Good morning. It’s Monday. With just over 90 days to Election Day, we’ll look at the role that big money played in the Democratic primary — and might play in the campaign that will unfold between now and Nov. 4.
Will big money lose big again?
It has been six weeks since New York City’s Democratic primary remade the political landscape, and that’s one of the many questions hanging over the mayor’s race with just over 90 days left. The answer could make permanent the power shifts in the city’s Democratic politics that worry the established order — and could rewrite the playbooks for candidates.
For now, real estate executives and financiers are forming super PACs to try to defeat Zohran Mamdani, who won the primary with a far less costly campaign than their preferred candidate, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running on a third-party line in the general election.
“The long-held idea in politics that the candidates with the most money win is no longer an assured position,” said Grace Rauh, the executive director of Citizens Union, a good-government group. “That is part of the reason why many wealthy donors and interests who are looking at this race, in New York and perhaps beyond, are responding in a bit of a state of panic.”
Citizens Union says that super PAC spending in all the races on the ballot in the primary totaled $46 million. That is enough to have bought an Italian Renaissance palazzo-style mansion on Fifth Avenue (reduced from $80 million) or a Stegosaurus skeleton (and have $1.4 million left over). But eight candidates backed by super PACs lost, according to a Citizens Union report.
In the contest for mayor, some $26.6 million went to support Cuomo and oppose Mamdani. Citizens Union said that the spending represented a striking change from the 2021 mayoral race, when $31.4 million was distributed more evenly to support a half-dozen candidates. Fix the City, the main super PAC backing Cuomo, “essentially replaced his field operation” and had three times as much money as the official campaign, Citizens Union said.
Rauh said that there were “lessons to be learned” from the primary about the power of getting supporters “to not just write you the check” but also pitch in with door-to-door canvassing and other essential elements of a campaign. With Mamdani, “we saw that on a scale I had never seen in a local race in New York City,” said Rauh, who has observed five campaign cycles for mayor, first as a journalist and now at Citizens Union.
Many corporate leaders see Mamdani as a dire threat. My colleagues Dana Rubinstein and Nicholas Fandos reported last week that at least five super PACs were already jockeying for money from the city’s business elite, and that several more were said to be in different stages of formation.
For at least 25 years, ever since Michael Bloomberg won City Hall in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1 percent has had a sense that city policies would not rock their boat. Today, some corporate leaders say that Mamdani will destabilize the city. Last week one of them cited the rampage that left five people dead, including the gunman, in a Park Avenue office.
“This tragedy is not just a moment of mourning; it’s a call to reject policies that would make our city even more vulnerable,” said Jared Epstein, a real estate executive who co-hosted a fund-raising call with 200 potential donors for New Yorkers for a Better Future last week.
For his part, Mamdani can count on support from at least two super PACs. One, New Yorkers for Lower Costs, describes itself as “the official Zohran Mamdani support PAC.” It raised $1.56 million for the primary and has taken in more than $100,000 since then. It is not only seeking contributions but also selling merchandise. A “Zohran for NYC” tote goes for $32. A “Freeze the Rent” foam can cooler is priced at $6.
Weather
Expect a bright and sunny day with temperatures reaching 90. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 72.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Aug. 15 (Feast of the Assumption).
The latest New York news
-
A new normal in America’s immigration courts: Courthouse arrests have driven a spike in detentions of undocumented immigrants without criminal records. The arrests have turned courthouses into places to witness President Trump’s immigration crackdown unfold in real time every day.
-
Fresh turmoil in the state’s cannabis rollout: Regulators’ misreading of a law has thrown the future of more than 150 existing and planned dispensaries into question. Gov. Kathy Hochul wants the Legislature to change the law so the dispensaries don’t have to move.
-
Curtis Sliwa takes off his beret: The Guardian Angels founder and Republican nominee for mayor has long been known for his trademark red beret. In his bid to be taken seriously in the race, he has been leaving it at home when he attends meetings with civic leaders, and he has promised to keep it off permanently if he is elected in November.
-
Protesters arrested at senators’ offices: Dozens of demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza were arrested at the Manhattan offices of Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, days after they voted against halting U.S. arms sales to Israel.
-
An ex-Rolling Stone vs. the Met: This year, a collector donated the guitar that Keith Richards played on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But representatives for Mick Taylor say that he bought the instrument before he joined the band in 1969, and that it “disappeared.”
-
‘Liberation’ heads to Broadway: The play by Bess Wohl explores the women’s movement of the 1970s and its reverberations into the present. It is set to open this fall for a 14-week limited run.
METROPOLITAN diary
12 Minutes
Dear Diary:
I was waiting for an uptown bus to meet my mother at the Met. It was one of the first hot June days, and I was sitting on the bench in the shade when an older woman walked up to the stop.
“Twelve minutes?” she said, looking at the countdown clock and then at me. “I hope the new mayor fixes the buses.”
“I hope so, too,” I said. “Sometimes that sign isn’t always right, though. I always check on my phone.”
I showed her how I check the M.T.A. website on my phone to see how far away the bus is. I like to know so I can decide whether it’s worth waiting.
We waited together for what probably was 12 minutes. I learned that her daughter was expecting a child and lived in Brooklyn. She said she had gone to the store that day to get some items for the baby.
I congratulated her — her first grandchild! And a girl, no less.
We chatted about art in New York City until the bus arrived, and we sat next to each other on the bus so we could continue talking.
I learned that the renovated Frick was beautiful, but that I should wait until the line calmed down before going. The woman also encouraged me to check out a photography exhibition at the Met. Photography, she said, shows life in a way no other type of art does. I agreed.
As we got close to my stop, I asked her name so I could thank her for the lovely conversation. She shared it, and I offered mine in return.
“That’s what I told my daughter to name her daughter,” she said with a smile.
“Then it’s fate,” I said as I waved goodbye. “She has to now.”
— Justine Baird
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.
Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
James Barron writes the New York Today newsletter, a morning roundup of what’s happening in the city.
The post The Elite Ramp Up Their Fight Against Mamdani appeared first on New York Times.
