed on June 24, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 67, had said he already called Mamdani to congratulate him on his historic campaign. 'Tonight is his night,' Cuomo told supporters at his election night party. 'He deserved it. He won.' The subsequent instant runoff, in which other candidates' supporters will be redistributed to Mamdani or Cuomo based on who they ranked lower on their ballot, is expected to only increase Mamdani's lead. Third-place finisher New York City Comptroller Brad Lander had encouraged his voters to rank Mamdani second. As Mamdani declared victory, Lander joined him on stage. "Together, we have shown the politics of the future, one of partnership and of sincerity," Mamdani said. Cuomo had led the polls by double-digit margins for months. The final poll released the day before the election showed Mamdani winning only by picking up more of Lander's supporters in the final round of the runoff. The race served as a bellwether for the larger Democratic Party, as the coalition seeking to repel Cuomo framed the choice facing New Yorkers as one between an older, moderate political establishment and a youthful, progressive vision for the party that lost the White House in November. Mamdani has drawn comparisons to fellow Democratic Socialists of America member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in 2018 unseated Joe Crowley, the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a Bronx and Queens district that overlaps with Mamdani's Assembly seat. She endorsed Mamdani, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent progressive icon from Vermont. On the other side, heavyweight mainstream Democrats backed Cuomo. Nationally, they included former President Bill Clinton and Rep. Jim Clyburn, who revived former President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. And New York's political establishment, such as Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Brooklyn Democratic Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn, backed Cuomo too. 'He gave us something to believe in' Mamdani turned out younger voters on a platform centered on addressing affordability in America's largest city. Cuomo sought to draw on decades of experience in government as a bulwark against Trump's attacks on his hometown. Voters gave Mamdani a chance to change their notoriously expensive hometown. "With a vision of a city every New Yorker could afford, we have won," Mamdani said. Mamdani said his city would be one "governed as a model for the Democratic Party," which would prioritize the needs of the working class and fight Trump. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a left-leaning Democrat who represents a Brooklyn-based district, said Mamdani won with a simple message of affordability for all. "He gave us something to believe in," Velazquez said at his election night party. She said his campaign threatens billionaires in power. "But here's the thing: The city has changed," Velazquez said. "Zohran knew it." If elected, Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and is of Indian ancestry, would become the first Muslim and Asian American mayor of New York City, and its youngest mayor in a century. He would represent a stark ideological departure from incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, a conservative Democrat and former Republican who has become increasingly friendly with Trump ever since he was indicted for corruption by the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden. (The department dropped the charges after Trump took office, saying the case would impede Adams' ability to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.) Cuomo led by wide margins throughout the primary, but polling narrowed in the days leading up to election. A Super PAC funded in part by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and several major donors to President Donald Trump poured $24 million against Mamdani, trying to paint him as a radical and antisemitic. Mamdani would now have an advantage as the Democratic candidate for mayor in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, in which many feel besieged by President Donald Trump's aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants, his assault on Columbia University, and proposed cuts to social welfare programs. However, the race ahead into November represents a more fractured moderate Democratic politics than previously seen. But he still faces opponents in November including Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa, a conservative talk show host and longtime local activist. Adams is running for reelection as an independent, and Cuomo may do so as well. Mamdani's opponents will likely continue to attack him for his views on Israel, which have drawn criticism from some Jewish groups, and his relative inexperience as third-term lawmaker with a very modest record of legislative accomplishment. Mamdani ran a social media savvy campaign that featured viral videos such as him speaking to working-class voters in the Bronx and Queens who voted for Trump on issues about the cost of living. Mamdani campaigned on promises to freeze the rent in rent-stabilized apartments − he took a winter plunge in the Atlantic Ocean to make the freeze literal in one video − make buses free and provide universal child care. Those proposals appealed to a city of mostly renters, many of whom are struggling to remain in Gotham. But he also ran a campaign heavy on expansive canvassing and door-knocking across the five boroughs. On the first night of summer, Mamdani walked the entirety of the island of Manhattan, which stretches about 13 miles, to encourage people to get out amid early voting. While Cuomo enjoyed vast familiarity and some loyalty, he was also a vulnerable frontrunner due to accusations of sexual harassment, hiding COVID-19 deaths, and bullying in the state Capitol as governor, which contributed to his 2021 resignation. 