NYC NOW - February 16, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Dan Goldman (NY-10) is pushing for more regulation of lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes amid a string of fires caused by the batteries. Plus, the GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is even slimmer now after Democrat Tom Suozzi reclaimed his old seat in New York's 3rd congressional district. WNYC’s Sean Carlson speaks with Republican strategist Bill O’Reilly about the closely-watched race and what it might portend.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, February 16. Here's the midday news from David Furze. U.S. Representative Dan Goldman is pushing for more regulations for lithium-ion e-bike batteries that have caused hundreds of fires in New York City. He questioned FDNY, Chief Fire Marshal, Daniel E. Flynn, at a Congressional Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.

Do you think you have enough authority and resources to be able to tackle this issue? We could always use more resources, of course. Our inspectors are stretched very thin. Goldman is co-sponsoring a bill that aims to set minimum safety standards for batteries. 38 degrees now, going up to 44 today, sunny and windy. We have a chance for some snow overnight to need. night, low of 32 degrees, one to three inches of snow are possible between 10 p.m. tonight and 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Stay close. There's more after the break.

NYC. I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives is even slimmer. After Democrats flipped the Long Island District formerly represented by George Santos, polling indicated a tight race in New York's third congressional district, but former congressman Tom Swazi cruised to an eight-point victory in reclaiming his old seed. His win also put a damper on Republicans' recent momentum on Long Island, where the GOP has been experiencing a political revival in the past few election cycles. Here to talk about all of it is Republican consultant Bill O'Reilly. He's a partner at the November team.

Hey, Bill, welcome back to all things considered. Oh, thanks for having me. So we said, polling showed Swazzy in a tight race with with Mazzi Pillup, the Nassau County legislator. But eight points, that's a pretty comfortable margin of victory. So what is your take on the result? What was that play here? It was a comfortable margin of victory.

I got to say, Tom Swazzi did a very good job in his campaign. He ran like he was behind the entire time. I remember thinking maybe his polling had him down because he was pushing for debates. He was showing up at her press conferences the typical things that a challenger does. But he did very well in the end. But I should add that Republicans were right to be optimistic about the district. I mean, it was a district that President Biden won by eight points in 2020. But Republicans were right because the messages were on their side.

They had the momentum with, particularly with the migrant issue, with the crime issue, and that, you know, stubborn lingering inflation. And so Republicans felt pretty good about the seat. And it didn't turn out that way. And there's, there's reasons why. And I think we'll probably discuss that. Yeah. Are Republicans less likely to say vote early? And does that lead them vulnerable, say, on a bad weather day like it was on Tuesday?

Yes, Democrats definitely turn, at least now, and that may change over time because early voting is a fairly recent development. But Democrats tend to turn out earlier and Republicans tend to turn out day of. And there was obviously a blizzard in the morning. But you never know. You can point to a lot of things when a race goes the way you don't want it. But I think, you know, weather was certainly a factor. But I think the greatest factor was Donald Trump, who, really took the legs out of the migrant messaging.

I think Mazi Pillop was doing very well with that, and she had Tom Swazi on the run. I mean, New York is obviously a focal point of the migrant crisis debate. And right in the middle of the campaign, you know, he now very, you know, famously or infamously, told the Republicans to kill their own deal for border security. And so Swazi being a very smart and seasoned politician, and flip the script on her very quickly and said,

hey, at least my party's trying to do something. You guys are doing nothing. You just want this for rhetoric. And I think that really hurt her in the end. I don't know if it was enough to give Swazi the victory, but it could have been. Yeah. Now, speaking of former President Trump,

he offered his own post-election commentary. He called Pilip Foolish for not embracing him in her campaign. He says that she straddled the fence and that MAGA voters will stay home, on Lessler, quote, treated with the respect they deserve. is he right? Do you think the only way to get Republicans fired up and engaged this year is a full-on embrace of Trumpian politics? Yeah, he's just plain wrong for that district. In other districts, I mean, that's a suburban district very tight to the city. And if she had come out as a full maga, you know, Trump-breathing Republican, I think she would have done much worse than the final results. You know, if you were in upstate New York or you're in a you're in a more rural area, sure.

You know, being a mega person, being a Trump candidate tends to bring out more voters than what otherwise, you know, turn out. But in this district, no. In this district, I think she was absolutely right to try and straddle Trump and not to embrace him. And frankly, Swazi did the same thing with President Biden. They both, you know, somewhat eschewed their presidents. And I think it was the right tactic for her. So he was wrong with that. There was some concern that the GOP would be scandal scarred after George Santos and that whole circus.

But the party chose a relatively unknown, inexperienced candidate. She didn't exactly make herself available to voters in the media running up to the election. She's also a registered Democrat. So, I mean, you could see this and say, well, how serious were local Republicans about keeping the seat? It was a bold choice. I mean, there were more than a dozen Republican candidates looking at that seat. And I thought, I thought, Mazi Pillop was a, it was, again, a bold choice. it was um you know her background is very unique she's Ethiopian Jew and and served in the

Israeli military and then came here married as seven children and is in the in the local legislature and she is a conservative Democrat so I wouldn't blame the party for for taking a shot with that I think they wanted to do something a little bit dramatic and um I think under better circumstances she could have pulled it out but um at this point with with Trump now you know you know firing at her I think that it's probably a one and done for her But I wouldn't blame them for trying something a little bit unusual, although there were other candidates out there that could have been better. But she certainly, you know, captured attention. Bill O'Reilly is a Republican strategist based in New York.

Bill, thanks so much. We appreciate it. Nice to be here. Thanks. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. So subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.