Cuomo Loses Another $675,000 Over Suspected Super PAC Coordination
Andrew M. Cuomo was denied another $675,000 in public matching funds on Friday, as the New York City Campaign Finance Board said it continued to believe his mayoral campaign had illicitly coordinated with a super PAC.
The penalty was yet another avoidable setback for Mr. Cuomo. He has now been penalized nearly $1.3 million in total, a significant loss of public funds that could have been spent in the final weeks before the June 24 Democratic primary.
The sanction came as the board doled out the final tranche of matching funds before early voting began in roughly two weeks. Public polling shows that Mr. Cuomo, the former governor of New York who resigned in scandal in 2021, continues to lead, with a handful of more liberal alternatives vying to prevent his return to office.
Several of them were awarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars in matching funds on Friday, multiplying what they had raised in private contributions. The most notable recipient was Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker and a late entrant into the race, who had yet to qualify for matching funds.
Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who is polling second behind Mr. Cuomo and has already reached the city's maximum funding limit, had urged his supporters to contribute to Ms. Adams's campaign to help her meet the funding threshold. She walked away on Friday with $2 million, an infusion large enough to stage a television ad campaign before Primary Day.
'With these funds, the campaign anticipates an aggressive, on-the-ground and over-the-airwaves blitz in the final stretch, as momentum continues to build for Adrienne's effective leadership,' said Lupe Todd-Medina, her spokeswoman.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Feds seek to ditch settlement over alleged redlining with North Jersey bank
The Trump administration is asking a judge to drop a 2022 settlement the Justice Department had reached with North Jersey-based Lakeland Bank — which was later absorbed by Provident Bank — over allegations of redlining against Black and Hispanic customers. While Provident Bank said it will continue to provide low-cost mortgages to underserved communities, the motion by the U.S. Justice Department to abandon the settlement has drawn the ire of community advocates and legal experts, who say it would make it easier for banks to engage in redlining. 'It goes without saying it's a good thing when financial institutions are complying with those consent orders, but when you take away the teeth — the actual enforcement — who's to say that they will continue to comply,' said Leila Amirhamzeh, director of community reinvestment for New Jersey Citizen Action, a consumer advocacy four-page motion by the Justice Department, filed May 28 in U.S. District Court, seeks to terminate the consent order the Biden administration negotiated with what was then Lakeland Bank. In the initial complaint, the Justice Department said Lakeland violated the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by deliberately avoiding banking with Black and Hispanic customers, particularly in and around Newark. The discrimination in question allegedly took place between 2015 and 2021, according to the Biden administration. To settle the complaint, Lakeland agreed to pay $12 million to subsidize mortgages, home improvement loans and home refinancing loans for Black and Hispanic residents and open two branches in underserved neighborhoods. Lakeland also had to provide $150,000 a year for advertising, outreach and consumer finance education in the Newark area. Newark Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka wanted one of those new branches to be in his city, and the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce also wanted a branch in its area. According to the Provident Bank website, there are currently four locations in Newark and three in Toms River. After acquiring Lakeland, Provident took ownership of the settlement and the mandate to open two branches in underserved areas of New Jersey. The Justice Department in its motion to terminate the order said Lakeland reached substantial commitment to comply with the consent agreement and it is committed to continuing its disbursement of the loan subsidy. Provident spokesperson Keith Buscio told and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey that the bank remains committed to the loan subsidy initiative. He said Provident is not a party to the litigation and referred other questions to the Justice Department. The Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment. Baraka's office in Newark said it is planning to hold a press conference about the motion by the Justice Department on June 5. Court filings show two attorneys who helped file the initial complaint against Lakeland, Michael Campion and Susan Millenky, withdrew as counsel from the case. Campion was appointed in 2022 to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office's Civil Rights Division that was created to enforce federal civil rights laws in New Jersey. The Fair Housing Act was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to prohibit landlords and mortgage lenders from discriminating based on