Latest news with #BradLander
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mamdani doubling down on ‘intifada' comment as Mayor candidates vote early
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Candidate for Mayor and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his explanation of a term many Jewish New Yorkers view as a rallying cry to attack Jewish people. While casting his ballot in Astoria, Queens, Mamdani doubled down on his explanation of the term 'globalize the intifada.' More Local News It is a term many Jewish people, and even the U.S. Holocaust Museum, say is a rallying cry to kill Jews. Mamdani said he has heard those concerns and does not tolerate antisemitism. He said he would protect Jewish New Yorkers if elected Mayor and increase anti-crime funding. But Mamdani maintains the phrase continues to mean a struggle for basic human rights for Palestinians and many Muslims. 'I've been clear time and time again, there is no room for violence in the city and in the country,' Mamdani said. 'My point is not that this is language that I use… the meaning of these words have many different meanings to many different people.' Mamdani said former governor Andrew Cuomo and the billionaires backing his Super PAC have weaponized antisemitism in the closing days of the campaign. During a wide-ranging conversation with Cuomo, PIX 11's Henry Rosoff asked him about that. More Local News 'I have not said anything, these are his words,' Cuomo responded. 'Globalize the Intifada is a vulgar and brutal expression to the Jewish people.' Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, while casting his vote, Comptroller and Mayoral candidate Brad Lander—currently the highest-ranking Jewish city official—weighed in. Lander is standing by his cross-endorsement of Mamdani. 'We are not going to agree on everything Israel and Palestine, but I do believe he will protect Jewish New Yorkers and our rights,' Lander said. PIX 11's Henry Rosoff went one-on-one with former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is leading in the polls in the Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor. Cuomo was pressed on how he would rapidly build affordable housing, recent controversy around Zohran Mamdani's explanation of the term 'globalize the intifada,' the brief ICE detention of Comptroller Brad Lander, and a recent conversation he had with Governor Kathy Hochul. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Despite ranked-choice voting, Adrienne Adams declines to back rivals in NYC mayor's race
NEW YORK — Mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams declined Thursday to say who she voted for, even as her opponents — and chief supporter — have begun to capitalize on the city's ranked-choice voting system in their collective quest to block Andrew Cuomo's return to power. "I voted for me and I voted for my community," the City Council speaker said after leaving her polling station in the Jamaica section of Queens on the sixth day of early voting ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary. Asked who else she ranked on her ballot, Adams replied, "Well, I still believe in the secrecy of the ballot, and I voted for me and my community." She specifically declined to say whether she voted for democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani — the first choice for the Working Families Party, which endorsed Adams as part of a four-person slate intended to oppose Cuomo. The secrecy from Adams stands in contrast to the recent — albeit late — cross endorsements candidates and top surrogates are making to blunt Cuomo's rise. The former governor, a household name, is beating the lesser-known Adams among Black New Yorkers, even though she'd be New York City's first Black female mayor. Mamdani and Brad Lander endorsed one another last week — likely a bigger benefit to Mamdani if he outpaces Lander as is expected, though the city comptroller is having a strong close to his campaign season. Some people on Adams' team were hoping she'd back her rivals. To that end, her aides had prepared a statement asserting her support for the Working Families Party's slate, but internal disagreements blocked it from being released, someone with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. That person was granted anonymity to freely discuss private campaign strategy. Adams' chief endorser, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, announced support for Lander, Mamdani and Myrie as her second, third and fourth picks Saturday in a rebuke to Cuomo, her political nemesis. New Yorkers can select up to five candidates, in order of preference, when they head to the polls Tuesday in the city's relatively new ranked-choice voting system. Adams entered the race late, with low name recognition and insufficient funds to take on the former governor. A low-profile politician who would be New York City's first female mayor, she was urged into the race by James, who wants to see Cuomo defeated but didn't want to run for the job. A report from James' office four years ago substantiated allegations Cuomo sexually harassed female staffers, leading to his resignation. He denies the claims. Adams is viewed by political insiders as a candidate with a lot of potential for growth, but has yet to meet that expectation in a race dominated by Cuomo and Mamdani, the democratic socialist who routinely polls second. Where Cuomo enjoys popularity in the Council speaker's Queens district of older Black homeowners, Mamdani excites a younger, wealthier and whiter crowd. On the campaign trail, Adams has criticized both candidates, delivering a searing rebuke of Cuomo's Covid policies in a speech about her deceased father and questioning Mamdani's inexperience on the debate stage. She also released a since-deleted social media post that slammed the state lawmaker's vow to abolish ICE. Cuomo has not told his supporters to rank anyone else on their ballots, including state Sen. Jessica Ramos — who broke with the Working Families Party and endorsed him. Defeating Cuomo on his political turf — which overlaps with her own — was always going to be a challenge for the Council speaker, but her broader appeal made her an attractive choice for voters seeking an experienced alternative to Cuomo. She's routinely polling a distant fourth.
USA Today
15 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Largest US city tries to be more democratic with voting. It's like picking ice cream.
