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CNN
26-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Democrats are posting weightlifting videos to give their midterm campaigns a lift
Democrats running in next year's midterms are pumping out videos of themselves pumping iron. In one video, Texas Senate candidate Colin Allred stands in his home gym after a workout and, still in a sweat, criticizes President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. In another, Cait Conley, an Army veteran challenging New York Rep. Mike Lawler, talks about affordability as a video plays of her pressing weights over her head. And when a critic on social media jabbed at his bench-press form in a recent campaign ad, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed posted a snappy dismissal correcting how many pounds he was lifting. 'That's 315, habibi,' El-Sayed said in a post on X that has been viewed more than 5 million times. Politicians working out in public is a bipartisan custom. But Democrats are increasingly posting weightlifting content in hopes of reaching male voters in the so-called 'manosphere' that Trump mastered during his campaign. They are also trying to move past the ongoing arguments – fanned by Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill – over former President Joe Biden's physical and mental fitness. 'People want to see vigor, they want to see action, that you're prepared to do the job, doing more than sitting behind a podium regurgitating a litany of nonsensical acronyms,' said Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo. Pat Dennis, another strategist, credited candidates for exploring new ways to reach people, but warned about seeming inauthentic. 'I would caution Democrats against pulling out a checklist – 'For young men, we'll do some bench pressing; for young women, we'll talk about the Barbie movie,'' he said. 'People don't like checklists and they don't like being pandered to. They remember you for who you are. You need to be authentic, in a way that is believable.' El-Sayed said posting his lifts allows him to reach young men who otherwise have trouble identifying with Democrats. But he argues that the weightlifting content isn't just for men. 'As bro-coded as heavy lifting tends to be, like I said, some of the most monster lifters I've ever met are women over the ages of 65,' he said. 'This is a discipline that is there for everybody.' El-Sayed is running in a crowded primary to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. As a physician and former public health official, El-Sayed has made health, fitness and appeals to young men hallmarks of his campaign. 'Part of the problem that we often have is folks don't see themselves in our politics,' he told CNN. 'I want to break that artificial barrier down – bringing the politics back into the gym and bringing the gym back into politics.' Good night. This month, his campaign launched Facebook ads touting his workouts and calling for 'time, effort, and discipline' in politics. In other social media posts, El-Sayed has spoken out about the need for better male role models and discussed how leaders can improve their outreach. And El-Sayed also acknowledged that the focus on health and fitness could address voter concerns about aging political leadership. 'I do think there's something about vigor that you need in public leaders. Our public leaders need to be able to go all in, in the things that they do, and push themselves in all the ways that they can,' he told CNN. 'What it doesn't look like is Donald Trump. It's hilarious to me that like, he walks around being this caricature of a macho man – buddy, we've all seen you in a polo shirt.' Allred is a retired NFL linebacker and former congressman making his second run for Senate this year in Texas, where Democrats are hoping for a statewide breakthrough against incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn or primary rival Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general. Allred lost a Senate bid last year to Sen. Ted Cruz. The brawny Democrat has also made physical fitness a key part of his communications strategy, filming workout videos and using them to comment on campaign developments and news of the day. 'I'm at the end of my workout here, and just wanted to thank y'all for helping us have such a great launch yesterday,' he says, breathing hard and pumping weights, in a video posted the day after his campaign launch. In another video posted last Friday, Allred commented on the escalating controversy over Epstein and his alleged links to Trump. 'Hey everybody, I just finished my workout, hope you got your workout in. So I guess we gotta talk about Jeffrey Epstein,' he says in the video. A post shared by Colin Allred (@colinallred) Allred described his thinking behind the videos to CNN, saying that 'it's not something that I really planned on doing, as much as I started to feel like after my workouts, that I was doing anyway – that was when I felt I had something to say.' Allred also said he recognized the concerns that voters have about aging politicians. 