Latest news with #Dem
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Ex-AOC aide: Mamdani must run primaries against Dems resisting agenda
A former top aide to far-left 'Squad' member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said socialist Big Apple mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani — who has already sent Democrats into 'absolute panic' — should support primary challengers against lefty lawmakers who refuse to support his proposed $9 billion in tax hikes on millionaires and corporations. 'I think Mamdani has to support primary challengers. The big stick he has is the primary,' Corbin Trent told The Post. 'He's already facing resistance. The resistance is out there.' 3 A former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling on Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to push for primaries against lawmakers who won't support his proposed tax hikes. Matthew McDermott Trent said no one should be immune from challenges in next year's state legislative and House races — including top House Dem Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres. 'Politics runs on fear. You don't have to take out that many,' he said. Trent was part of Ocasio-Cortez's brain trust when the Democratic Socialist shocked the political world by ousting longtime lawmaker and then-head of the Queens Democratic machine, Joe Crowley, in the 2018 Democratic primary, becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress. Trent is a co-founder of Justice Democrats, the progressive political action that backed Ocasio-Cortez's successful insurgency and boosts other lefty primary challengers against incumbents deemed too tied to the status quo and monied interests. He said Democratic incumbents beholden to the donor class and who cling to the status quo 'are like sitting ducks.' 3 Corbin Trent was part of Ocasio-Cortez' team during her campaign to oust former Queens Rep. Joe Crowley. William Miller President Trump and his MAGA movement have backed primary challenges when fellow Republicans stand in the way of their agenda, he noted. Tensions have erupted between Mamdani's far-left network of supporters — including the Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families Party — because prominent Democratic Party leaders, such as Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jeffries have shied away from endorsing the millennial in the mayoral race. Reps with DSA and the WFP have also suggested that some establishment Democrats and longtime incumbents could be vulnerable to primary challengers. 3 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is one of the Democrats Trent suggested could be targeted with primaries. AP A top aide to Jeffries, who is black, said the congressman's campaign would be ready for what he mockingly dubbed 'Team Gentrification.' Jeffries, however, will personally meet with Mamdani later this week, a source said. The House Minority Leader declined to comment on Trent's call for the socialist upstart to get behind primary challengers. Torres, meanwhile, said he was unfazed. 'House Democrats are strategizing about how to defeat Donald Trump and make Hakeem Jeffries the next Speaker. Donald Trump and DSA are strategizing about how to tear down Hakeem Jeffries. Strange bedfellows,' Torres told The Post. Unlike other parts of the city, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo carried Torres' South Bronx congressional district over Mamdani in the primary by 20 percentage points. In an exasperated column on Substack, Trent lambasted Dems for paving the way to another Trump administration. 'Democrats keep pretending Trump voters are moving right when the truth is much simpler: people are voting for whoever promises to blow up a rigged system. Same reason they voted Obama in '08, Bernie in '16, and Trump — twice now,' the political strategist wrote. 'It's not about specific policies. It's about wanting someone, anyone, to break through and deliver transformation,' he continued. 'Democrats either can't see this or won't admit it because their entire mission is maintaining the status quo for the donors and consultants who run the party. They'd rather manage decline than acknowledge that voters want revolutionary change — because admitting that would mean admitting they're not the leaders for the job.' Trent said Mamdani won the Democratic primary election for mayor because he offered sweeping change to help address the affordability crisis for many New Yorkers. Critics, however, question whether the socialist's lofty proposals — that he said he could pay for with sweeping tax hikes — are achievable. The proposals would require legislative approval.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Adams chimes in on Cuomo's planned bid to re-enter mayoral race: ‘Are your kidding me?'
