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USA Today
a day ago
- Business
- USA Today
NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani says ‘I don't think we should have billionaires'
The progressive candidate's comments come days after his presumptive victory in the Democratic primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Zohran Mamdani, the winner of the Democratic primary to be mayor of New York City, told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' on June 29 that he doesn't believe billionaires should exist. Mamdani, a self-identified democratic socialist, was asked directly whether 'billionaires have a right to exist' and he responded: 'I don't think we should have billionaires because frankly it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.' The political upstart's comments come days after his shocking Democratic primary victory over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani campaigned on a radical vision of remaking a city seen by many as the mecca of the world's rich and powerful. 'Ultimately what we need more of is equality across the city and across the state and country,' Mamdani told Meet the Press. 'I look forward to working with everyone including billionaires to make a city that is fair for all of us.' His comments on the richest of the rich come as some of his closest allies, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, travel across the U.S. on their 'fighting oligarchy' tour. The New York state Assembly member's platform excited progressives with plans that included promises to freeze rents in regulated apartments and make buses free. He also supports a 2% tax on residents earning above $1 million annually and raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%. But he wouldn't have the authority to raise taxes as mayor. Mamdani, 33, has not stated a plan to take money from billionaires. The young left-wing candidate's ascendancy spooked rich, politically-active donors. A Super PAC backing Cuomo spent $24 million, much of it raised from Trump donors such as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and real estate executive Steven Roth, along with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Cuomo is expected to remain on the ballot for mayor in November, USA TODAY previously reported. Current Mayor Eric Adams will also run against Mamdani as an independent.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
See who won the primary election for three Bergen County Commissioners seats
The incumbent Democratic candidates for Bergen County's Board of Commissioners claimed the nominations on June 10 to run for reelection in November against three Republican challengers. Bergen County's incumbent Democratic commissioners Tom Sullivan, Mary Amoroso and Germaine Ortiz won the primary election against three challengers — Chris Chung, John Vitale and Dolores Witko — who were backed by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who lost his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Assemblywoman Mikie Sherrill. Sullivan, Amoroso and Ortiz, who were backed by the county Democratic committee, garnered 34,432 votes, 39,448 votes and 32,961 votes, respectively, according to unofficial vote totals as of Wednesday morning. Former Palisades Park Mayor Chris Chung, former Bergen County Democratic Organization state Assembly candidate John Vitale and former Closter Councilwoman Dolores Witko received 27,407 votes, 23,958 votes and 21,887 votes, respectively. They will face Republican candidates Jeffrey 'Jay' Costa Jr., Linda Barba and Andrea Slowikowski, who ran with support from the county GOP organization, won their party's nomination against Armen Azarnia and John Dinice, according to unofficial vote totals. NJ elections: Has NJ ever had a female governor? What states have female governors now? During the campaign, Amoroso, the vice chairwoman of the commissioners, said that she and her running mates are dedicated to building a strong future for everyone, citing increased funding for special education programs and the planned opening of a new career and technical school later this year. She was first elected to public office in 2015 to the Mahwah Township Council and is running for a third term as a commissioner. Ortiz, the chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners, was first elected in 2016. A financial analyst for more than two decades, she said she was focused on improving residents' quality of life while maintaining fiscal discipline and expanding on shared services agreements across the county. Sullivan was first elected to the county board in 2015. In 2021, he was nominated by Murphy and confirmed by the Senate to the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority. Vitale, Chung and Witko were hoping to take advantage of the elimination of the party line on ballots. With the new ballot, the candidates believed they might reach voters who in the past may have voted down the line, which would group candidates who won the backing of county political parties. The practice led to keeping the same people in office and the county hadn't seen a competitive Democratic primary for the Board of Commissioners in years. On Tuesday, however, even with the new ballots, both Democratic and Republican candidates who had support from their parties secured the nominations to run in November's general election. 'While I'm disappointed with the outcome of the primary, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported our campaign and believed in our vision for Bergen County,' Chung said. This article originally appeared on See Bergen County Commissioners primary election results for 2025
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Andrew Cuomo the biggest target as New York City mayoral primary shifts into high gear