Largest US city tries to be more democratic with voting. It's like picking ice cream. The candidates for mayor in the nation's largest city are, arguably, as diverse as the residents they seek to represent. Show Caption Hide Caption NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander detained by ICE Brad Lander, New York City's comptroller and mayoral candidate, was detained while escorting a defendant out of immigration court. NEW YORK − The candidates for mayor in the nation's biggest city are, arguably, more diverse than the residents they seek to represent. Among those in New York City's June 24 primary election are a disgraced former governor; a democratic socialist state representative (and former rapper); a street performer named Paperboy who dons a clown face; and a former hedge fund executive trying to channel Mike Bloomberg. With so many options, New Yorkers will choose their next mayor like they pick ice cream in the summer. The city's ranked choice system allows voters to choose their top five candidates for mayor, plus top picks in other city races. Even if your top choice doesn't make it, you can still get flavors, or candidates, you prefer. Ranked choice 'allows for people to vote in a way that expresses how they feel,' said Susan Kang, an associate professor of political science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The system aims to give voters more choices in a crowded field of nearly a dozen Democratic and a handful of Republican mayoral hopefuls in closed primaries for both parties. It also hopes to bring up candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, often without access to vast campaign war chests. The system, first approved by voters in 2019, has been used in elections around the country − from Alaska to Maine, and from San Francisco to tiny Woodland Hills, Utah (population 1,571). Other places, including Washington, D.C., more recently adopted it. Australians use the system. Winning New York City's Democratic primary is almost always a ticket to City Hall in a city that's about two-thirds registered Democrats. Primary lessons: Trump rules, Dems are revved. NYC's melee is next. How Cuomo v. Mamdani shows ranked choice voting Andrew Cuomo, New York's longtime governor who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, had led comfortably in polls. Many voters see Cuomo, 67, as an experienced moderate executive who can fight President Donald Trump. But with ranked choice, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist calling to freeze rents, has inched ever closer to Cuomo. That's because under ranked choice, a candidate has to get over 50% of votes. While polls have Cuomo ahead, he's unlikely to win most first-round votes. At each round, candidates with the fewest votes get eliminated. Voters who ranked less supported candidates first will have their subsequent choices allocated to their next ranked candidate. New York first used ranked choice voting in 2021. With many candidates vehemently opposed to Cuomo, their supporters' next-round votes can help Mamdani, who is endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive star. The process continues until there are two candidates left. Cuomo is favored to win, though polling has tightened between the former governor and Mamdani. Cross-endorsements, cooperation The city's first time using ranked choice, in 2021, resulted in the narrow, eighth-round victory of Eric Adams, the swaggering, scandal-plagued mayor. (Adams dropped out of the 2025 primary, opting to run for re-election as an independent.) Then, Adams' last standing opponent, Kathryn Garcia, received a late endorsement from Andrew Yang, another candidate. Yang supported ranked choice even in his 2020 presidential run. 'The ranked choice voting system enables you to take advantage of being someone's second- or third-place vote,' Yang, now a third-party advocate, said. 'A smart candidate will try and capitalize on that.' In 2025, there are more cross-endorsements, seen with Mamdani and other candidates to Cuomo's left, such as city Comptroller Brad Lander and former lawmaker Michael Blake. However, barbs are out over accusations of antisemitism, islamophobia and documented sexual harassment. Ranked choice challenges Under this relatively new system, voters need to know how to correctly rank their choices. In a 2023 study, Lindsey Cormack, an associate professor of quantitative social science at Stevens Institute of Technology, found higher levels of voided ballots in lower income areas and communities with lower educational attainment. There were also issues among people who speak a language other than English. 'Anytime you change a system, you make it nominally harder, or at least the capacity for errors goes up, because there's just more boxes to tick,' she said. Complicating matters, the primaries use ranked choice, but the general election does not. Nor do state or presidential elections. Only growing beyond June 24 primary election Politicians and experts agree that, with time, voters can get used to their new system. For now, ranked choice appears to continue expanding across cities and states. In November, Washington, D.C., approved ranked choice voting. Christina Henderson, one of the district's at-large representatives and a Brooklyn native, has supported ranked choice to help people dissatisfied with polarized politics. 'If provided the right information, they can make the right choice for themselves,' Henderson, an independent, said. 'Now, the key is providing the right information.' New York City's primary is June 24. Early voting is underway. Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@ or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
Vogue
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Vogue
Confused About Ranked Choice Voting? Here's Everything You Need to Know Ahead of New York City's Mayoral Primary
The New York City mayoral race was infused with new drama this week when Brad Lander, the city's comptroller since 2022 and a candidate for mayor, was apprehended by ICE agents in a downtown courthouse. Lander—who was attempting to protect a migrant from arrest—is one of a number of mayoral candidates who have spoken out against the Trump administration's sweeping deportations; Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and City Council speaker Adrienne Adams have also pledged to protect immigrants should they be elected mayor. Attendance at anti-ICE protests like last weekend's 'No Kings' rallies proved that standing up for marginalized communities is very much on New Yorkers' minds this year—though some are unsure how best to navigate ranked choice voting, the election system in place during the mayoral primary. Luckily, though, all it takes is a little advance research to make heading to the polls as simple a process as picking up a coffee to go. Below, find everything you need to know about ranked choice voting as it pertains to New York City's upcoming primary, set for Tuesday, June 24: What is ranked choice voting? According to the nonpartisan, nonprofit Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center, ranked choice voting