Latest news with #DemocraticPrimaries
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
PIX11 Special: The 2025 NYC Democratic Mayoral Forum
NEW YORK (PIX11) — PIX11 News held a political presentation for the New York City Democratic Primaries. New York City Mayor Eric Adams will not be on the primary ballot but is pursuing a second term. After federal charges against him were dismissed, he has opted to run as an independent in the general election. More Local News That leaves six other candidates vying for the democratic nomination for November's general election. PIX11's Dan Mannarino spoke with: The 2025 NYC Democratic Mayoral Forum, Zellnor Myrie PIX11 News held a political presentation for the New York City Democratic Primaries. Zellnor Myrie is running for Mayor. Watch the video player for the full interview. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
After Wisconsin, Democrats fear ‘MAGA money' is infiltrating another upcoming race
Will Democratic primaries become a new battleground for the MAGA -aligned right? After the party's bruising loss to Donald Trump and successive Senate defeats in 2024, the Democratic Party is at a crossroads. The next two years will determine whether the party embraces a populist, progressive path or abandons issues like transgender rights to focus on winning moderates and Republicans dis-enthused with Trumpism — or some combination of the two. Some conservatives with deep pockets seem to smell an opportunity. With the Democrats divided and the party's national leaders weaker than ever, some are hoping to steer the course of the left away from progressivism with strategic investments in off-year races. Elon Musk, the president's DOGE baron-in-chief, made a ham-fisted attempt at doing so earlier this year. With a massive investment in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race, Musk sought to block a liberal judge from cementing a left-leaning majority on the state's highest court. His efforts failed, thanks in no small part due to a massive campaign led by Democrats aimed at exposing his influence. In New York's heated mayoral primary, this phenomenon was embodied on Monday by Republican megadonor John Catsimatidis, a Trump supporter and longtime radio host who made his strategy plainly clear on WABC: "I am supporting [Andrew] Cuomo to wipe out all the socialists on June 24th.' Cuomo, the former governor, resigned in disgrace after several women came forward and accused him of sexual harassment and attempts to silence victims. He's now leading in polling for the upcoming Democratic primary after the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, became embroiled in a corruption scandal. Hundreds of miles south in Pittsburgh, a separate tale of MAGA Republican influence in a Democratic Party primary continued to play out on the same day. A historically working-class city in the far western reach of the state, Pittsburgh is a deep-blue bastion surrounded by comparatively much purpler and redder districts. In March, the city's mayoral race made headlines after a number of high-profile Pennsylvania conservatives put money behind the effort to unseat incumbent Ed Gainey in a Democratic primary. The fears of MAGA influence have only grown more intense as the race nears the May 20 primary election. On Monday, the mayor opened up a new offensive against his rival, Corey O'Connor. Gainey, in a news release, reacted to a state election board filing detailing how a PAC supporting O'Connor, Common Sense Change, took in $150,000 during the last filing period — the majority of its contributions — from a separate PAC funded entirely by a nonprofit housed in Delaware with no public face identified only as 'Good Leadership Action Inc.' That comes despite a claim last month from Common Sense Change's administrator, Mike Mikus, stating that it was mostly funded by trade unions. Only a third of the PAC's contributions in April and early May came from three unions backing O'Connor. "My opponent has taken $160,000 from MAGA donors, been backed by 80 percent of the developer money in this race, and flipped his position on [University of Pittsburgh Medical Center] lawsuits after taking thousands from its corporate board,' said Gainey. 'Now, his backers are hiding the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars from voters because they know people in this city won't support developers, MAGA money, or whoever these people are trying to buy Pittsburgh,' he charged. Through the funneling scheme, the money's origins are untraceable. But with the mayoral race coming down to a divide along key local issues, including development and affordable housing, there are signs that specific interests are working to unseat the mayor. Democracy Wins PAC, the D.C.-based organization funded entirely by Good Leadership Inc., previously spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to block a Colorado state representative known for battling corporate landlords from winning a seat in the state senate. That time, it funneled money through a different PAC, Brighter Futures Colorado. O'Connor responded on Monday, accusing Gainey in his own statement of taking so-called 'dark money,' given the more than half a million dollars the Working Families Party has given the mayor's campaign. 'It has made campaigns nastier and more personal, and it's part of why voters are so frustrated with the political process,' O'Connor said in a statement first reported by Public Source. 