With just under three weeks to go until primary day in the nation's most populous city, the New York City mayoral race is heating up. Nine Democrats running for mayor in the Democratic-dominated city will face off Wednesday night in the first of two debates ahead of the June 24 primary, with early voting starting 10 days earlier, on June 14. And likely in the political crosshairs in the first in-person clash between the candidates will be former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the polling frontrunner. The former three-term governor, who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals, is aiming for political redemption as he works to pull off a campaign comeback. Scandal-scarred Cuomo The Polling And Fundraising Front-runner In New York City Showdown Cuomo has spent the past four years fighting to clear his name after 11 sexual harassment accusations – which he has repeatedly denied – forced his resignation. He was also under investigation at the time for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic amid allegations his administration vastly understated COVID-related deaths at state nursing homes. Read On The Fox News App Feds Investigating Cuomo For Allegedly Lying To Congress About Covid Actions But thanks in part to his near-universal name recognition among New Yorkers, Cuomo was topping the mayoral polls even before he announced his candidacy on March 1. With his lead in both the polls and fundraising, Cuomo is likely to be the top target on the debate stage, as rivals zero in on the harassment allegations and his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. While all of Cuomo's rivals on the stage are likely to pile on, expect Zohran Mamdani, a state Assembly member from Queens, to try to go toe-to-toe with the former governor. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is originally from Uganda, has been rising in public opinion polls and is now a clear second to Cuomo in the latest surveys. Also taking the stage will be City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, city comptroller Brad Lander, former city comptroller Scott Stringer, former state Assemblyman Michael Blake from the Bronx, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie from Brooklyn, state Sen. Jessica Ramos from Queens, and former hedge fund executive Whitney Tilson. Click Here For The Latest Fox News Reporting, Analysis, On Andrew Cuomo Absent from the stage on Wednesday night at a debate organized by the city's Campaign Finance Board will be embattled incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. With his poll numbers plummeting, Adams announced in early April that he would run for re-election as an independent candidate. The winner of the Democratic Party mayoral primary will be seen as the overwhelming favorite to win November's general election in the heavily blue city. The debate comes during reports confirmed by Fox News that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into Cuomo after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about the decisions he made as governor during the coronavirus pandemic. The push to investigate Cuomo came after the Justice Department made the unusual decision earlier this year to dismiss an indictment against Adams on corruption article source: Andrew Cuomo the biggest target as New York City mayoral primary shifts into high gear
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Can Zohran Mamdani's Volunteer Army Pull Off An Election Day Upset?
This article was produced in partnership with THE CITY, a nonprofit newsroom covering New York City. On a glum Wednesday evening recently, most New Yorkers were tucked away in their apartments, avoiding the persistent drizzle. This is exactly the scenario Mohit Sani and Dylan Halper were hoping for. Halper drums a cheery knock on the door of an Upper East Side apartment. A woman named Maria steps out, pushing her yapping dog behind her. 'My name is Dylan, and this is Mohit. We're volunteers with Zohran Mamdani's campaign for mayor,' Halper begins. Just 18 years old but already a canvassing veteran, Halper is partnered up with Sani, a first-timer, so Halper takes the lead. 'Democrat or Republican?' Maria asks skeptically. She's never heard of Mamdani before. 'Democrat,' Halper reassures her, 'he wants to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized tenants.' 'That's me!' she exclaims. Soon, Maria says the magic words: 'He's got my vote.' She even thanks the two volunteers for coming. Halper and Sani are among the thousands of volunteers who are aiming to elect the 33-year-old Mamdani as the next mayor of New York City. A state Assembly member from Queens and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Mamdani is running on a platform of affordability: free buses, city-run grocery stores, universal child care and a rent freeze. So far, he's beaten expectations, emerging from a pack of progressives as a strong number two in the polls. His progressive campaign plank, delivered via slick social media videos, earned him support from the 'terminally online.' And he's maxed out his campaign contributions with individual donors: Over 27,000 people have donated to his campaign — 12,000 more than city Comptroller Brad Lander, the candidate with the next highest number of donors. To his supporters, Mamdani is a young Bernie Sanders or a socialist Barack Obama. But to his detractors, he is inexperienced, a 'show pony,' a nepo baby and even an antisemite. If elected, Mamdani would be the first Muslim mayor of New York, and his views on what he unapologetically refers to as a genocide in Gaza have made him vulnerable to attacks from pro-Israel candidates — the mainstream position for NYC politicians, who have made visits to Israel part and parcel of the job. And he's still lagging former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been polling first in the contest before he even entered it and has maintained a solid lead since, although a recent Emerson