race, religion, national origin or sex. Nearly 60 years later, racial wealth disparity remains vast. In New Jersey, the median household wealth of white families is $322,500, compared with $17,700 for Black families and $26,100 for Hispanic families, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice said. In New Jersey, 77.3% of white residents owned a home in 2020. By comparison, 42.8% of Black residents and 32.7% of Hispanic residents were homeowners, according to the Urban Institute, a research group. Critics said the Justice Department's motion to drop the Lakeland settlement is a step by the Trump administration's bid to reverse diversity, equity and inclusion programs. David Troutt, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark, said the motion by the Justice Department to terminate the consent decree is part of a larger campaign by the department to rescind investigations and agreements involving anti-Black racism, while beginning investigations into what it deems 'illegal DEI.' 'The Trump administration's withdrawal from a federal consent decree without justification is an extraordinary act of endorsing racist practices and housing market manipulation,' Troutt said. 'For the very government that successfully enforced those borrowers' civil rights to now repudiate them sends a message unlike any we've seen since the federal government first endorsed redlining in the 1930s,' Troutt said. Lakeland isn't the only New Jersey bank that faced scrutiny under the Biden administration. Toms River-based OceanFirst Financial Corp. agreed to pay $14 million to subsidize mortgages, helping settle a lawsuit that alleged the bank violated federal discrimination laws. Since then, it has improved the rating given by federal bank regulators who oversee investments in underserved communities to 'outstanding.' The Justice Department hasn't filed a motion seeking to terminate the consent order with OceanFirst. But two attorneys who represented the U.S. in the initial complaint, Millenky and Nathan Shulock, have filed motions to withdraw from the case, according to the court docket. A combined 22 Provident and Lakeland branches closed in 2024 following the $1.3 billion merger creating a 'super community bank.' Each branch that closed was within roughly three miles of a nearby branch. Activists and opponents warned that the merger would mean fewer banking services would be available for underserved communities, such as people of color, the elderly and disabled. New Jersey Citizen Action applauded Provident for its continued commitment to the terms of the consent order. But the group said the Justice Department should continue to enforce it. 'When you actually terminate these consent orders, there's no deterrence, and it's basically telling financial institutions that the Department of Justice is going to be taking a hands-off approach to fair lending issues, to redlining,' New Jersey Citizen Action's Amirhamzeh said. Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for and The Record. Email: munozd@ Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter for the Asbury Park Press. He has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@ This article originally appeared on Feds seek to drop Lakeland Bank settlement over alleged redlining
New York Post
32 minutes ago
- New York Post
Gov. Kathy Hochul's No. 2 pushed to resign after he announces he wants her job: ‘Shouldn't be on the payroll'
ALBANY – Et tu, Antonio? Some establishment Democrats called for Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado to resign Tuesday – one day after he announced he'd run in a party primary against Gov. Kathy Hochul. 'He shouldn't be on the payroll of the employer he opposes,' Queens Borough President Donovan Richards told The Post. Advertisement 'Hochul has been very good for Queens. Whatever we've asked for, she has delivered,' Richards, who has been rumored as a potential new LG pick himself, said. Hochul handpicked Delgado to be her No. 2 in 2022, but it's long been expected he'd throw his hat in the ring to try to unseat her in the 2026 election. 3 Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado will not step down even as he campaigns to unseat his boss, per a spokesperson. Hans Pennink Advertisement 'I call for the ungrateful Mr. Delgado to IMMEDIATELY RESIGN as Lieutenant Governor,' Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia (D-Bronx) wrote on X Monday night with an endorsement of the governor. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) praised Hochul and pushed back against the idea of a primary in comments to POLITICO though he stopped short of calling for Delgago to step aside. 'Governor Hochul has been a strong partner working with me on behalf of all New Yorkers,' Heastie said. 'We need to be united.' A spokesperson for Delgado stamped out any speculation the lieutenant governor will relinquish his title and $210,000 per year paycheck, which are effectively all the perks of the office Hochul has left him with. Advertisement 'When someone challenges the status quo, the establishment pushes back — we expected that. But Antonio Delgado isn't running to win over insiders,' said Steven Ileka, Delgado's press secretary. 