New Yorkers Embraced Ranked-Choice Voting. Mamdani's Win Proves It.
This year was different.
All the campaigns tried to game the system, which allows voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. Organizations made group endorsements; campaigns told voters to avoid ranking specific candidates; and several contenders made cross-endorsement deals.
Most of this benefited Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman and democratic socialist who officially won the Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday after ranked choices were counted.
He received nearly 100,000 additional votes from New Yorkers who ranked him lower on their ballots.
Those votes helped Mr. Mamdani beat his main rival, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, by 12 percent — a decisive victory that shocked Democrats in the city and across the nation.
Here are five takeaways from the ranked-choice count.
Lander's Endorsement Helped Mamdani
For much of the campaign, Brad Lander, the city comptroller, was stuck in third place.
The only citywide elected official in the race, Mr. Lander was expected to be the standard-bearer for the left flank of the party. But Mr. Mamdani's charisma, social media savvy and focus on affordability catapulted him past Mr. Lander in the polls.
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Fox News
18 minutes ago
- Fox News
Politicians push job-killing minimum wage hikes while ignoring the devastating economic reality
Despite it being widely known by anyone who can think two steps ahead that price controls have negative consequences, politicians can't help but continue to promote price controls as policy. With Americans facing increased costs of living, there has been a return to calling for minimum wage hikes from democratic socialists like New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who wants to raise the minimum wage in the city to $30/hour, to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who is bafflingly pushing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15/hour with additional increases indexed to inflation. If wages could be raised by mandate without negative consequences, why would we stop there? Why not make the minimum wage $100/hour, $100,000/hour or even a cool $1 million/hour? Because in real life, that's not the way things work. The minimum wage has always been an evil policy, rooted in racism. It was passed as legislation precisely to exclude unskilled workers, particularly immigrants, minorities and women, from the workforce. It has the same effect today. But the financially illiterate don't seem to understand basic economics. The minimum wage is not an average wage, median wage, maximum wage or even an expected wage. It is quite literally a floor (although, as economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, the real minimum wage is zero). As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ("BLS") via FRED, only 1% of workers report being paid at or below the federal minimum wage, and that data is "based solely on the hourly wage they report (which does not include overtime pay, tips or commissions)." The minimum wage is heavily slanted toward teens and workers entering the workforce with few skills. As the BLS noted, "Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they accounted for 43% of those paid the federal minimum wage or less." While minimum wage directly impacts a small number of individuals, its effects ripple throughout the economy at large. If teens and unskilled workers have a guaranteed wage floor, those with skills and experience will want to be compensated even more. That increases both wages and taxes paid for a business throughout their labor force, as well as that of all their suppliers, adding substantially to operating costs and reducing what may already be slim operating margins. The businesses will either have to make less money or pass on costs to consumers – or both. This makes products and services more expensive and, in many cases, will put businesses out of business across the economy as every company now competes in a market where nonskilled workers have a high fixed cost set by government. Sometimes, businesses will also reduce product sizes or service offerings – shrinkflation, as we saw under the last administration – but one way or another, that increase in labor cost flows through the economy and impacts what you are able to get for your dollars. It's notable that small business owners, who often work well in excess of 40 hours of week and risk their own capital, don't get a guaranteed wage, but politicians are happy to make entrepreneurial efforts more risky and costly. The minimum wage, particularly the federal proposals, don't take into account different economic costs by region or geographic area, either. Just because bad policy exists doesn't mean that we should keep doubling down on it. Pay should be negotiated between parties based on value and demand for skills and services. An economy cannot function without being able to get people into the workforce and trained. We need to keep jobs where people can enter the workforce, learn skills and, if desired, move on in their career paths. At a time when AI is threatening jobs, and technology is replacing workers, enacting legislation that incentivizes fewer jobs and makes it more costly and difficult to run a business is patently insane. Wages will naturally shift with the market for labor, as we have seen in recent years. Politicians who are trying to "help" will once again find that intentions do not equate to outcomes, and their policies only make the cost-of-living issues worse. If they want to help in a way that drives positive outcomes, make it cheaper and easier to do business by removing costly regulatory barriers and red tape. That is the path to a flourishing economy and better cost of living, not mandated wages.