poll has Mamdani closing the gap to single digits in the final round of a ranked choice voting tally. Cuomo has raised the most money and is backed by well-funded local super PACs called independent expenditure groups. But the Mamdani campaign is banking on one thing to set them apart: their ground game. According to the campaign, nearly 30,000 people have signed up to canvass, and they've knocked on more than 750,000 doors. Mamdani has called it 'the largest volunteer operation in NYC history.' It's certainly the largest one happening this election cycle. Mamdani's canvassers are in every borough, every night of the week. It can be a thankless task. In the city, volunteers must work their way into apartment buildings, past doormen and buzzer systems — often only to find themselves on the ground floor of one of New York's infamous walk-ups. And more often than not, no one is home. But that does not discourage Halper and Sani. Halper, a member of the DSA like Mamdani, is inspired by the candidate's vision for New York City. But like many other volunteers, he's not immune to the pull of something much more tangible — merch. All Mamdani volunteers receive a 'ZetroCard' — it looks like a MetroCard, but with spaces on the back to mark how many times they've canvassed. Halper has heard that if he fills out the card fast enough, he'll get a poster — a coveted keepsake that he can't get anywhere else. In fact, none of the campaign's swag is available for purchase — a result of New York City's campaign finance laws, according to Mamdani spokesperson Andrew Epstein. It's turned Zohran-branded items into cult collectibles — like vibrant yellow bandanas decorated with classic NYC iconography such as pigeons and hot dogs — worn by volunteers or tied onto their tote bags. And the only way to get one is to show up — something the campaign makes very easy to do. 'I've thought about volunteering for other things, and no one replies to your emails, or you have to apply and go do this thing, and then they only have one shift a week — and it's when you work,' said Anna Henderson, 25. But the Mamdani signups are simple and numerous: 'When I decided to do it, I just clicked on a day I could go in my neighborhood and just went,' Henderson said. Now, she's a seasoned Lower East Side canvasser. The low barrier to entry — and the opportunity to canvass in your own neighborhood — has benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, volunteers can pull in their own neighborhood-specific information, like a local bus that was free due to Mamdani's legislation. On the other, it leaves some neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Astoria canvass-dense, while the entire South Bronx has no canvasses at all. One field lead in The Bronx, Maxwell Dickinson, ventured out on a Saturday afternoon with a diverse group of volunteers, including multiple people over 40, a vital demographic Mamdani needs but has not yet cornered. Originally from Miami, Dickinson now lives in Riverdale. He likes to open his canvassing conversations with Mamdani's free bus platform and mentions universal child care if he sees a kid in the apartment. 'Personally, I've never mentioned that he's in the DSA, especially being from Miami,' Dickinson said, referring to that city's socialism-skeptical Cuban population. 'But maybe that's me being paranoid.' The Bronx canvassers know that their borough is being underserved. Over coffee and pancakes at a diner, they chat after the canvass about ways to expand their operation. One volunteer said she thinks Parkchester would be receptive to Mamdani because of its large Bengali population. Another suggested that the campaign partner with local organizations to help get the word out. 'You need people who are from there,' Dickinson agreed. Mamdani is following in the footsteps — literally — of another NYC Democratic Socialist: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez touted her ground game as essential to her defeat of incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley. Her worn-down shoes, once displayed in a Cornell museum, became a symbol of how speaking to people face-to-face could make the difference for underdog candidates. (Ocasio-Cortez has not yet made an endorsement in the mayoral race.) But Ocasio-Cortez had to mobilize voters in her district in The Bronx and Queens only; Mamdani needs to reach people across the five boroughs. The turnout for the congressional primary was also incredibly low — at only 11.8% of registered Democratic voters — so the supporters Ocasio-Cortez reached through her door-knocking had an outsized effect. Because Mamdani's canvasses are mostly available in neighborhoods where many volunteers live, it's easy to see where his voter base lies: Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, the East Village in Manhattan and Astoria in Queens offer the most frequent canvass opportunities at five days a week. But the younger, often transplant-heavy population of those neighborhoods may not actually turn out for the election. In 2021, the west side of Manhattan — from Greenwich Village up to Columbia University — had some of the highest voter turnout at between 30% to 40%, whereas Bushwick in Brooklyn saw around 14%. Plus, younger voters are notorious for staying home: Only 18% of registered Dems between 18 and 29 voted in the 2021 mayoral primary, compared to over double that percentage for 70- to 79-year-olds. The median age of a New York primary voter is 54. Some Mamdani organizers are trying to change that. At first, Myesha Choudry canvassed for Mamdani everywhere from Hillside, Queens, to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, to Staten Island. She was especially inspired by her conversations with small business owners in Jackson Heights. 