Latest news with #DemocraticPrimary
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mamdani campaign reports threatening, anti-Muslim messages to NYPD
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Assemblymember and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani revealed he has received death threats in the final days of early voting before Tuesday's Democratic primary in the New York City race for mayor. The NYPD confirmed it has launched a hate crimes investigation after Mamdani's campaign reported four separate voicemails, all making threatening and anti-Muslim statements. More Local News 'Over the next 10 days, you will not be able to turn on your TV, check your mail or watch a video on YouTube without seeing an attack on our movement. There will be lies to stoke fear, suspicion, even hate,' Mamdani said at a recent rally. The caller is alleged to have threatened to blow up Mamdani's car when leaving a voicemail at the candidate's Queens office. Mamdani's campaign said he doesn't own a car, but deemed the threat serious enough to bring to police. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running against Mamdani in the primary, posted on X, 'This is an atrocious threat of political violence against Mr. Mamdani. It is unacceptable — I strongly condemn these threats…' Mamdani has continued to make appearances at rallies and neighborhoods across the city in his final push leading up to the primary. No arrests have been made. This story comprises reporting from The Hill. Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Democratic council candidates sound off on 'two-project solution' for the Falls
The six candidates running in this year's Democratic primary for Niagara Falls City Council have mixed opinions on whether the city would benefit from the so-called 'two-project solution' involving Mayor Robert Restaino's proposed $200 million Centennial Park project and Niagara Falls Redevelopment's plans for a $1.5 billion data center. Niagara Falls Democratic City Council candidates' forum This event was brought to you by the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls NAACP. During a candidates' forum on Tuesday at Bloneva Bond Elementary School, several candidates said they have a wait-and-see approach when it comes to both projects and that they would need more information before they could fully endorse either one. Their comments came a day before Restaino announced that he's holding a press conference today where he is expected to announce more details about the Centennial Park feasibility study, a document several council candidates said they like to see before deciding whether they could endorse the project. During Tuesday's forum, candidates were asked questions by representatives from the event's two sponsors, the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls chapter of the NAACP. The candidates' positions on the events center and the data center are summarized below based on the order in which they were asked to respond. Former city employee Bridgette Myles said she's open to either project or both, mainly because she believes the Falls needs development and job creation. While noting that NFR has failed to deliver on many of its development promises over the years, she said it would be 'awesome' if they actually moved forward with the data center, which the company claims would create hundreds of jobs. Myles said she also believes Centennial Park would be a benefit to the community. 'Any type of development for Niagara Falls is going to be a win,' she said. Michia Lee, a first-time candidate for public office, said doesn't like the Centennial Park concept and believes the data center has more potential to create jobs city residents need. 'I think one would be an asset and one would be a liability,' she said. John Kinney, who worked for the city for 35 years, including most recently as a director of the Department of Public Works under Restaino, said in light of NFR's many empty promises over the years, he questions whether the data center will ever materialize. He referenced a years-old NFR plan to build a $200 million hotel on the site of the former Native American Center for the Living Arts on Rainbow Boulevard. The plan was presented to the city in 2017 but never happened. 'They have promised to build many things many times. Ask them about the hotel at the Turtle. It's not there,' Kinney said. Kinney argued that Restaino's events center has a much better chance to produce benefits for the city. 'The event center is going to keep us year-round in the tourism industry,' Kinney said. Without being able to see the city's feasibility study for the project, candidate Sylvana Rahman said her stance on Centennial Park is a 'no.' 'I really can't vote open something that I'm not getting the full picture of,' she said. She also questioned the cost of the project and who was going to pay for it. 'There would be $200 million coming out of whose pocket?' she said. 'Whose pocket would it be coming out of?' Rahman favors the data center because she believes the project would provide more of what the city desperately needs, and that's quality jobs for its residents. 'The data center will bring hundreds of jobs and opportunities to Niagara Falls,' she said. For the city to be successful, local realtor Noah Munoz said it must embrace reinvention on multiple fronts. He also declined to fully commit to supporting Centennial Park without seeing the results of the feasibility study first and questioned the legitimacy of the data center given NFR's track record in the Falls. 'NFR has made many promises and they have made many many deals with many mayors and they have not come true,' he said. Incumbent Councilman Donta Myles has opposed any city investment in Restaino's arena since the project was first announced in 2021. During Tuesday's forum, he said his stance has not changed because little has changed about one his main concerns — the source of funding for the $200 million project. 