Politico
26 minutes ago
- Politico
Good will Lander
Presented by the Coalition for a Better Times Square With help from Amira McKee Brad Lander is feeling pretty good for someone who just got trounced in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. The city comptroller's campaign struggled to gain traction as Zohran Mamdani — younger and less experienced — soared high enough to eventually defeat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo by 12 points, according to unofficial results released Tuesday. But thanks to their unique cross-endorsement, Lander has been celebrating Mamdani's victory as if it was his own. 'People, it turned out, were so hungry for a more hopeful and collaborative form of politics,' Lander told POLITICO. The two progressive Democrats brokered their alliance in the last leg of the chaotic, 11-candidate primary contest, the first true cross-endorsement since the city began ranked-choice voting four years ago. The duo — one a Muslim millennial and democratic socialist, the other a liberal Jewish Gen Xer — campaigned together and even appeared on the same primary night stage. Lander supporters who ranked Mamdani second almost certainly added to the state lawmaker's margin against Cuomo, though the city Board of Election numbers released Tuesday weren't detailed enough to illuminate by exactly how much. Early returns showed Lander finished a distant third. The Brooklyn Democrat isn't ready to say what his next career steps will be, including whether he'll be part of a potential Mamdani administration. He has also been floated as a potential primary challenger to Rep. Dan Goldman. Lander, however, said he's hard at work paving the way for Mamdani to City Hall, serving as a liaison to stakeholders who need reassurances about having a hard-left leader who wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay for services like free buses. 'I'm certainly talking to a lot of folks in the business and investor communities from my work as comptroller,' Lander said. 'In a lot of those conversations, I'm trying to help people see a positive path forward.' Mamdani will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, in the general election, as well as Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden. Still unknown is whether Cuomo will mount an active campaign, following his embarrassing primary upset. Lander has been widely commended by the city's political left for boosting Mamdani. 'This is the character of a man,' Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said on primary night. 'He said, 'This city is more important than any one person.'' Former City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer said of Lander, 'He genuinely went from that feeling when you realize things aren't going your way to rediscovering purpose.' That's not to say it was easy for Lander, a progressive standard-bearer who watched his dream to run the country's biggest city sputter. Lander acknowledged that he struggled to replicate the 'coalition of progressives and moderates and focus on both affordability and safety' that had helped him win past elections. 'One important element of my campaign was competence and experienced leadership for the city,' he added. 'That is hard to make sexy or compelling.' Read more on Lander's role in the race by POLITICO's Emily Ngo. HAPPY WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE'S KATHY? In Erie County and Virginia with no public schedule. WHERE'S ERIC? Public schedule not available as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Ultimately, what we're seeing in President Trump's rhetoric is an attempt to focus on who I am, where I'm from, what I look like, how I sound, as opposed to what I'm actually fighting for.' — Zohran Mamdani told NY1 of Trump's criticism, including questioning the Democrat's citizenship status. ABOVE THE FOLD POOR POLL NUMBERS FOR GOP MEGABILL: A majority of New York state voters do not have a pretty view of President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' with 52 percent saying they believe it' will worsen life for most Americans, according to a Siena College poll released this morning. Just about as many people — 54 percent — say Trump's domestic and foreign affairs agenda will not make America great. The Senate approved the Republican megabill Tuesday in a nailbiter of a vote. Rather than soften its edges, Senate Republicans have taken the sprawling blueprint the House sent them and sharpened it further, making the heart of Trump's legislative agenda more politically explosive, POLITICO reports. New Yorkers are more divided on the proposals within the sprawling legislation, the Siena College poll found. Sixty-one percent support eliminating income taxes on tips, 48 percent back requiring healthy adult Medicaid recipients to work to receive benefits, 24 percent support cutting taxes for corporations and 23 percent back reducing spending on SNAP food assistance. The disapproval of Trump and his top legislative priority aren't surprising in a conventionally blue state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by about two to one, said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. According to the survey, Trump had a dismal 37 percent favorability rating. But Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn't fare much better, with a 41 percent favorability rating. The poll was conducted June 23-26 among 800 registered state voters. It had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. — Emily Ngo CITY HALL: THE LATEST ADAMS' SUMMER HOLLIDAY: Real estate mogul Marc Holliday, who's pitching a casino in Times Square with his firm SL Green, is hosting a rooftop fundraiser for Adams' reelection campaign on July 9 at Le Jardin sur Madison overlooking Manhattan's Madison Square Park. Holliday donated $100,000 to pro-Cuomo super PAC Fix the City just days before the primary, so the Wednesday event is a sign that some in the city's monied class are throwing support behind Adams in the general election rather than waiting to see if the former governor will mount a serious campaign against Mamdani. 