New York Democrats lost four seats in the House of Representatives in the blue stronghold state in 2022; this and the recent failures prompted some to call for a total overhaul of the state party, according to The New York Times.
New York’s Democratic Party operates largely as an arm of the governor, does very little work on messaging or turnout and operates with a fraction of the staff of smaller states’ Democratic parties, according to the NYT. The party also struggles with internal divisions that impede its ability to achieve legislative goals.
“The party has to change, and it can’t change until we change the leadership,” George Albro, co-chair of the New York Progressive Action Network, a left-wing group formed from the remnants of Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign, told the NYT. “From top to bottom, the Democratic Party in New York is a disaster.” (RELATED: ‘It’s Fear’: Dem Rep Says That Behind Closed Doors, Democrats Want Biden Gone)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York mayor Eric Adams (R) make an announcement on subway safety during a press conference at Fulton Transit Center on January 27, 2023 in New York. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Democrats’ House losses derailed President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda for the next two years of his presidency, since Democrats lost control of the House, according to the NYT. On top of those defeats, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul nearly lost her 2022 election to former Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, a supporter of former President Donald Trump who drew strong support from Asian-Americans, the city’s fastest growing demographic, and successfully used the state’s crime problems as a wedge against his Democratic opponents.
Divisions between more moderate Democrats and progressives have weakened the party’s ability to achieve its goals, with the Democrat-dominated state legislature shooting down Hochul’s nominee to the state’s highest court because progressives found him too conservative, according to the NYT.
Jay Jacobs, the Democratic Party’s state chairman, has frequently butted heads with the party’s more progressive members and is facing calls for his ouster from elected officials across the state, according to the NYT.
“What the hell are we even doing?” Jamaal Bowman, a Westchester County congressman, said to the NYT while calling for his resignation. “You know, the whole thing about the corporate agenda, which I think Jay Jacobs and maybe even Governor Hochul and maybe others are missing is, when you talk about younger voters, millennials or Gen Z, they are not aligned with corporate interests over labor and working-class people.”
The New York Democratic Party did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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