'I think it's a real concern,' he said. 'I do think that we have to show folks that we have the energy and I'd say sort of the fitness in order to go to bat for them.' Earlier this year, Allred helped found the 'Speaking with American Men' project, aimed at helping the party reach those voters. In a memo outlining their 'strategic plan' for 2025, the group pledged to 'develop a cohort of credible voices … to promote a constructive, aspirational vision of manhood that aligns with Democratic values without alienating other core constituencies.' In Colorado's battleground 8th District, state Rep. Manny Rutinel is challenging Republican incumbent Gabe Evans with a series of social media videos that often feature Rutinel playing sports, working out, and ribbing his GOP rival. 'If I do 20 pull-ups, we're gonna flip a red seat blue in Congress to stop the horrors of the Trump administration,' he says in one of the videos on Instagram. J.D. Scholten, a state lawmaker and minor league pitcher seeking to challenge Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, shared a video of a 'spot start' he made pitching for the independent Sioux City Explorers, writing, 'We got the W and are back in first place! Still learning the game at 45 years old…' It's not just men who are producing fitness content. Conley, the Army veteran challenging Lawler in a top battleground district, has also made workouts and exercise a key component of her campaign communications. 'Welcome to Reps and Real Talk,' Conley, sitting in front of a bench press, says in an Instagram video promoting her campaign launch in March. 'Over the coming weeks and months, I'll be posting videos here to talk to you.' Conley told CNN in a statement that 'fitness embodies those values which have guided me my whole life – from West Point to 16 years of military service and multiple combat tours.' Meanwhile, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow – eyeing a Senate seat potentially opening with Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet running for governor – is a former Army Ranger who says he's training to retake the Army Combat Fitness test. 'I'm not the 27-year-old Ranger anymore,' joked Crow, 46, in an interview with CNN. 'But, you know, I'm crushing the pull-ups, I'm crushing the push-ups, the sprint-drag-carry I'm doing well, the plank I'm doing well on. I just need a little bit more time on the max deadlift than I used to so, but I'll get it there.'
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Seven Democrats vying to run for Mike Lawler's House seat. Here are the contenders
One by one they threw their hats in the ring: a crowd of Democrats eager for a shot at the House seat held by Republican Mike Lawler in one of the country's most competitive districts. The field of Democratic contenders for New York's 17th Congressional District had grown to seven by early June, with no additions since then. Each is courting party support and raising money long before the 2026 primary for a Hudson Valley seat that Lawler has won twice and Democrats hope to flip in next year's mid-term elections. One early marker came Tuesday, July 15, when candidates reported how much they collected from April through June — an initial gauge of their support and viability for a costly battle. Two led the pack with big hauls: Cait Conley, a former national security official and Army combat veteran, raised $480,000 Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson raised $352,000 Yet the newest candidate — Peter Chatzky, a tech company founder and deputy mayor of Briarcliff Manor — vaulted himself into their ranks by lending his campaign $500,000 and raising $180,000 in less than three weeks, according to his campaign. Lawler's campaign, meanwhile, took in nearly $1.4 million over those same three months, a quarter of which — $360,000 — came from three Republican committees that support GOP House candidates with tough races ahead. Lawler had $2.2 million in his coffers by June 30. Will Mike Lawler run for a third term in his NY House district? A big uncertainty still hanging over the race is whether Lawler will run for a third term. He has been weighing a campaign for governor instead, which would take him out of the House race and lift Democrats' chances of claiming his seat. Lawler had planned to announce his decision in June but hasn't said yet which office he will seek. Westchester County Democrats held a series of forums to introduce the large cast of candidates to party members. Suzanne Berger, Westchester's Democratic chairwoman, said the party is planning a forum with a slightly winnowed lineup of four or five top contenders in September. Democratic voters in the 17th District — all of Rockland and Putnam counties, half of Westchester and a sliver of Dutchess — ultimately will choose their party's nominee in a primary next