'You're going to see quite a bit of that,' Adams' political adviser Frank Carone told Playbook. 'The outpouring of support the mayor has received has been overwhelming, humbling and exciting at the same time.' Holliday downplayed the move, saying he's supported Adams since his days in the Legislature 'and would have supported him in the primary as well.' 'Under Mayor Adams' administration, the city has thrived and is far better off than it was three and a half years ago,' he added in a statement. Holliday himself can't donate more to Adams, after giving $400 in April 2022 — the maximum for a registered lobbyist. He's chair and CEO of SL Green, and topped the Commercial Observer's real estate power list this year. Holliday was set to get a $10 million bonus if the firm's bid wins a license from the state and builds a casino, but POLITICO reported in January that deal was likely illegal. Adams has gone back to fundraising for his reelection campaign while awaiting resolution of his lawsuit against the Campaign Finance Board for denying him public matching funds. He reported bringing in $300,000 in just three weeks in the last filing. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Adams' charter revision commission is moving forward with a plan to put measures on the November ballot that would curb the City Council's power to reject new housing and shift local elections to even years. (New York Times) — Major crimes are down across the city, except for a troubling years-long spike in rapes, new NYPD stats show. (New York Post) — Mamdani wants to end mayoral control of schools, but he hasn't detailed his plans for an alternative. (Gothamist) NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY ZOHRAN MAKES ALBANY INROADS: Mamdani's mayoral bid on Tuesday was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins — the latest sign that the establishment is coming around to support his upstart campaign. Institutional backing in Albany will be crucial to fulfilling his agenda if Mamdani is leading City Hall next year. The state Capitol is a place where mayoral priorities go to die and recent history is littered with failed proposals from Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio. That Albany — a small city some 150 miles north of Manhattan — can call the shots for a world capital has long grated on mayoral nerves. Mamdani will need Albany's sign off for his proposed tax hike on rich New Yorkers. Many of his priorities — such as funding free buses and child care services — would also require state support. Some Democrats are skeptical (to say the least) that Mamdani — a three-term backbencher in the state Assembly — will have an easy go of it next year should he win. 'We know he's going to be very limited in what he can do when it comes to his many promises,' said Democratic Assemblymember Chuck Lavine. 'The state of New York has great authority over what the mayor of the city of New York can do. He has the opportunity to grow, but at the same time he's going to have to provide the public with more specificity with what his programs involve.' Gov. Kathy Hochul — who is yet to endorse the 33-year-old democratic socialist — has firmly shot down a tax hike. The Democratic governor, who is running for reelection next year, will have to navigate a treacherous political path if Mamdani is mayor. Republicans are already yoking her to the party's mayoral nominee with the expectation he'll be unpalatable to moderate, suburban swing voters. Lefty Democrats will undoubtedly press her from the other end of the political spectrum to back Mamdani's agenda. Hochul, though, has emphasized potential areas of agreement, like addressing affordability. State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a vocal Mamdani booster in the state Legislature, told Playbook he's confident the Democratic nominee could win over the Capitol. To bolster his case, Rivera pointed to Mamdani's 12-point win over Andrew Cuomo in the third and final round of early voting. 'What these numbers demonstrate and what the next couple of months will demonstrate is his ability to crossover,' Rivera said. 'That means sitting down with anybody and getting to a good place.' — Nick Reisman More from Albany:— Hochul's support for a new nuclear plant has sparked interest — and some early lobbying. (WXXI) — Building a nuke plant will likely be a costly endeavor, experts found. (Spectrum News) — The governor touted the opening of an affordable housing development in her hometown. (Buffalo News) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION A SALTY LEARNING CURVE: Democrat Beth Davidson appears to be operating on a steep learning curve when it comes to the state and local tax deduction, a top issue in the district where she seeks to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Lawler. The Rockland County legislator told Spectrum News in May she believes the SALT cap should be lifted '25 percent at least.' Then, given the chance to clarify, she said she meant to say it should be lifted to $25,000. That proposal is far lower than the $40,000 limit that blue state House Republicans, including Lawler, have negotiated in grueling intraparty meetings. It's also a very far cry from her fellow Democrats' call for the cap to be scrapped altogether. Davidson — waging a formidable campaign in a crowded Hudson Valley primary, and so far leading the Democrats in fundraising — told Playbook this week that she erred in her previous comments because she wasn't aware the current cap on SALT had an expiration date. 