| | | | |  | | By Emily Ngo, Jeff Coltin and Nick Reisman | With help from Rich Mendez
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Democrats and their donors are still shaken by mounting doubt over President Joe Biden's ability to lead the ticket in November. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP | Some Democratic donors, shaken by mounting doubts over whether President Joe Biden should lead the party’s ticket, have begun pinning their hopes on down-ballot races instead. And insurgent candidates like Long Island’s Laura Gillen could benefit from the newfound interest. Gillen, a former local official challenging GOP Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, raised about $1.9 million in the past three months — more than tripling her first-quarter haul, Playbook has learned. Now, she may see her momentum boosted if resources are reallocated to bolster Democrats’ chances of controlling both the House and Senate as guardrails for a potential Donald Trump presidency. Playbook spoke with several donors and fundraisers who said that uncertainty about Biden — following his dismal debate performance nearly two weeks ago — leaves people in their anxious networks deliberating where the best investment lies. “The events of recent days have put at risk House and Senate Democrats, and we feel it around the country,” said a New York Democratic donor, granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive matter. “Clearly, Democratic donors are looking at down-ballot candidates to try to salvage the House or Senate.” Thus far, Biden has answered questions about his mental acuity with the insistence that he can defeat Trump in November. But more House Democrats are urging him to withdraw, including New York Reps. Jerry Nadler and Joe Morelle in a private call Sunday. Questions about his viability will only intensify as Congress returns to Washington today. And they will keep dogging swing-district candidates weighed down by Biden’s struggles — even if interest in their bids goes up as a result. Gillen notably did not defend the president in an interview with Playbook. “After the Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, more Democrats are even more keenly aware of what an existential threat another Trump presidency could be to our democracy,” she said. “And they know that we don’t know what’s going to happen at the top of the ticket, but regardless of what happens there, we need to take back the House to be a bulwark against what could happen if Trump becomes president.” Gillen, who in 2017 became the first Democrat in more than 100 years to win the Town of Hempstead’s supervisor seat, saw her profile raised nationally when she was added to the DCCC’s Red to Blue program just before her massive fundraising quarter began. D’Esposito declined to disclose his updated fundraising numbers, which aren’t due to the FEC until July 15. In the first three months of the year, he had raised only about half of what Gillen did. “Leftwing fundraisers seeking to salvage their progressive agenda by focusing on down-ballot races after Joe Biden’s campaign implosion will quickly learn that Laura Gillen is a perennial loser who Long Islanders continue to reject at the ballot box despite a local Democratic registration advantage,” D’Esposito spokesperson Matt Capp said in a statement. The Biden campaign, for its part, noted that Democratic donor Amy Goldman Fowler and others have vocally backed Biden’s reelection. Biden spokesperson Lauren Hitt said the president’s fundraising this month is already showing signs of strong grassroots support. — Emily Ngo HAPPY MONDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
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Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City making a transportation and infrastructure announcement. WHERE’S ERIC? Making a sanitation-related announcement with DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch, then meeting with the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament. After that, he is hosting a roundtable discussion with leaders in the Southeast Queens African American community. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The sentiments of the DOC seem to be that they just don’t care. That it’s all a game to them.” — Joshua Lax, an attorney representing Rikers Island detainees suing the city after they were trapped inside their cells while a fire broke out on Rikers Island last year, via Gothamist.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
City Council members have argued that their public safety bills — like the How Many Stops Act, which Council Member Yusef Salaam defended at a January press conference — do not need additional layers of scrutiny. | Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit | IT’S SLOW ENOUGH ALREADY: The New York City Council doesn’t give the public any less opportunity or time to review laws concerning public safety than it does other laws — so there’s no objective basis for the Charter Revision Commission to change it. That’s the message in a memo shared first in Playbook by government reform group Citizens Union that reviewed more than 1,700 laws passed over the last decade. “It would seem unnecessary to inject more time into the legislative process of public safety bills,” the policy report reads, “and it is unclear why they and the stakeholders who wish to comment on them should be awarded preferential treatment.” Mayor Eric Adams’ commission was created, in part, to respond to complaints about the council overriding the mayor’s veto on a police accountability law. Now, it’s considering a proposal to “strengthen opportunities for public, agency and critical stakeholder input on legislation relating to public safety,” according to the commission’s preliminary report. If there’s a problem with public feedback, it doesn’t have to do with the amount of time provided, the report found. Charter Revision Commission spokesperson Frank Dwyer declined to say whether the commission had done any objective analysis of its own, but said it is still accepting testimony from anyone, and “welcomes Citizens Union’s report.” Meanwhile, some criminal justice stakeholders don’t want any changes to the council’s legislative process. An organizer told Playbook that progressive activists aligned with Communities United for Police Reform are planning to show up at the commission’s hearing in Harlem tonight and provide “meaningful community dissent” to the “sham process.” — Jeff Coltin
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
