They were nearly completely wiped out in the primaries tonight, and it was Nixon’s focus on this issue, particularly with regard to Cuomo’s perfidy on the whole affair, was a large part of this:
Years of anger at a group of Democratic state senators who had collaborated with Republicans boiled over on Thursday, as primary voters ousted nearly all of them in favor of challengers who had called them traitors and sham progressives.
The losses were a resounding upset for members of the Independent Democratic Conference, who outspent their challengers several times over, but also a sign that the impatient progressive fervor sweeping national politics had hobbled New York’s once-mighty Democratic machine, at least on a local level.
The most high-profile casualty was Senator Jeffrey D. Klein of the Bronx, the former head of the I.D.C. In that role, he was for years one of Albany’s most powerful players, sharing leadership of the chamber with his counterparts in the Republican conference and participating in the state’s secretive budget negotiations.
But on Thursday, he was defeated by Alessandra Biaggi, a lawyer and former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, after a campaign in which Ms. Biaggi cornered Mr. Klein into spending nearly $2 million — more than 10 times what she spent — since January, an astonishing sum for a state legislative race. (Cynthia Nixon, in her bid against Mr. Cuomo, spent less.)
“If this doesn’t prove that political currency is people over money, I do not know what does,” Ms. Biaggi said at her victory party. “We have now cut the head of the I.D.C. snake.”
Mr. Klein did not appear at his watch party.
Also defeated were five other former I.D.C. members: Senator Tony Avella in Queens; Senator Jose Peralta in Queens; Senator Jesse Hamilton in Brooklyn; Senator Marisol Alcántara in Manhattan; and Senator David Valesky in Syracuse. The only former I.D.C. members to survive the primary were Senator Diane Savino, of Staten Island, and Senator David Carlucci, of Rockland County.
In another high-profile race, Senator Martin Dilan, who was not part of the I.D.C., was defeated by Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist whose candidacy energized young voters in swaths of gentrifying Brooklyn, despite near-constant controversy in the final weeks of the campaign.
“This is a victory for workers,” Ms. Salazar said standing atop a staircase in front of her voters at a party in Bushwick. “This is a victory for all of you, who every day have knocked on doors and have had meaningful conversations with our neighbors about these issues.”
The Democrats still need to pick up a seat, as Simcha “Shande Far Di Goyim” Felder will almost certainly caucus with the Republicans again, but I think that they can manage that,
As much as it pains me, I think that I have to quote Matt Yglesias:
Nixon, it should be said, really took one for the team here.
No real politicians wanted to run a hopeless race, she stepped up, pushed Cuomo left on issues, shed light on the IDC situation and contributed meaningfully to their defeat.
Not bad work at all.
On the down side, Cuomo beat Nixon by 30 points, and Letita James beat Zephyr Teachout in the AG primary. (Teachout had promised to aggressively investigate Cuomo, and James appears to be joined at the hip to Cuomo)
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1040433354229907456