24-06-2025
It's Election Day in the Big Apple
What up, Recast fam. On today's agenda:
The eyes of the political world are intensely trained on the race to become the next New York City mayor.
Technically, Tuesday is the last day of voting in the city's Democratic primary, which is always a marquee contest and is typically a formality given the city's significant Democratic lean. But that's far from the case this year. (More on that later.)
Heading into primary day, upstart candidate Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born Indian American who immigrated to the U.S. as a child and is running as a democratic socialist, continues to defy expectations. In a recent poll, his campaign's late surge has him defeating Andrew Cuomo, a political scion and former New York governor who resigned from his post four years ago after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.
The Emerson College Poll released Monday showed Mamdani trailing Cuomo early on, but as the crowded field of 11 candidates gets whittled in a series of rounds of ranked-choice voting, he eventually overtakes the ex-governor in Round 8 by clearing the 50 percent threshold.
As my POLITICO colleague Jason Beeferman points out, a Mamdani win would send shockwaves through the Democratic Party.
Cuomo, 67, had been seen as the undisputed front-runner in the contest early on with his near-universal name recognition and through the backing of the Democratic establishment — and that was reflected in the financial assist from the city's billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Most polls, including one from Marist last week, had Cuomo prevailing over Mamdani and the rest of the field in later rounds of the ranked-choice vote.
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In recent weeks, Cuomo has been criticized for bullying his way through the governorship and his mayoral campaign.
As Mamdani begins to lap Cuomo, some question whether the 33-year-old leftist is up to the task of governing a complicated and sprawling bureaucracy after serving less than five years in the state Assembly. And Cuomo is putting himself front and center of that debate.
'As mayor, I will bring experience in government, leadership to NYC, and a strong stance on antisemitism,' Cuomo said in a recent post on social media.
While Cuomo has made Mamdani's thin resume central to his closing argument, he's also kept his public appearances and interactions with the media at a minimum. He also touted a last-minute endorsement from former President Bill Clinton.
By contrast, Mamdani's surge has opened up new opportunities for exposure, including an appearance Monday evening on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' where he appeared alongside rival-turned-cross-endorser Brad Lander, 55, the New York City comptroller. (Lander made headlines earlier this month when he was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court.)
'It's exciting to know that while each of us think we'd make the best next mayor of New York City, we also understand it's time for a politics of the future,' Mamdani told Colbert as he gestured to Lander, suggesting his would-be administration would focus on collaboration.
Neither Cuomo nor Mamdani ruled out continuing their mayoral bid if they came up short in the Democratic primary with an option to run on a third-party line in the general election. Eric Adams, the city's embattled incumbent mayor — who became the second Black mayor to serve the nation's most populous city four years ago — announced in the spring he'd seek reelection as an independent, aiming to avoid the crowded Democratic primary he likely could not have won. (Adams, who was indicted on corruption charges which were later dismissed, has faced criticism that he was too cozy with President Donald Trump.)
Other Democratic mayoral candidates include: Adrienne Adams, the New York Council speaker; Michael Blake, the former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee; state Sen. Zellnor Myrie; state Sen. Jessica Ramos (who endorsed Cuomo); former New York Comptroller Scott Stringer; and former hedge fund executive Whitney Tilson.
Polls close tonight at 9 p.m. local time, though results may not be known for several days or longer.
All the best,The Recast Team
HOUSE OVERSIGHT LEADERSHIP FIGHT
It's Election Day on Capitol Hill today, too, but unlike the New York mayoral race, we have results.
In a widely anticipated, closed-door vote by House Democrats on Tuesday morning, Rep. Robert Garcia of California cruised to victory in his bid by a vote of 150-63 to become the ranking member of the Oversight Committee. His win wasn't a big surprise: Heading into the vote early Tuesday, the second-term lawmaker appeared to have the momentum needed to best his three challengers
The contest to become the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee was triggered by the death of Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who died from esophageal cancer last month.
As my colleagues Nicholas Wu and Haily Fuchs reported Monday night, Garcia locked up a key endorsement from the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, getting the nod over Reps. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, his closest competitor in the contest, Kweisi Mfume of Maryland and Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
While the Steering panel's recommendation was far from a guarantee on how the wider caucus would vote, it added fresh momentum to Garcia's bid to overtake Lynch and Mfume, who both have more seniority than him on the panel — and it's traditionally a barometer by which Democrats dole out leadership posts.
Central to his pitch to the powerful committee: Garcia sold himself as a consensus candidate who could successfully unify divisions in the party. Democrats have been split between those who want to be more confrontational in their dealings with Trump and those — particularly among some of the party elders — who want to take a more measured approach.
In December, the House Democratic Caucus elected to elevate Connolly to the post, just a month after he publicly announced his cancer diagnosis, over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Connolly, an experienced investigator, had previously lost out on previous bids to be the top Democrat on the panel, but received an opening when Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland decided to step down to serve as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
AOC's decision to pass on another run for the leadership post opened up opportunities for others.
What a difference a few months makes.
There's been a public reckoning within the Democratic Party since Trump was inaugurated in January and Democrats faced the stark reality of being locked out of power in federal Washington. As they look for a path out of the political wilderness, parts of their base have been angered by the lack of message cohesion to thwart Trump's agenda.
House Democrats were also grappling with the fact that their slim minority has widened in the nearly seven months since the new Congress was sworn. Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona also died this year.
The issue of age was a factor heading into the election as well.
Garcia and Crockett, 47 and 44 respectively, are a generation younger than Mfume, 76, and Lynch, 70. They're also thought to be thought to be more media-savvy lawmakers in this era of social media virality.
Crockett, who announced earlier this morning that she was dropping out of the race, had pitched herself as best positioned to be the Democratic face of the Oversight panel.
She's built a national following through frequent television appearances and her heated exchanges with Republican firebrands on the panel — particularly with GOP Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Last year, her contretemps with Greene produced a viral moment where she referred to her colleague as a 'bleach-blond, bad-built, butch body.' Crockett even hawked a 'Clapback Collection' featuring merch with the alliterative tongue twister plastered on it.
The caucus, however, ultimately decided to go in another direction, perhaps in a move to head off attacks from Republicans that Crockett was elevated to be the de facto leader of the Democratic Party. She also did not win the endorsement of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus — which remained neutral in the contest to avoid picking between her and fellow caucus member Mfume, who once led the NAACP.
Garcia had no such issue getting the endorsement of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And he reportedly met with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Californian, last month as he was seeking endorsements — which likely carried some sway among many in the Democratic caucus on his way to snagging the top spot on the panel.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING THIS WEEK
Trump declares ceasefire — Trump announced a ceasefire after a 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform: 'This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn't, and never will!' POLITICO's Megan Messerly, Eli Stokols and Eric Bazail-Eimil break down the latest and ever-changing positions the administration has on the latest Middle East conflict following this weekend's U.S.-led airstrikes of Iranian nuclear sites.
And more:
TODAY'S CULTURE NEWS
Cardi B teases new album — Hip-hop star Cardi B has been a fixture on the charts, reality TV and gossip sites for years, and she finally dropped hints about when she's releasing her sophomore album, aptly named 'Am I the Drama?'.
Congrats to OKC Thunder — The NBA completed their championship season by defeating the Indiana Pacers on Sunday in Game 7. Today the city will honor them with a championship parade.
NBA Draft tips off tomorrow — Yes, the season just ended. Now the NBA's other 31 teams get their shot at drafting a prospect to help compete to topple the newly crowned champs. Get caught up on the league's top prospects.