'We're done with him,' Lander, a progressive candidate who campaigned alongside Mamdani, told his supporters. 'Andrew Cuomo is in the past. He is not the present or the future of New York City.' The city's ranked choice voting system requires candidates to surpass 50% of first-round votes to win. The Cuomo campaign apparently saw it won't get second- or third-round votes from the other candidates that could put him over the edge against Mamdani. Still, votes will be tallied over the next week as the system eliminates the lowest vote-getting candidates, and redistributes their subsequent votes to the remaining candidates. Given the coalition, the votes are unlikely to favor Cuomo, or at least he thought. After the tallies, the race continues to November. Mamdani said his campaign renewed faith in democracy. Voters, he said, can feel helpless in the face of government confusion and weakness and desperately sacrifice their liberties over basic needs. 'We have given our city permission to believe again,' he said.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Takeaways from New York City's mayoral primary: Mamdani triggers a political earthquake – and Republicans rejoice too
Zohran Mamdani delivered a political earthquake Tuesday in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, riding progressive demands for change in a city facing an affordability crisis to the brink of a stunning victory. Democratic voters rejected a scandal-plagued icon of the party's past, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Instead, they backed a 33-year-old democratic socialist who energized young voters and progressives with a campaign that could come to represent the first draft of a new playbook. 'I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you, that is safe for you,' Mamdani said in his celebratory speech just after midnight. 'We can be free and we can be fed. We can demand what we deserve,' he said. Mamdani's viral, go-anywhere, talk-to-anyone style of campaigning could send shockwaves through the Democratic Party nationally as its leaders and incumbents face calls from frustrated voters for authenticity and aggressiveness. Republicans, meanwhile, moved immediately to elevate Mamdani, seeing an opportunity to campaign against ideas they see as unpopular with swing voters nationally. The formal outcome won't be known until at least July 1, when New York City releases the initial ranked-choice results. But Mamdani held a clear lead Tuesday night, and Cuomo told supporters he had called Mamdani and conceded the primary. 'Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,' Cuomo said. Mamdani's upstart campaign had a lot to overcome — Cuomo's universal name recognition, massive financial backing, endorsements from party leaders and unions — and he acted like it. Some of his Democratic rivals portrayed his positions as pie-in-the-sky and impossible to pay for. Mamdani, though, sold his ideas as making life in the city easier to afford, building his campaign around an issue that ranks among the biggest reasons Democrats lost in the 2024 election. He sat for interviews with people that disagreed with him. He engaged in cross-endorsements with rivals, encouraging supporters to rank them highly as well on their ranked-choice ballots. He campaigned aggressively, including walking the length of Manhattan on Friday. 'New Yorkers deserve a Mayor they can see, hear, even yell at. The city is in the streets,' Mamdani said on X. Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, said on X that Democrats 'have a lot to learn' from Mamdani. 'What's happening in NYC is a blaringly loud message to those in the Dem establishment who still cling to old politics, recite focus-grouped talking points, and are too afraid to say what needs to be said,' he said. Republicans were also thrilled with Mamdani's performance. The House GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, issued a press release declaring Mamdani 'the new face' of the Democratic Party. 