Hizzoner Eric Adams on Sunday blasted Andrew Cuomo's plan to run for mayor as an independent, saying it is only 'wasting time and dividing voters' — and boosting socialist Zohran Mamdani. Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent himself, said at the Bolivian Day Parade in Queens that Cuomo's ego-driven plan to stay in the race is doing more harm than good, noting the previous front-runner was already trounced once by both men's Dem foe, Mamdani. 'I didn't lose in the primary,' said the mayor, referring to Mamdani's stunning win over Cuomo in the Democratic Party race last month. Advertisement 'We're moving straight ahead. It's so important that we continue to move ahead,' Adams said. 4 Mayor Eric Adams says Andrew Cuomo's plan to enter the mayoral race as an independent is bad news for the city. Kevin C Downs for The New York Post Asked if he would step aside for Cuomo, the mayor shot back: 'Are you kidding me?' Advertisement He followed up in a scathing press release from his camp. 'This kind of political double-dealing is exactly why so many New Yorkers have lost trust in [Cuomo[,' the release said. 'The people spoke loudly – he lost. Yet, he continues to put himself over the number one goal — beating Mamdani and securing our city's future. 'Now, in the face of a serious threat, an inexperienced opponent, Cuomo is wasting time and dividing voters. He failed them — and he's failing New Yorkers now.' 4 Cuomo lost the Democratic primary for mayor to socialist Zohran Mamdani but plans to re-enter the race. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post Advertisement As an independent, Adams sat out the primary — and insists Cuomo would only split the vote in the general election if he jumps back into the race, allowing Mamdani to cruise into office. Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, is leading the race with 35% approval, followed by Cuomo with 25%, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa with 14% and Adams at 11%, according to a poll conducted by the political consulting firm Slingshot Strategies. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the former governor still presents the best chance to beat Mamdani. The former governor, while running as an independent, is still expected to seek a vow from all candidates other than Mamdani that they will drop out of the race in September if they're not leading the pack. That includes himself. Advertisement 4 Queens state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani stunned the city by winning the Democratic mayoral primary. 4 Cuomo is expected to reenter the mayoral race as an independent. Matthew McDermott But Sliwa slammed the suggestion — and Adams — while noting he's the only legit major party candidate. 'Andrew Cuomo lost his primary and hides in the Hamptons,' the Guardian Angels founder said Sunday. 'Eric Adams skipped his and fled to Fort Lauderdale. Now, they're both running as independents to cling to relevance.' Meanwhile, former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, who is also running for the seat, said Cuomo's call for a unified vow to step aside for the greater good sounds awfully familiar. 'I am glad Andrew has agreed to adopt my pledge,' Walden said. 'I hope Eric and Curtis sign on as well. Putting New York's best interest over our personal ambitions is critical at this moment.' Additional reporting by Carl Campanile
New York Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
NYC's broken election system needs far more than these Band-Aid fixes
New York City's election system is badly broken — and the proposed 'fixes' from Mayor Eric Adams' Charter Revision Commission barely amount to putting new windshield wipers on a totaled wreck. Commission staffers flinch from facing the issues that skew politics far to the left, focusing instead on how low turnout in primaries lets small factions, such as the 60,000-member Democratic Socialists, grab the Democratic nomination and so become the prohibitive favorite in November. So they suggest opening up primaries to all registered voters: Anyone could vote in any primary, so the Democratic line could be decided by unaffiliated voters, and Working Families members could jump into the Republican race. Another idea is still more radical: Switch to a 'jungle primary' among all registered voters, with the top two finishers moving on to face off in November. Finally, the commission suggests moving city elections from odd to even years to align with national calendar, since more people already come out to vote when federal offices are on the line. Yet juking primary rules seems unlikely to do much: The reality is that open primaries have worked no miracles in the many states that have them, while jungle primaries have largely hastened the death of the two-party system in California. As for changing the calendar: The main effect there would be to submerge local issues even deeper below the waterline of popular attention than they already are. This year's Democratic primary already degraded into a 'who is most anti-Trump' farce; it wouldv'e been worse with Trump (or his GOP heir) actually on the ballot. Face it: The real concern here is the fact that sensible working-class minority voters are fleeing the Democratic Party, whose NYC enrollment has dropped 400,000 these last five years even as the ranks of the unaffiliated have soared. That creates a whiter, woker primary electorate less concerned about who can make city government deliver safe streets and decent schools. Thing is, those voters are leaving for a reason: In the city, as statewide and nationally, the Democratic Party establishment's only priority these days is just holding onto power and keeping the cash coming in — which means protecting the vast, tax-eating social-services industry and the public-employee unions, while also emphasizing issues that appeal to the woke white donor class. The commission's main 'fixes' are simply about giving the establishment a better shot at fending off the challenge from the left. Meanwhile, past efforts to shore up the Dem establishment are making things worse: Above all, the ridiculous rules for public funding of campaigns, including the power of the unelected