While Adams selected his preferred corporation counsel nominee, details about his previous top lawyer's ouster came to light. | Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office | DON’T JUDGE: As the deadline looms for Adams to submit his preferred corporation counsel nominee to the City Council for consideration, new details have emerged about the mounting tension that ultimately led to the resignation of the previous top lawyer, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, POLITICO reports. After Timothy Pearson — a former NYPD inspector with a plum salary and nebulous job duties — was accused of sexual harassment in March, the mayor’s office defended Pearson and indicated it wanted the Law Department to represent him. Three people with knowledge of the situation, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal City Hall dynamics, said Hinds-Radix resisted. But she lost her bid not to represent him. Tensions had been building since the beginning of the administration. As the migrant crisis started, swelling the municipal shelter system and creating novel legal questions, a marked difference in style between the mayor’s office and Hinds-Radix became readily apparent: City Hall’s inner circle wanted more nimble decision-making — including on the city’s efforts to dilute decades-old rules that guaranteed permanent shelter to migrants. Hinds-Radix was unwilling to bend. Now, City Hall has been without a permanent top lawyer for more than four weeks. — Joe Anuta More from the city: — The state government, including the MTA, owes the city $76.5 million in unpaid water bills, at a time when the city is raising rates. (New York Times) — Long Island City has a staggering 23 government-run migrant shelters — 12 percent of the 193 operating in New York City, according to a confidential list of shelter sites. (New York Post) — The city saw a steep drop in murders and gun violence for the first half of 2024 compared to last year, and overall crime dropped 2 percent compared to 2023. (Daily News)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
A proposal backed by activists and labor unions calling for higher minimum wage was introduced in the Tompkins County Legislature. | Mark Lennihan/AP | UPSTATE WAGE: Members of the Tompkins County Legislature today will introduce a proposal to set a higher minimum wage in the county, testing whether a local government can act on its own to address what has been a state-level matter for 60 years. Power to set the minimum wage has essentially been in the hands of the state government since a 1962 court ruling overrode New York City’s minimum pay law. The proposal in Tompkins County — home of upstate liberal bastion Ithaca — is one of the first significant attempts to pass a local-level wage law in recent years. The effort is part of a larger push by activists and backed by influential labor unions like 1199SEIU and 32BJ who tried, and failed, to align the upstate minimum wage with the higher base pay in New York City and the surrounding area. But left-leaning activists have argued the cost of living statewide needs to be taken into consideration. “The Tompkins County resolution for a higher minimum wage is the right step forward for working families and is the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis,” said Tal Frieden, a spokesperson for the coalition of labor unions and advocacy groups known as Raise Up NY. The minimum wage north of Westchester is currently $15 an hour; New York City, Long Island and Westchester County have a $16 an hour wage floor. Business organizations have pushed back hard against further efforts to increase the minimum wage, which will be set to the rate of inflation after 2026. More immediately for the Tompkins County proposal, the legalities of overriding state law present a bigger hurdle. New York’s constitution gives the state government broad authority over local governments — in many instances treating New York City the same as Tompkins County. But supporters believe local government efforts across the country to raise the wage will give their effort in New York momentum. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — State officials are scrambling to make a fix to the new public campaign financing system. (Newsday) — Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar is advancing her effort to run for New York City comptroller. (Gothamist) — There’s been modest progress in addressing police policies four years after a reform plan was approved. (Times Union) More from Congress: — Visiting the Hasidic village of New Square, House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed support for religious private schools, “school choice,” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Shtetl) — Rep. Tom Suozzi breaks down his new role as co-chair of the Democrats for Border Security Task Force. (Newsweek)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he was kicked out of his New York home by a Biden-supporting landlord. (Times Union) — Permits for many western New York air polluters expired years ago. (Buffalo News) — Fourth of July-related travel reignites age-old debate over where the border separating downstate and upstate New York is located. (Mid Hudson News)
| | | | Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman ENGAGED — Brad Dayspring, EVP for global communications and brand at POLITICO, on Saturday proposed to Kelley Hudak, director of federal relations at API and a Steve Scalise alum. They got engaged on a yacht called the Stargazer (with just the couple and the captain) in St. Michael’s, Md., after spending the holiday weekend at the Inn at Perry Cabin. The couple met at the UTA White House Correspondents Dinner party at Fiola Mare. Pic ... The ring MAKING MOVES: Adam Hornbuckle starts on Monday as Long Island regional director for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He most recently was director at the Threshold Group. … Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW Deputy Political Director Katie Shane is joining NYU as assistant director of government affairs. — NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks named Kenita Lloyd, a deputy chancellor who serves as chief liaison to New York City’s parents, as chief of staff. (POLITICO Pro) HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander … State Sen. Andrew Gounardes … Assemblymember Phil Steck … NYC Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack … Addie Jenne … Yeshiva University’s Jon Greenfield … CHIP’s Michael Gareth Johnson … NYT’s Lara Jakes … Phil Gramm … Bill Hinkle … Jim Miklaszewski … Arlie Ziskend … Christian Sherrill … (WAS SUNDAY): Assemblymember Pat Fahy … Juan Manuel Benítez … John Choe … Marti Adams Baker … Bloomberg’s Nia-Malika Henderson … Eleanor Clift … Stuart Varney of Fox Business Network … CNN’s Sophie Tatum … Randy James … … (WAS SATURDAY): Kasirer’s Dev Awasthi … Team Schumer’s Adam Hornbuckle … Andrew Kurzweil … Google’s Cynthia Keyser … CBS’ John Dickerson … CNN’s Athena Jones … CNBC’s Dan Colarusso … Jill Zuckman of SKDK … Kimberly Dozier … Zachary Karabell … … (WAS FRIDAY): former Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) … Jake Potent … Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) … NYT’s David Sanger … Steve Rattner of Willett Advisors … Michael LaRosa … Walt Cronkite of the Structured Finance Association … CBS’ Alisa Wiersema … NBC’s Julie Shapiro … Alexandra de Rienzo … Alex Kinney McBride … … (WAS THURSDAY): NYIC’s Reed Dunlea … Gregg Bishop … Mercury’s Alex Gleason … Malia Obama … Geraldo Rivera … Michael Milken … WSJ’s Natalie Andrews … former Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) … Sunshine Sachs’ Taylor Friedman … Andrew Sorkin of Latham & Watkins … Tyler Cheney … Sasha Graffagna … (WAS WEDNESDAY): Dr. Carolyn Levy … Queens Dems’ Antonio Alfonso. Missed Wednesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here. | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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