'I didn't actually realize it was expiring completely at that point,' Davidson said before pivoting to attacking Lawler. 'I made a mistake in the number, but he's made the mistake in how he's voted, which I think is more important.' Davidson added that she would have supported allowing the SALT cap to expire if she were serving in Congress. The current $10,000 SALT cap, set by Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, was set to sunset after this year, but is now on track to quadruple. On Tuesday, the Senate approved the GOP megabill with the limit increased to $40,000. Lawler has praised the deal as a win. SALT is a top priority in battleground House districts in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, where high taxes have hit homeowners hard. 'I'll own that I didn't know that, and now that I do, I'm completely opposed to, certainly, the $40,000 cap,' Davidson said of the expiration date. The county lawmaker, one of at least seven Democrats seeking to unseat Lawler in the 17th Congressional District, has previously attacked the incumbent for voting with Republicans for a bill that didn't completely eliminate SALT. 'First, Beth Davidson didn't know what a 'fiscal year' was, and now she admits not even understanding how the SALT deduction and cap works,' Chris Russell, a Lawler campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. 'This is beyond embarrassing. How is this person running for Congress?' Davidson's spokesperson, Molly Kraus, fired back: 'Mike Lawler is about to vote for a trash bill that guts Medicaid and puts an unacceptably low cap on SALT, so he's trying to distract by punching his most feared opponent Beth Davidson, who's clearly living in his head rent free.'— Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo More from Congress: — Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are digging in to pass Republicans' massive tax and spending bill by Friday in time for a July 4 celebration. (POLITICO) — Chuck Schumer forced a name change for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' moments before the legislative package passed the Senate. (Fox News) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned Democrats would not allow quick passage of the GOP megabill in the House. (POLITICO) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — A Columbia University cyberattack appears to be politically motivated. (New York Times) — More than 22 miles of car-free streets will be available this summer. (NY1) — Two upstate utilities have proposed a major rate hike. (POLITICO Pro) SOCIAL DATA FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: New York Public Radio is revamping its board of trustees, adding Gary Knell, a senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group and former president and CEO of both National Geographic and NPR; Jenna Weiss-Berman, co-founder of Pineapple Street Studios and head of podcasts at Paper Kite Productions; and Jeremy Kuriloff, managing director and partner at BCG … City government veteran Carl Weisbrod is now a vice chair of the board, along with journalist Anna Quindlen … John Rose, CEO of Spectrum Advisors and a senior advisor at BCG, will chair the board. … MSNBC is adding Vaughn Hillyard as senior White House correspondent, Laura Barrón-López as White House correspondent, David Noriega as a correspondent and Marc Santia as an investigative correspondent. Hillyard, Noriega and Santia previously were at NBC. Barrón-López previously was at PBS NewsHour and POLITICO. MAKING MOVES: Eric S. Goldstein has stepped down as CEO of UJA-Federation of New York. WELCOME TO THE WORLD: Allie Taylor, founder and president of Voters For Animal Rights, and Scott Taylor, a staff engineer at Shopify, welcomed Althea Starlight Taylor on June 29. — Anna Epstein, a director at FGS Global, and Aaron Steeg, an associate at Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, on June 17 welcomed Alice Madeline Steeg, who is named for two of her late grandmothers. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) … NYC Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. … Andrew Rigie of the New York Hospitality Alliance …Josephine Stratman of the Daily News … Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association … Xavier Mission's Cassandra Agredo … Robert Press … NBC's Tom Llamas … Derek Gianino of Wells Fargo … NBC's Keith Morrison … Katherine Lehr … Jonathan Capehart … Courtney Geduldig … Brooke Oberwetter … Michele Gershberg … (WAS TUESDAY): Myron Scholes Missed Tuesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
CNN
27 minutes ago
- CNN
Elon Musk wants to create a new political party. Building rockets may be easier