'I've been about 'show me the money',' he said. 'I've asked very detailed questions. I would ask $200 million, where's that coming from? Do you have any public or private sector investment? Who's going to pay that $200 million? That's us, pretty much.' Donta Myles said he's also worried that a city-built arena won't be able to compete with other entertainment venues across the region, citing KeyBank Center in Buffalo, Artpark in Lewiston and the Seneca Niagara Casino in the Falls as examples. 'How are we competing with them?' he said. The six candidates are vying for three open slots as the Democratic council candidates who will appear on the ballot for the November general election. The three top vote-getters in the primary will face three Republican candidates, including incumbent Councilman David Zajac, former Falls lawmaker Vincent Cauley and political newcomer Tanya Barone in the general election. Former Falls Councilman John Accardo has also qualified to appear on the general election ballot for city council as a Conservative Party candidate. Residents who are registered as Democrats in the City of Niagara Falls are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary. Early voting is now open. Primary election day is Tuesday.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats hope to succeed Thompson in Orange state Senate seat
State Sen. Geraldine Thompson's death earlier this year, just weeks before the start of the legislative session, left a huge void in Central Florida politics. Now a stacked slate of candidates is looking to follow her. Tuesday's Democratic special election primary includes two members of a Central Florida political dynasty in state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis and her brother, former state Sen. Randolph Bracy; a former firebrand congressman in Alan Grayson; and a newcomer in personal injury attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith. The seat, which includes parts of Orlando, Apopka, Ocoee and Winter Garden, is heavily Democratic. Black voters make up 53% of registered Democrats, according to analyst Matt Isbell. Much ink has been spilled and pixels filled about the Bracy siblings facing off against each other, with the Bracys' mother, civil rights icon LaVon Bracy, endorsing her daughter over her son. The focus has irked the other candidates. Anthony-Smith said the campaign sometimes felt less like a Senate race and more like 'running for prom queen,' while Grayson said the primary should be treated as 'a serious choice in a meritocracy, rather than who's going to be captain of the high school basketball team.' Bracy said it was 'disappointing and hurtful' for his sister to run after he announced his bid. Bracy Davis, meanwhile, has been consistent in responding to questions about her opponents, including her brother, by saying she wasn't running 'against any of them, I'm running for the people of Senate District 15.' Anthony-Smith, 54, of Gotha, said her upfront view of the legislative process, after years of meeting with and testifying before legislators, convinced her she could do better. She said insurance executives, in particular, were playing 'some type of shell game' by not paying claims and instead raising premiums. 'There needs to be more accountability,' Anthony-Smith said. 'I feel like a lot of things flow from the insurance crisis. Insurance also affects affordable housing.' She wants to look into measures such as employers loaning money to employees for housing or creating rebates. Anthony-Smith's campaign raised more than $39,000 in contributions. In addition, she loaned herself $175,000, bringing her total campaign resources to more than the other candidates combined. Bracy Davis, 45, of Ocoee, who has served in the state House since 2022, said she is running for Senate to carry on the legacy of Thompson, who died Feb. 13. Last year, she said, Thompson 'told me very candidly that when it was time for her to retire, she wanted me to run for her seat. … She had mentored me, and she basically taught me the ropes, and of course I would be honored to continue her work.' That would include continuing to push for the state Voting Rights Act they co-sponsored, which would allow same-day voter registration and repeal recent GOP-led voter restrictions, increasing pay for public school teachers, and her signature Youth Conflict Resolution bill. Bracy Davis had been hamstrung by a state law preventing direct fundraising by lawmakers during the legislative session, which this year lasted until well into June. She had raised about $10,000 before session began, according to filings, and the committee Liberated by Democracy, which she chairs, had raised $7,500. Randolph Bracy, 48, of Oakland, served four years in the state House and six in the Senate before resigning to launch an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022. He lost to Thompson in last year's Democratic primary, which was open to all voters. 'We need someone who knows the landscape in Tallahassee, who's been effective in it, and who can get stuff done,' Bracy said. 'I've been able to bring over $250 million out of the budget back to our communities in Central Florida and around the state.' Bracy raised about $9,000, including a $6,000 loan from himself. Grayson, 67, of Orlando, served two stints in Congress and has since run unsuccessful campaigns for Congress, U.S. Senate and state Senate. 'I'll have a much greater impact, in terms of both legislation passed and money brought home, as well as constituent services,' he said, comparing himself to his opponents. He added his priorities if elected would be affordable housing and better public services. He was known for his incendiary rhetoric in Washington, including saying in 2009 the GOP health care plan was to 'die quickly.' 