Campaign Finance Board. City taxpayers forked over $100 for every vote cast in June's primary election, with nearly all the cash going to a pack of progressives who (thanks to the supposedly 'more fair' ranked-choice rules) were able to tag-team against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Multiple 'rivals 'cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani, then colluded not to attack each other, instead all running ads to take down the onetime frontrunner. And that's after the CFB invented new rules on the fly to allow it to deny funds to the incumbent mayor. (It later made up more new rules to limit what it paid Cuomo, too.) The board also basically engineered Bill de Blasio's victory 12 years ago, , by shutting down the campaign of his closest competitor for progressive votes, John Liu. Taxpayer funding of campaigns was sold as making it easier for challengers to win. But incumbents continue to get re-elected at North Korean rates — unless the board decides to burn them. Turnout, meanwhile, is lower than ever. In 2021, less than a quarter of all registered voters turned out for the mayoral election. The Democratic establishment set up a profoundly undemocratic system to serve itself — only to now find itself hoist on its own petard. And the mayor's commission wants to rearrange some deck chairs on the Titanic rather than give voters a chance to undo this unholy scheme.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
First group of Kurdish PKK members burns weapons as a symbol of peace with Turkey
July 11 (UPI) -- The Kurdish militant group PKK took its first step toward peace with Turkey as it burned weapons after 40 years of conflict. The group of 30 PKK members went to a cave near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and put their weapons into a fire. It was the first ceremony of its kind for the organization, and more are expected to happen all summer. The Turkish government has said the ceremony is crossing a "critical threshold" toward a "terror-free Turkey." PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others. It formed as a response to poor treatment of Kurds in Turkey and demanded an independent Kurdistan, Kurdish language education and more. More than 40,000 people have died in the four decades-long conflict. "We voluntarily destroy our weapons, before your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination," the PKK said in a statement. The group included 15 men and 15 women. Witnesses included officials from Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, Iraqi officials, security forces and officials from Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, members of the Turkish People's Democratic Party (Dem), and some from non-governmental organizations. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, long imprisoned by Turkey, said it was "a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law." Ocalan has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali near Istanbul since 1999. He's been kept in solitary confinement. Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist leader in Turkey and ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, started working to create a "terror-free Turkey" in October 2024. He pushed Ocalan to call for the dissolution of the PKK. The Turkish government began negotiations with Ocalan with the help of the Dem party, which is pro-Kurd. In February, Ocalan appealed to the group to disband in a letter that two Dem MPs read out after visiting the prison. "All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," Ocalan's letter said. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
4 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
First group of Kurdish PKK members burns weapons as a symbol of peace with Turkey
Supporters of The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) hold pictures of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, and shout slogans next to a bonfire during a rally for Newruz celebrations in Diyarbakir, Turkey in March. The PKK began burning its weapons Friday in Iraq after Ocalan called for disarmament. EPA/METIN YOKSU July 11 (UPI) -- The Kurdish militant group PKK took its first step toward peace with Turkey as it burned weapons after 40 years of conflict. The group of 30 PKK members went to a cave near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and put their weapons into a fire. It was the first ceremony of its kind for the organization, and more are expected to happen all summer. The Turkish government has said the ceremony is crossing a "critical threshold" toward a "terror-free Turkey." PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others. It formed as a response to poor treatment of Kurds in Turkey and demanded an independent Kurdistan, Kurdish language education and more. More than 40,000 people have died in the four decades-long conflict. "We voluntarily destroy our weapons, before your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination," the PKK said in a statement. The group included 15 men and 15 women. Witnesses included officials from Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, Iraqi officials, security forces and officials from Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, members of the Turkish People's Democratic Party (Dem), and some from non-governmental organizations. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, long imprisoned by Turkey, said it was "a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law." Ocalan has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali near Istanbul since 1999. He's been kept in solitary confinement. Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist leader in Turkey and ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, started working to create a "terror-free Turkey" in October 2024. He pushed Ocalan to call for the dissolution of the PKK. The Turkish government began negotiations with Ocalan with the help of the Dem party, which is pro-Kurd. In February, Ocalan appealed to the group to disband in a letter that two Dem MPs read out after visiting the prison. "All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," Ocalan's letter said.