Elon Musk has started multiple successful companies that have accomplished incredible technological feats. His latest ambition may be significantly more difficult to achieve: starting a new American political party for the masses. Citing his disappointment in President Donald Trump and his massively expensive domestic policy bill, Musk said he would form the 'America party' the day after the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passes, if Congress approves it. Musk has called Democrats and Republicans the 'uniparty' because government deficits have risen dramatically under administrations and Congresses controlled by both parties. He says he wants to build a fiscally conservative party that reins in spending – although he's presented few other details of what the party's platform might be. Experts in campaign finance and political science say there's a reason no third party has ever truly successfully challenged America's two-party system: It is financially and legally difficult to create a new party, and voters and candidates are hesitant to join. 'Third-party movements in the US have generally arisen out of some sort of set of deep-seated grievances,' Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz told CNN. 'It was not just some wealthy person who's decided they wanted to start a third party.' It's not clear how much if any preparation has been done to stand up the party. A spokesperson for Musk's political action committee, America PAC, declined to comment. A senior White House official brushed off Musk's criticism of the bill. 'No one really cares what he says anymore,' the source said. Two Republicans close to the White House said that it was also unclear how Musk's threats might play out in the midterm elections. 'Of course, members don't want to be primaried,' one of the sources said. 'It's unclear if he's actually going to get involved. A few weeks ago he apologized and called Trump.' Musk may be the richest person on Earth, but he could also encounter some financial resistance himself. Former DOGE adviser and Trump supporter James Fishback said he is launching his own super PAC to counter Musk's money in congressional races. Fishback, who runs an investment firm, said he will provide $1 million in initial funding to the super PAC, which will be called FSD PAC, an abbreviation for Full Support for Donald. He told CNN that the super PAC will work to back Trump's agenda 'and against anyone who threatens to sabotage that agenda,' including Musk. American political parties are governed by laws and rules not just from the Federal Election Commission but also from the states, including around which parties can appear on ballots. 'The system is sort of set up to almost make it impossible for third parties to be successful,' Abramowitz said. Funding a new party has its own hurdles. The McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2022 set strict limits on donations to political parties. The current limit is just under $450,000 spread across different party purposes. Musk would need thousands of co-donors to help him fund his party, said Lee Goodman, an attorney and former chair of the FEC. 'One very wealthy individual cannot capitalize a new national political party, the way he might start a business, because of federal contribution limits,' Goodman told CNN. 'The prospect of a wealthy founder seed funding a national party to participate in federal elections around the country is not feasible in the current regulatory system.' Bradley Smith, another former FEC chair and who is now a law professor at Capital University Law School, said there are some ways around the current regulations. 'There is some case law suggesting that some of the organizational activities of a party and starting a party right can be funded with larger contributions, until it actually qualifies for party status under the election commission regulations,' Smith said, but he noted it's complex and difficult to do. 'You can fund super PACs all you want. But you can't fund a political party, as a strange part of American law,' he added. Super PACs are not legally allowed to coordinate spending with parties or candidates, although previous candidates have tested these limits, as nothing prohibits coordination when the information is shared publicly. 'Coordination has, in fact, become commonplace,' the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has said. Then there's getting on the actual ballots. States have different rules, such as requiring a certain number of signatures. 'It would take years and might require changes in laws around the country that currently favor two major political parties,' Goodman noted Beyond the legal and logistical hurdles, there's convincing candidates to join and voters to cast their ballots for them. Despite varying approval levels, party loyalties remain strong, Abramowitz said, especially among Republicans, who have coalesced around Trump. 'The biggest obstacle is just that it's very difficult to convince people to vote for a third-party candidate because the argument is always 'you're wasting your vote. You're voting for someone who has no chance of winning elections,'' Abramowitz said. Candidates may also be wary. Democrats are unlikely to run under the America Party because 'Democrats hate Elon Musk,' Abramowitz said. And Republicans 'have clearly shown that they're much more attached to Donald Trump than they are to Elon Musk.' Republicans highly approve of Trump, according to CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten's aggregation of available polling data. Some 90 precent of Republicans approve of Trump's performance thus far in this presidency, and he is doing better in approval ratings five months into the presidency than former Republican presidents. And in 96% of the 2024 primary races where Trump endorsed, those candidates won. If creating a new political party proves too difficult, Musk could still hold a lot of sway through his super PAC, to which he can send unlimited funds. That PAC can then support independent candidates, who could also have an easier time getting on ballots. 'Independent spending, individually or via a super PAC, remains the most legal and practical mechanism for a wealthy individual to have a say in national politics,' Goodman said. CNN's Kristen Holmes and Fredreka Schouten contributed reporting.
