Welcome to the latest issue of City & State’s exclusive newsletter Heard Around Town.
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s edition: A socialist congressional candidate in the Sunshine State stopped by the Commie Corridor to raise some funds, while a New York congressman tried to help a former cop accused of helping Chinese spies. Plus: How much is your vote really worth?
All that, and analysis of the latest state campaign filings and city RFPs.
Keep an eye out for some of the bold-faced names in today’s newsletter: Zohran Mamdani, Oliver Larkin, Jared Moskowitz, Steven Donziger, Jabari Brisport, Jessica González-Rojas, Diana Moreno, Sandy Nurse, Alexa Avilés, Samantha Kattan, Christian Celeste Tate, Eon Huntley, Mike Lawler, Michael McMahon, Donald Trump, Martha Byrne, Cait Conley, Scott Waters, Gary Dickson, Pat Burke, Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen, Josh Riley, Adriano Espaillat, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Wayne Ozzi, Mariama James, Caryl Ratner and Lee Zeldin
And look out for these various super PACs, IEs and assorted political committees: Activate America, Strong and Safe New York, Transport Workers Union VOICE, LaLota Victory Fund, Burke Powers New York Committee, 1199 SEIU NYS Political Fund and New York State Troopers PAC
Do you have a friend or colleague who would like this newsletter? Refer them to Heard Around Town, and if they subscribe we'll enter you in a raffle for Mets and Yankees tickets! HAT is sent out every Tuesday and Friday, exclusively to subscribers. It’s just $17 per month. |
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While conservative New Yorkers flee to Florida to escape Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist policies, DSA-backed Florida congressional candidate Oliver Larkin made the opposite journey, heading to Brooklyn on Friday night for a fundraiser with his NYC comrades. “We’ve certainly taken tremendous heart in the infrastructure and the organizing culture that you’ve built, because that is something that we need to replicate in all 50 states and all 435 congressional districts,” Larkin told the crowd gathered at Friends & Lovers in Crown Heights.
Whether a Mamdani-style campaign can translate to the Sunshine State is an open question. Larkin is facing off in a primary next week against incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz – a moderate, pro-Israel Democrat in a district stretching from Boca Raton to Miami Beach.
Although a recent internal poll from his campaign showed Larkin and Moskowitz in a “statistical tie,” the incumbent has more than 11 times as much cash on hand as Larkin does – and that doesn’t even count the outside money now pouring into Moskowitz’s campaign. So Larkin’s turning to lefty New Yorkers. “Every dollar we raise tonight is going directly into our paid media program,” his finance director told the crowd.
Steven Donziger, a former environmental attorney famous for being placed under house arrest after suing Chevron on behalf of indigenous farmers in Ecuador, served as the night’s emcee and tried to cajole attendees into making donations for Larkin’s campaign. With most attendees unable to afford much beyond the $50 cost of their tickets, it fell to electeds in the audience – including state Sen. Jabari Brisport, Assembly Members Jessica González-Rojas and Diana Moreno, New York City Council Members Sandy Nurse and Alexa Avilés and Assembly Members-elect Samantha Kattan, Christian Celeste Tate and Eon Huntley – to make up the slack and pledge their own donations to Larkin’s campaign.
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Republican Rep. Mike Lawler’s been loud about being tough on China, calling the Chinese Communist Party “our greatest geopolitical foe,” and sponsoring several bills to combat the party … which is notable, since The Judge Street Journal reported that Lawler and other New York officials are renting office space from a company with ties to the CCP.
But Lawler is quick to forgive working with that “foe.” Lawler was a top advocate for the presidential pardon of Michael McMahon, a retired NYPD sergeant who was convicted and sentenced last year to 18 months in prison for stalking a Chinese dissident and acting as an illegal foreign agent for the Chinese government.
The judge said McMahon threatened national security. But Lawler argued he was an innocent victim, writing a letter to the court that McMahon should be spared prison time because he was duped by foreign operatives and wrongfully targeted by prosecutors. President Donald Trump granted McMahon a full presidential pardon last fall.
McMahon’s wife, Martha Byrne – a three-time Emmy Award-winning soap opera star who lives in New Jersey – wrote a book about it, and said she’d stand up for Lawler if Democrats try to use the situation to hurt his reelection chances as he faces a tough battle against Cait Conley. “Congressman Lawler saved our family and saved our lives,” she told Heard Around Town. “If he thought for one iota that my husband had been involved in anything nefarious whatsoever, do you think he'd really go out on a limb and risk his own career for that?”