'We don't coordinate with any outside groups, and I believe all campaigns and committees, no matter who they support, should be transparent about where their money is coming from. That includes both Common Sense Change and the Working Families Party,' he said. O'Connor outraised his opponent in direct funding over the course of the campaign, but dueling internal polls released by his team and Gainey's show the race tightening in the final weeks. While the Working Families Party PAC backing Gainey is registered nationally, conflating it with the groups channeling money in support of his opponent is a stretch. Founded in 1998, the Working Families Party is a well-known progressive organization that has been active in Democratic politics across the East Coast for decades, issuing endorsements and encouraging Democratic candidates to run on the party's ballot line in New York, where the party began. The WFP is supporting ten candidates in Pennsylvania in this cycle alone. The same cannot be said for either O'Connor's independent expenditure or its main backer. The website for Democracy Wins, now funding O'Connor's independent expenditure, still reads as a pre-2024 artifact. It depicts the group as an organization bent on funding a now-failed bid to oust Rep. Lauren Boebert, who switched districts to avoid a tougher reelection fight. There's no statement on the website explaining why the group has now engaged in two separate, unrelated Democratic primary races. With the election a week away, Democrats are watching to see how this proxy fight for the party's future plays out. But regardless of the result, the true outcome could already be plain: Republicans with deep pockets increasingly see the intra-party struggles of their opponents as just as relevant a battlefield as any general election in a swing state or district. As Musk takes a step back from DOGE (and likely his efforts to bankroll GOP causes to curry favor with Trump dwindle as well), many Democrats will be breathing a sigh of relief. But that doesn't mean their party's fight against conservative money is over — not by a long shot. It may just be more difficult to recognize.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Baltimore's Ed Hale announces run for Maryland governor in 2026 election
Baltimore native Ed Hale Sr. announced his run for Maryland governor Thursday. The retired banker and businessman will challenge Gov. Wes Moore for the Democratic nomination in the 2026 gubernatorial primaries. Who is Ed Hale Sr? Hale, 78, is a self-proclaimed lifelong Democrat. He was the chairman and CEO of 1st Mariner Bank. He left the struggling bank in 2011 but remained its biggest shareholder until it was acquired by another company. Hale also ran shipping companies and was credited with developing the Canton Waterfront after building an office in downtown Baltimore. He served as chairman of Baltimore's tourism agency, Visit Baltimore. Now, he owns the Baltimore Blast, the city's championship indoor soccer team. His life was detailed in a biography by author Kevin Cowherd. In an exclusive 2012 interview with WJZ, Hale talked about moving on from the bank and transitioning to a slower-paced lifestyle. He also talked about his covert role with the CIA. "I was the perfect cover because I was all over the world with my vessels and trucking here in America, so I was the perfect person to take somebody and send them out to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan," Hale said. During his role as an NOC, or non-official cover, between 1991 and 2001, Hale was part of the early search for terrorist Osama Bin Laden. He left the agency just after 9/11. According to our partners at the Baltimore Banner, Hale was charged with packing a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage at BWI Airport in 2011. He was ordered to pay and fine and granted probation. Ed Hale announces campaign for Maryland governor Hale announced his run for governor on Thursday in the Baltimore neighborhood where he lived until he joined the military. He said he had been thinking about moving out of the state because of high taxes and the way the government is run. "I did not want to leave because I am all in for Maryland," Hale said. Hale said he believes Maryland can be a little better and more business-friendly. He highlighted several recent announcements of businesses leaving the state, including the closure of Six Flags America, the FBI headquarters moving and the Washington Commanders heading back to Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium. Hale also criticized the state's juvenile justice system, saying that kids getting released after committing crimes is a major problem. "It's a problem that can't exist," Hale said. "We have to do something with the punishment of the kids that do these things, because right now, there's no deterrent. We need to have something that can be done." He also stated that Maryland's tax system has gotten worse and needs some changes. "Instead of raising taxes, look for a way to cut it 5%, 6%, whatever it takes to cover the shortfall that's about to come," he said. In an interview with the Baltimore Banner, Hale criticised Gov. Wes Moore, saying he thinks the governor is distracted by ambitions of running for president. Gov. Moore has repeatedly denied that he will run for president. "I think the general consensus is that he's going to run for president and that makes him, I guess, someone that is not fully invested in Maryland," Hale said. "I'm going to be that person." Hale also said he thinks Moore is not creating enough jobs or boosting the economy. Gov. Moore's approval rating drops after 2025 legislative session Gov. Moore's approval rating dropped from 61% in a January Gonzales poll to 55% in a March poll. In March, the poll revealed that 36% of participants disapproved of Moore's actions as governor. According to the poll, 83% of surveyed Democrats approved of Moore, but his rating dropped among Independents. "Things have taken a turn for the worse, however, with independents, among whom he's now underwater - 34% approve of the job Governor Moore is doing and 42% disapprove," the Gonzales Poll said. "In our January poll, 53% of independents approved."
