How NY's establishment Democrats are testing progressives' staying power in 2024
If you’ve been to the city of Kingston and you like Italian food, then you know about Savona’s. Gabi Madden, a Democrat running for Assembly in the 103rd district, is probably more aware of the restaurant and bar than most. Madden’s family helped start the business back in the 1950s, and she launched her campaign with a packed party there earlier this year. The venue often hosts political events, but this early February event was a little closer to home. Here we had Steve Noble, mayor of Kingston, the district’s largest city, his family decades-entrenched in local politics. Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, Madden’s former boss and one of the biggest players in Hudson Valley politics, gave a speech. “We need our leaders to focus solely on the priorities of our people, from delivering millions in your tax dollars back home to serving as your advocate in the face of government bureaucracy,” Madden said that night. “This is about your electeds working for you. Bringing government back to the basics, no fear, no intimidation, just service.”
Madden is a young, charismatic candidate challenging an Assembly incumbent, but her primary campaign differs greatly from the headline-grabbing ones that toppled moderates and longtime lawmakers in 2018, 2020, and even in some places in 2022. Madden is a product of the establishment – and she’s coming for a newly elected socialist incumbent, Sarahana Shrestha.
The Trump era of politics saw a corresponding swell of support for progressive policy in New York, buoying candidates like socialist Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, state Sens. Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport, and Assembly Members Emily Gallagher and Shrestha, to name a few. To be sure, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party remains formidable in New York, but it’s increasingly clear that centrists aren’t content to let bygones be bygones. In some areas where the progressives are now the incumbents, the Democratic establishment seems to be kicking the tires, looking under the hood and seeing just how much staying power progressives have left in the tank.
In 2018, rocket-launched celebrity politician AOC was the talk of the New York congressional delegation. Who’s in the spotlight in 2024? Returned Rep. Tom Suozzi, a lifetime politician and “common sense Democrat” who touted hawkish border policy and was tapped by Democrats to run in a special election in the 3rd Congressional District over more progressive options. The marquee race of the upcoming primary elections is a matchup between Bowman, a two-term socialist former school principal, and Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who has held political office since the 80s. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from office over a sexual harassment probe and disputed COVID-19 death figures, saw polling suggesting there was an appetite for his return. Meanwhile, New York’s Democratic Socialists of America have had to contend with a state Board of Elections penalty that could imperil their entire war chest based on a paperwork error. And progressives up and down the ballot are seeing challengers, some more serious than others.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2024/03/how-nys-establishment-democrats-are-testing-progressives-staying-power-2024/395239/
= new reply since forum marked as read
the other foot!