'He's running to fight for everyday New Yorkers, not the powerful few.' 3 Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is backing Gov. Kathy Hochul and calling for Dems to be united after Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado officially entered the Governor's race Monday. Hans Pennink Delgado also faced calls to turn down the temperature within the party ranks even if he stays put. 'I respect the will of the voters, so I'm not calling on Delgado to resign—but he needs to chill and stop stirring infighting,' Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (D-Brooklyn), who also chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Committee, told The Post in a statement. Advertisement 'Governor Kathy Hochul is a respected and popular Democratic incumbent with a strong track record and bold leadership on the issues that matter—affordability, public safety, education, immigration, and more,' Bichotte Hermelyn added. 3 'The powerful and well-connected have their champions. I'm running for Governor to be yours,' Delgado said in a video announcing his candidacy. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post Delgado's infant campaign has already taken an approach of attacking Hochul and her growing crew in the capital. 'The powerful and well-connected have their champions. I'm running for Governor to be yours,' Delgado said in a video announcing his candidacy. On his campaign website, the LG rips Hochul for vetoing two bills that would help expand childcare access and promises to deliver state-funded universal childcare. He also calls for 'universal healthcare' and expanding New York's public option. Hochul's campaign declined to comment.
Los Angeles Times
33 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Labor groups, officials push for a minimum wage of at least $25 an hour in L.A. County
Labor advocates and some elected officials are calling on Los Angeles County to adopt a minimum wage of at least $25 an hour. On Monday about 150 workers, labor leaders, Democratic party officials and loyal donors gathered at private tables reserved in the back of Wally's Wine & Spirits in Santa Monica to launch a new effort to raise the minimum hourly wage in L.A. County to $25 — or higher. Amid the tinkle of glassware and clang of cutlery, Saru Jayaraman, an L.A. attorney and president of One Fair Wage, a national coalition pushing to raise wages in the service sector, emphasized the urgency of addressing a steep increase in the cost of living. 'We need bold, proactive action,' Jayaraman said. 'That's the only way people will be able to afford to stay in L.A. County.' A person living in L.A. County and working full-time in a household without children must earn about $28 an hour in order to cover basics of rent, transportation and food, Jayaraman said, citing MIT's living wage calculator. The hourly minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.28, 78 cents higher than the state's. No wage proposal has yet been submitted to the county, Jayaraman said, but labor groups plan to work with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to hash out the specifics. The campaign is sure to face staunch resistance from business groups. It follows L.A. City Council's approval of wage boosts for airport and hotel workers to $30 an hour by 2028. Hotels and tourism industry groups have continued to fight the new ordinance, filing paperwork last week to force a citywide vote to overturn it. Business leaders who opposed the tourism wage hike had warned that Southern California — like other tourism hotspots across the U.S. — is already facing a slowdown in international travel due to trade war hostilities and deportation threats. To manage the mounting cost of labor, hotels will be forced close restaurants or other small businesses on their premises — and in some cases, shut down entirely, they said. The coalition of businesses that is seeking to overturn the wage — the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress — will need to gather about 93,000 signatures within the next few weeks in order to qualify the measure for the ballot in an upcoming election. L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who backed the tourism wage boost, said unions were bracing for a fight in the coming weeks and months. 'Corporations and businesses are only going to go more on the attack and do everything in their power to reverse these policies,' she said. 'We are talking about workers being able to buy food, and live in the city they work in.' The campaign to boost the minimum wage has the backing of L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who said at the event that she often hears from her constituents that they are being priced out. 'What it costs to just survive in Los Angeles County — it takes away my breath every day,' Mitchell said. Mitchell supports an across-the-board minimum wage increase, rather than efforts to raise industry-specific wages. 'This might not be a popular thing to say, but we don't help ourselves when we have a piecemeal sector-by-sector approach,' Mitchell said. Besides tourism workers, healthcare and fast food workers have also lobbied for improved pay at the state or local level. In unincorporated areas of L.A. County, the minimum wage is $17.81. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