'I was literally speaking about New York City politics in Bangla, in my native language, to New Yorkers who had been here for decades and decades,' she said. But unlike those she spoke to, Choudry wanted to reach people who haven't lived in the city long enough to get a feel for local politics — and may not plan to stay long enough to care. 'I feel like it's so important for young adults who have been living the dream in New York to uplift New York as well,' explained Choudry. To get young New Yorkers off of their phones and into their communities, she was part of creating Hot Girls 4 Zohran. The organization, which is not affiliated with the campaign, hosts picnics, postering sessions, raves, fundraisers and, of course, canvasses. Bright and early on a Sunday morning, 15 of the Hot Girls chatted and cheered as they made their way down Central Park West, papering lampposts with pink posters that paired a Mamdani plank with an instruction not to rank Cuomo — a position the official canvassers take, as well. 'Cuomo's literally hiding from New Yorkers because he knows if he's confronted about his platform, he's screwed,' one said, taping a poster. Cuomo has appeared at very few candidate forums, and is not taking an on-the-street campaign approach. 'I saw something like 'New York deserves a hot mayor,' and that's true. Hot girls deserve a hot mayor.' Compared to Mamdani and most of the field, Cuomo has avoided many public appearances, and for some, the sexual harassment allegations that drove him out of office — which Cuomo continues to deny — may be disqualifying. But his campaign has amassed a formidable slate of boosters. Cuomo has picked up major endorsements from large unions — even those who called for his resignation in 2021 — whose money, influence and members go a long way in city elections. He's also focused on courting Black clergy members in a bid to win over a demographic that helped propel Mayor Eric Adams to victory last cycle. 'The benefits of what he's doing is to maintain a frontrunner status — to not let opponents attack you personally,' explained political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. 'They're empty voices talking into a vacuum, and he's not responding to them, which makes them less consequential.' Of course, the canvassers want Mamdani to win. And increasingly, at least to the volunteers, his campaign seems like less of a long shot. 'I am not under any illusions that he has it in the bag,' said Henderson from the Lower East Side. 'But I don't think it's impossible. It doesn't feel like a lost cause,' she said. 'I guess I'm canvass-pilled.' After his first time canvassing, the experience on the Upper East Side has left Sani more energized than when he began. 'I look at my past self, and I see someone who watched John Oliver, watched 'The Daily Show,' watched Hasan Minhaj, and I felt politically active — but when I look back, I did nothing,' Sani mused. 'I was angry all day, but nothing happened from that anger.' 'Now, I do not watch John Oliver, I do not watch 'The Daily Show,' I do not watch Hasan Minhaj. And I'm a thousand times more politically active,' he continued. 'And then I can go to bed at night, and I'm not stressed existentially about it.' But inspiring 29,000 canvassers may not be enough. With early voting starting on June 14 and primary day just three weeks away, the volunteer army still has a lot of work to do to inspire voters — and it's running out of time. Inside the cramped vestibule of an Upper East Side apartment, Sani hits the buzzer. He's pushed a few so far, with no answer. But this time, a garbled voice comes from the other side, asking: Who's there? 'I'm here to talk about Zohran,' Sani says, rushing through the words. But the voice on the other end is confused: 'What?' 'I'm here to talk to tenants about Zohran Mamdani?' Sani tries again. No acknowledgement. One last try: 'I'm here to talk about the election?' 'Oh,' says the voice on the other end, sounding disappointed. 'You woke me up. I was sleeping.' 'I'm sorry for waking you up,' Sani says. He's genuinely contrite and, turning to Halper, asks, 'Did I do something wrong?'
Malay Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Johor MB Onn Hafiz says state election still two years away, urges lawmakers to focus on unity
ISKANDAR PUTERI, May 26 — Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has dismissed speculation of an early state election, reaffirming that the state government's term will only end in about two years. He said it is not election season yet, as the current administration remains in office until April 2027. 'We have about two years left to focus fully on economic and infrastructure development for the benefit of the people. 'So, let us find common ground to foster better cooperation and avoid differences that could lead to divisions,' he said during his winding-up speech at the Johor state legislative assembly in Kota Iskandar today. Onn Hafiz commended the commitment and integrity displayed by state assemblymen, despite their differing political ideologies. 'There is harmony in the state legislative assembly, and I will report to the Johor Regent, Tunku Mahkota Ismail, that all assemblymen have upheld unity and demonstrated a strong consensus,' he said. The Machap assemblyman also reminded lawmakers that Johor must set a positive example for others. He called on all assemblymen not only to raise issues on record but to take meaningful action to resolve the concerns of the people. In the 2022 Johor state election, Barisan Nasional (BN) achieved a supermajority, securing 40 out of 56 state seats. The snap election was called after the Johor government under then-Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad lost its simple majority, leaving it with a minority government of 28 seats against the Opposition's 27, represented by Pakatan Harapan (PH). The situation arose following the death of Kempas assemblyman and former menteri besar Datuk Osman Sapian on December 21, 2021, which led to the dissolution of the state assembly.