June, still 11 months away. Here are the seven Democrats now vying for that role. Jessica Reinmann Reinmann, a 49-year-old Chappaqua resident, jumped in first, filing federal paperwork to be a candidate in January as the new House term was just getting under way. She is the founder of 914Cares — a nonprofit that fights poverty in Westchester — and has pitched herself as a problem solver with a "mission-driven" campaign. Her finance report shows she raised $109,000 and contributed $115,000 of her own to her campaign in the second quarter of the year. She had $443,000 on hand as of June 30. Beth Davidson Davidson, a 52-year-old Nyack resident, has been a county legislator since 2024 and served two terms on the Nyack school board before then. She joined the race in February with an early endorsement by former Rep. Mondaire Jones, who represented the 17th District before its lines were redrawn in 2022 and who lost a comeback bid against Lawler last year. Davidson, who has long been active in politics, has since rounded up endorsements from a few dozen elected officials and Democratic leaders from Rockland County, along with a litany of activists from around the district. She reported raising $352,000 in the second quarter and finishing with $489,000 in her coffers. She had raised a total of $855,000 during her five months in the race — the highest overall sum of the candidates. Cait Conley Conley, a 39-year-old Ossining resident, worked in the Biden administration for four years, first as director of counterterrorism for the National Security Council and then as senior advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She's a West Point graduate who served 16 years in the Army, with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. She has been endorsed by the progressive veterans' group VoteVets and a pair of forward-looking Democratic groups: New Politics and the Next 50. Conley reported raising $480,000 in the last three months and $816,000 overall since entering the race in March. She had $614,000 in her coffers by June 30. Mike Sacks Sacks, a 42-year-old Croton-on-Hudson resident, is a former journalist who has covered the Supreme Court and was a TV reporter for Fox 5 New York for four years. He now works as a "pro-democracy advocate and constitutional analyst." Sacks joined the race in April and has since raised $212,000, finishing the second quarter with $102,000 in his coffers. John Sullivan Sullivan, a 41-year-old Piermont resident, is a former FBI analyst who quit the agency after 17 years because of what he said was the chaos caused by the new Trump administration. He then moved to Rockland County from the Washington, D.C. area and launched his bid for Congress, after declaring he could better serve the FBI "from the outside." Sullivan reported raising $301,000 since joining the race in April, the third highest total. He had $164,000 on hand after expenses. Effie Phillips-Staley Phillips-Staley, a 54-year-old Tarrytown resident, is a longtime nonprofit leader and elected trustee in her Westchester County village. With five candidates already in place, she joined the field in May and set herself apart as a progressive stalwart, rejecting the idea that Democrats must move to the right to win. She has since raised $52,000 and kicked in $100,000 of her own money, finishing the second quarter with $99,000, according to her campaign. Her spokesman said Phillips-Staley was waging a grassroots bid with no "list of corporations, ultra-rich and Washington establishment figures to seed her operation." Peter Chatzky Chatzky, a 64-year-old Briarcliff Manor resident, is the founder and CEO of a financial technology company called Napa Group LLC. He has served for six years as a village trustee — now holding the title of deputy mayor — after an earlier two-year stint as mayor. NY17: Is ex-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney the NY Dems' best chance against Lawler after 2022 loss? His $500,000 loan to his campaign and spurt of donations in June brought his balance to $674,000. That was the most any of the seven candidates had on hand as of June 30, just ahead of Conley's $614,000. Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@ This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: The 7 Democrats vying to run for Rep. Mike Lawler's seat: A guide Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The should know better': Trump intel officials struggle to clean up mess from leaked group chat
Cait Conley, Army Veteran and Former Director of Counterterrorism for the National Security Council, Amanda Carpenter, Writer and Editor for Protect Democracy and Tyler Prager, New York Times White House Correspondent join Alicia Menendez in for Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to discuss the continued fallout from the stunning leak involving a reporter being added to a group chat with the highest ranking national security officials in the Trump Administration detailing war plans involvin