'Every vulnerable House Democrat will own him, and every Democrat running in a primary will fear him,' NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said. Mamdani faced attacks from pro-Cuomo forces in the primary over what his opponents described as antisemitic comments, flagging Mamdani's sharp criticism of Israel and his defense of the phrase 'globalize the intifada.' He also ran on progressive positions — including freezing rents, offering free public transit, launching city-run grocery stores and more — that Republicans are certain to use to portray Democrats as extreme, much like they have with previous progressive proposals like the 'Green New Deal.' Those attacks are unlikely to help the GOP in the mayoral race in New York City, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans almost by about a six-to-one margin. But New York is home to a number of competitive House seats where the GOP could seek to put Democratic nominees on the defensive over Mamdani's positions. It's too soon to sort through everything Mamdani's performance means for the Democratic Party. But it did offer a glimpse at where the party is on some key issues and who within it holds sway with voters. Mamdani, who would become the city's first Muslim mayor if he wins in November, was a vocal critic of Israel's war in Gaza and didn't back down despite being criticized as antisemitic, a charge he repeatedly denied. He defended his views in an interview with CBS' Stephen Colbert in which he also acknowledged the fears Jewish people have faced since Hamas' October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel. 'There's no room for violence in this city, in this country, in this world. And what I have found also, for many New Yorkers, is an ability to navigate disagreement,' he told Colbert. He also demonstrated the influence of progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Mamdani. Other New York Democratic leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and its two senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, remained publicly neutral. The results similarly laid bare the ineffectiveness of Cuomo's effort — one backed by establishment Democratic forces that blanketed television airwaves but couldn't match the organic groundswell of a state assemblyman who started the race with little public profile. 'Billionaires and lobbyists poured millions against you and our public finance system,' Ocasio-Cortez said of Mamdani on X. 'And you won.' Cuomo had wanted a second act. The 67-year-old scion of one of New York's most prominent political families was forced out of the governor's office in 2021 amid a cloud of scandal — faced with allegations of sexual harassment that he denied and a report that his administration had covered up nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor and the state's two senators stayed on the sidelines. But Cuomo's campaign was backed by many prominent New York Democrats and groups, including unions and elected officials who had criticized him four years ago but — seeing his lead in the polls — issued devil-we-know statements this year endorsing him. Though ranked-choice ballots need to be counted next week, Cuomo acknowledged the reality he faced on stage Tuesday, telling supporters he had called and congratulated Mamdani. 'Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani's night, and he put together a great campaign. And he touched young people, and inspired them, and moved them, and got them to come out and vote. And he really ran a highly impactful campaign. I called him, I congratulated him. I applaud him sincerely for his effort, and let's give him a round of applause and thank him for his campaign,' Cuomo said. His former political rivals, meanwhile, gloated over Cuomo's apparent failure. 'Zohran ran a positive campaign talking about affordability. Cuomo ran a very negative, fear-based campaign. That just made a huge difference,' former Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN. In overwhelmingly Democratic New York City, a victorious Mamdani would ordinarily become the clear front-runner in November's general election. But he instead faces a competitive race with much different contours. First-term Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat four years ago, is seeking reelection as an independent. Adams' break from the party came as he faced backlash after President Donald Trump's Justice Department dropped its corruption charges against Adams, and Adams has cooperated with federal authorities to enforce Trump's mass deportation efforts. 'What NYC deserves is a mayor who's proud to run on his record – not one who ran from his record, or one who has no record,' Adams posted on X Tuesday night. 'We deserve a mayor who will keep driving down crime, support our police, fight antisemitism, and stand up for working-class New Yorkers.' Republican Curtis Silwa was unopposed in the primary and will be the GOP nominee. And neither Cuomo nor Mamdani had ruled out the possibility of running in November on another party's ballot line if they lost the Democratic contest — Cuomo as the nominee of the newly created Fight and Deliver Party, or Mamdani as the nominee of the Working Families Party.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
The bombing of Iran may teach an unwelcome lesson on nuclear weapons