Lawler’s campaign is defending his actions. “Congressman Lawler was proud to help lead the effort to secure a pardon for Mike McMahon, a decorated NYPD sergeant and 9/11 first responder,” Lawler’s spokesperson Scott Waters said in a statement. “As the facts made clear, he was never an agent of the Chinese, was victim of an elaborate scheme, and fully cooperated with the investigation. Simply put, he never should have been prosecuted.” |
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Republican Assembly challenger Gary Dickson is accusing Democratic Pat Burke of leveraging his role as Assembly Cities Committee chair to raise money from outside Western New York for his planned Erie County executive race next year. Burke dismissed Dickson’s comments as Trump-era Republican politics.
Dickson, the West Seneca town supervisor, questioned why Burke’s Assembly campaign and his Burke Powers New York Committee have received donations from construction companies in Queens, which could be interested in joint bidding issues pending before the Cities Committee. The Burke Powers New York Committee has raised $21,000 total, with $13,000 coming from the construction companies, $3,000 from the 1199 SEIU NYS Political Fund and $5,000 from the New York State Troopers PAC.
“Why would contractors in New York City donate to a guy for a race in Erie County?” Dickson said. “You know, unless they're trying to curry favor now with his seat on the cities committee. … How would they even know to donate to Burke Powers New York?”
Burke told HAT that, being the first non-New York City lawmaker to lead the committee, he spends plenty of time in the five boroughs, and that he has been actively engaged with both sides of the joint bidding debate. Burke said Dickson is trying to deflect from receiving donations from those doing business with West Seneca. “He's an idiot,” Burke said. “Like, he is a guy who is not dissimilar to Donald Trump and many people in the GOP, they can try and cast blame or finger points to other people for the thing that they do.” |
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All votes are equal, but some are more equal than others – at least when it comes to Democrats taking back the House. That’s why the Democratic super PAC Activate America is trying to reach left-leaning Gen Z voters in key swing districts, including NY-3 (currently represented by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi), NY-4 (Democrat Laura Gillen), NY-17 (Lawler) and NY-19 (Democrat Josh Riley).
And to teach Gen Z voters about the importance of focusing on swing districts – and raise some money – they’ve launched a new website called U26.Vote where voters can enter their ZIP code and receive their “VoteScore.”
A voter in Lawler’s Rockland County, for instance, will learn their vote is 13.1 times more powerful than average. But residents of the deep-blue Upper West Side, where votes are worth just 0.5 times the average, get a different call to action: “Your district isn't competitive, but the midterms will be decided by a small number of voters in a handful of districts. For just $2 per person, we can identify and reach them multiple times before election day.” |
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Compiled by Sophie Krichevsky |
Make the Road New York, the immigration and legal services nonprofit, was awarded a $412,153 contract by the Department of Youth and Community Development to provide immigration-related legal services. (Aug. 10) |
Strong and Safe New York, a pro-Blakeman independent expenditure committee, received a whopping $500,000 from Caryl Ratner, the daughter of philanthropist Joseph Ratner who has dabbled in the New York City art scene. She gave heavily to Lee Zeldin and pro-Zeldin PACs during the 2022 gubernatorial race. The IE also spent upwards of $41,000 on legal fees, plus almost $27,000 treasurer Florence Shapiro’s services. (Aug. 4; Aug. 7; Aug. 7)
Transport Workers Union VOICE, the TWU-affiliated, anti-Hochul IE, continues to spend on ads, paying Spectrum just shy of $34,050. (Aug. 6) |
Lawler appears to have designated additional authorized committees to accept donations on his behalf, on top of the many he had previously. Among the new ones: LaLota Victory Fund. (Aug. 9) |
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| We’re Hearing Whispers That: |
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… Rep. Adriano Espaillat gathered his troops and said his Squadriano will retake the congressional seat from Darializa Avila Chevalier next year. … Pied-à-terre defenders haven’t forgotten that Staten Island Judge Wayne Ozzi once ruled the city’s “right to shelter” doesn’t exist – putting him on a legal island and breaking with years of precedent. … Mariama James, first vice-chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party and former Assembly candidate, is spreading baseless conspiracy theories that tens of thousands of votes cast for Mamdani in last year’s mayoral election were fraudulent. |
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