is 'an election method in which voters rank candidates for an office in order of their preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on).' Ranked choice voting is also known as instant runoff voting (IRV). When and where did ranked choice voting begin? The first trial runs of ranked choice voting were held in Denmark in the 1850s, after which the process made its way to Australia for legislative elections in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first American city to use ranked choice voting for a city council election was Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1915, while the history of ranked choice voting in New York stretches back to 1936. That year, New York City adopted the multi-winner form for their city council and school board elections, spurring another 11 cities to adopt ranked choice voting soon after. How does ranked choice voting work? According to the NYC Board of Elections, voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference. They are not obligated to rank any particular number of candidates, meaning it's possible to rank just one strong favorite. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that candidate wins; if no candidate earns more than 50% of first-choice votes, then the counting continues in rounds. What's the advantage of ranked choice voting? As the American electoral system has grown increasingly fractured in recent years, problems like vote splitting (or, in other words, a third-party or minor candidate pulling votes from a major candidate on the same side of the political spectrum) have become more common. With ranked choice voting, voters 'know that if their first choice doesn't win, their vote automatically counts for their next choice instead,' the nonpartisan organization FairVote explains, which 'frees [them] from worrying about how others will vote and which candidates are more or less likely to win.' If I really hate a candidate, should I rank them fifth or not rank them at all? It's best to simply not rank a candidate you detest at all, given that they could end up winning your vote if your top four candidates are counted out of the race.
Newsweek
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
NYC Mayoral Candidate Arrested by ICE Says Agents Feel Overworked
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander has told Newsweek that ICE agents expressed feeling "overworked" shortly after detaining him at a downtown court earlier this week. "I talked to the ICE agents afterward, and it's clear to me they are being overworked," Lander said in an interview on June 19. "I asked what their shifts were. And they say, we really don't have shifts anymore," he added. Lander and other critics called the arrest further evidence of what they described as a drift toward authoritarianism by the Trump administration. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email. In response for comment to the suggestion ICE agents are being overworked, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: "Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe." The Context The White House has directed ICE to conduct 3,000 arrests per day as the administration looks to deport millions of migrants without legal status as part of a hard line mass removal policy. DHS says ICE agents are facing a 413 percent increase in assaults against them. Meanwhile, ICE has increasingly begun detaining immigrants during their court hearings, sparking protests outside immigration courts across the country, particularly in New York City. What To Know Lander was detained by President Donald Trump's immigration enforcers on June 17 at a downtown Manhattan immigration court, while accompanying an immigrant man following a hearing at 26 Federal Plaza. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York. Olga Fedorova/AP Photo Footage shows Lander linking arms with the man and appearing to calmly ask ICE agents to produce a judicial warrant before they separated and handcuffed him. ICE accused him of "impeding and assaulting a federal officer." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in a statement: "New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer." Lander was released the same day without charges and the incident was condemned by top Democrats including Governor Kathy Hochul. Democrats criticized ICE's conduct, describing it as politically motivated. 'Another Example of Creeping Authoritarianism' The NYC mayoral candidate said the arrest is "one more example of what creeping authoritarianism looks like. "Pam Bondi says, the Attorney General says they're looking to, quote, liberate cities from their elected officials. That is the language that fascists use," Lander said. "Trump and Bondi are frustrated that they're not able to have a higher number of deportations," Lander said. Lander, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, was detained following similar incidents. Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, was last month charged with assault after an alleged physical challenge of law enforcement officers at an immigration detention center. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who tried to join McIver and others on the same oversight visit was also arrested, but a trespass charge was dropped. Last week California Senator Alex Padilla was arrested and handcuffed at a press event to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about immigration raids. Lander said: "We need to find ways to object loudly to the erosion of due process and Trump's efforts to undermine the rule of law." Lander said he's helped several immigrant families leave court freely despite losing their asylum claims, allowing them to return to their loved ones and communities while they determine their next steps. Lander's Mayoral Chances Lander is among the 11 candidates vying for the Democratic nominee in the city's mayoral race. He recently cross-endorsed fellow candidate, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in a bid to keep the former Governor out of city hall. Cuomo resigned following accusations of sexual assault during his time as Governor. A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling on June 6–7 for Democrat Justin Brannan's city comptroller campaign found Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani narrowly leading former Governor Andrew Cuomo in a hypothetical mayoral matchup, 35 percent to 31 percent. The survey of 573 likely voters has a margin of error of 4.1 percent, placing the race within statistical parity. Despite holding citywide office and running a well-funded campaign, current City Comptroller Lander received just 9 percent support in the poll. What People Are Saying Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst. 75 percent of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges. The shocking story here is that instead of deporting many heinous criminals, the Biden Administration chose to RELEASE these known public safety threats into our communities instead of deporting them. President Trump and Secretary Noem will always fight for the victims of illegal alien crime and their families."