'The risks of Iran acquiring a small nuclear arsenal are now higher than they were before the events of last week,' said Robert J. Einhorn, an arms control expert who negotiated with Iran during the Obama administration. 'We can assume there are a number of hard-liners who are arguing that they should cross that nuclear threshold.' Advertisement Iran would face formidable hurdles to producing a bomb even if it made a concerted dash for one, Einhorn said, not least the knowledge that if the United States and Israel detect such a move, they will strike again. It is far from clear that Iran's leaders, isolated, weakened and in disarray, want to provoke him. Advertisement Yet the logic of proliferation looms large in a world where the nuclear-armed great powers -- the United States, Russia and China -- are viewed as increasingly unreliable and even predatory toward their neighbors. From the Persian Gulf and Central Europe to East Asia, analysts said, non-nuclear countries are watching Iran's plight and calculating lessons they should learn from it. 'Certainly, North Korea doesn't rue the day it acquired nuclear weapons,' said Christopher R. Hill, who led lengthy, ultimately unsuccessful, talks with Pyongyang in 2007 and 2008 to try to persuade it to dismantle its nuclear program. The lure of the bomb, Hill said, has become stronger for America's allies in the Middle East and Asia. Since World War II, they have sheltered under a U.S. security umbrella. But they now confront a president, in Trump, who views alliances as incompatible with his vision of 'America first.' 'I'd be very careful with the assumption that there is a U.S. nuclear umbrella,' said Hill, who served as ambassador to South Korea, Iraq, Poland, and Serbia under Democratic and Republican presidents. 'Countries like Japan and South Korea are wondering whether they can rely on the U.S.' Support for developing nuclear weapons has risen in South Korea, though its newly elected president, Lee Jae-myung, has vowed to improve relations with North Korea. In 2023, President Joe Biden signed a deal with Seoul to involve it more in nuclear planning with the United States, in part to head off a push by South Korean politicians and scientists to develop their own nuclear weapons capability. Advertisement In Japan, the public has long favored disarmament, a legacy of the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. But it has begun debating whether to store nuclear weapons from the United States on its soil, as some members of NATO do. Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister, said that if Ukraine had kept some of its Soviet-era bombs, it might have avoided a Russian invasion. President Vladimir Putin's threats to use tactical nuclear weapons early in that conflict gave pause to the Biden administration about how aggressively to arm the Ukrainian military. It also deepened fears that other revisionist powers could use nuclear blackmail to intimidate their neighbors. The lesson of Ukraine could end up being, 'If you have nuclear weapons, keep them. If you don't have them yet, get them, especially if you lack a strong defender like the U.S. as your ally and if you have a beef with a big country that could plausibly lead to war,' wrote Bruce Riedel and Michael E. O'Hanlon, analysts at the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington, in 2022. Saudi Arabia, an ally of the United States and archrival of Iran, has watched Tehran's nuclear ambitions with alarm. Experts say it would feel huge pressure to develop its own weapon if Iran ever obtained one. The United States has tried to reassure the Saudis by dangling assistance to a civil nuclear program, but those negotiations were interrupted by Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And yet, for all the predictions of a regional arms race, it has yet to occur. Experts say that is a testament to the success of nonproliferation policies, as well as to the checkered history of countries that pursued weapons. Advertisement The Middle East is a messy landscape of dashed nuclear dreams. Iraq, Syria and Libya all had their programs dismantled by diplomacy, sanctions or military force. In the category of cautionary tales, Libya's is perhaps the most vivid: Moammar Gadhafi gave up his weapons of mass destruction in 2003. Eight years later, after a NATO-backed military operation toppled his government, he crawled out of a drainpipe to face a brutal death at the hands of his own people. Iran's strategy of aggressively enriching uranium, while stopping short of a bomb, did not ultimately protect it either. 'To the extent that people are looking at Iran as a test case, Trump has shown that its strategy is not a guarantee that you will prevent a military attack,' said Gary Samore, a professor at Brandeis University who worked on arms control negotiations in the Obama and Clinton administrations. Samore said it was too soon to say how the Israeli and American strikes on Iran would affect the calculus of other countries. 'How does this end?' he said. 'Does it end with a deal? Or is Iran left to pursue a nuclear weapon?' Experts on proliferation are, by nature, wary. But some are trying to find a silver lining in the events of the last week. Einhorn said that in delivering on his threat to bomb a nuclear-minded Iran, Trump had sent a reassuring message to U.S. allies facing their own nuclear insecurities. 'In Moscow, Pyongyang and Beijing,' Einhorn said, 'they've taken notice not just of the reach and capacity of the U.S. military, but the willingness of this president to use that capability.' Advertisement This article originally appeared in