'When you see this level of evil, you have to do something about it, or you're discrediting yourself by the lack of action,' he said of today's Democrats. Grayson, a hedge fund manager, loaned his campaign $9,000. Tuesday's election comes only a week after the Republican-led Legislature finally broke its budget deadlock, which ultimately included no mention of Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to reduce property taxes and provide $1,000 rebates for property owners. DeSantis still wants to place a voter initiative on the ballot next year to eliminate all property taxes, which he said was necessary to combat ballooning local budgets. Bracy was the only Democratic candidate for District 15 to say he was open to such a plan. 'I would have to see the details of it, but on the surface, I would consider an elimination of the property tax or a reduction.' The others wouldn't, with Anthony-Smith saying elimination of the property tax was 'not even on the table.' Bracy Davis said DeSantis' plan is 'disingenuous right now when we know that we're in an affordability crisis,' adding it 'may sound good, but we know that's not realistic.' Grayson said he's 'seen nothing that indicates that that proposal would be consistent with a balanced budget.' Another proposal that briefly appeared to gain traction in the Legislature, before being scrapped from the budget deal, was Orlando state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith's plan to shift more tourist tax revenue away from marketing and towards public infrastructure. Bracy Davis signaled she was supportive of the idea, saying she has 'a very broad definition of tourism.' 'If I was getting flat tires because of the potholes and the bad roads in the state of Florida, I think that would keep somebody from coming back,' she said. 'We should be able to use those tourism dollars for infrastructure.' The other candidates defended the current system. 'If we stop marketing, five or 10 years down the road we're left without that stream of revenue that we've been reliant upon for so many years,' Anthony-Smith said. Bracy said Central Florida 'relies heavily on marketing Orlando to the rest of the world, so I think those funds need to be protected.' Grayson said if revenue 'is raised for a specific purpose of promoting tourism, then it should promote tourism.' He cited the example of his own Travel Promotion Act of 2009, which helped expand promotion of international travel to the United States. With Thompson's death and the defection of former minority leader Jason Pizzo, who became an independent last month, Democrats currently have just 10 seats in the 40-member state Senate, the lowest number for the party since Reconstruction in 1872. Polls in District 15 will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican WIllie Montague, who had no GOP primary challengers, in the Sept. 2 general election.
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Clyburn Endorses Cuomo, Helping Him Broaden His Appeal to Black Voters
Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, a veteran lawmaker who was once the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, will endorse former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday. Mr. Clyburn will make the case that Mr. Cuomo is the right candidate to help Democrats fend off the ill effects of the second Trump term, when the president is 'challenging the pillars of our democracy.' 'The mayor of New York is uniquely positioned to play an important role in the future of the national Democratic Party,' Mr. Clyburn said in a statement, adding that Mr. Cuomo had the 'experiences, credentials and character to not just serve New York, but also help save the nation.' The endorsement comes three days after Mr. Cuomo's main rival, Zohran Mamdani, was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the progressive wing's longtime standard-bearer. Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Mamdani have led in the polls, and the tenor of the race has become increasingly nasty ahead of the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Mr. Sanders has also placed the race in a national context, arguing that Mr. Mamdani represents a break from 'corporate-dominated politics driven by billionaires.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Black Voters Take Center Stage as N.Y.C. Mayor's Race Enters Final Days
It had barely been two months since Adrienne Adams became the last Democrat to join the New York City mayoral primary race when she got a call from a number she did not recognize. It was Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old state assemblyman who had stormed to second place in the polls. He broached the idea of the two cross-endorsing each other. Ms. Adams, 64, the first Black person to lead the City Council, needed the help. She was working furiously to raise enough money to meet the threshold for public matching funds. She, in turn, had something Mr. Mamdani needed: support from the city's critical older Black electorate. It may have seemed like a perfect fit, but Ms. Adams did not see it that way. She and her advisers felt that Mr. Mamdani — a democratic socialist who has made campaign vows to make buses free, open city-owned grocery stores and freeze the rent for some apartment dwellers — was too far to the left and would alienate her base of moderate Democratic voters in southeast Queens. As the Democratic primary for mayor enters its final days, a familiar dispute is playing out between the left and the city's crucial Black electorate. Despite being pressured to cross-endorse Mr. Mamdani, Ms. Adams seems set on doing the opposite, criticizing him during the candidates' second debate. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
