NYC NOW - November 6, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

***An earlier version of this episode mischaracterized the status of the citywide ballot initiatives. While Board of Election results show 4 of the 5 citywide questions are likely to pass, as of 10am on November 6, the Associated Press has only confirmed results for one of them. The audio has now been updated. Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Democrats flipped at least two New York congressional seats Tuesday, though national losses overshadowed these gains. WNYC’s Jon Campbell reports. Meanwhile, Democrat Pat Ryan wins re-election in the 18th district, while Republican Mike Lawler defeats Mondaire Jones in the 17th. Nick LaLota wins re-election in Long Island’s 1st district, while the 4th district race remains too close to call. In New Jersey’s 7th, Republican Tom Kean Jr. wins re-election. Also, New Jersey’s Andy Kim is now Senator-elect, succeeding Bob Menendez. Plus, WNYC’s Brigid Bergin and City Hall reporter Elizabeth Kim share the latest updates on undecided races.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, November 6th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Democrats have flipped at least two congressional seats in New York yesterday, but WNMC's John Camer reports national losses overshadow those gains. Democrats won Republican-held seats in Syracuse and in the Catskills. They could help the party win control of the House and make Brooklyn Representative Hakeem Jeffries speaker.

But Democrats lost control of the Senate, which means New York Senator Chuck Schumer won't be majority leader. Representative Tom Swazi is a Democrat who won his re-election bid. Everybody's got to stop pandering to their base. The Republicans pandering to the right. The Democrats pantering to the left. Stop pandering to your base and listen to what the people want you to do. Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump. by 12 percentage points in New York. That's far less than President Biden's 23-point win four years ago.

New York had a number of competitive races that could determine control of Congress in the Hudson Valley's 18th district. Democrat Pat Ryan wins re-election. In the 17th district, the AP has just called the race. Republican Mike Lauder defeats Mondair Jones. Representative Nicola Lota on Long Island is won re-election in the first congressional district, but the competitive fourth congressional race between Lori Gillen and Anthony D. Esposito remains too close to call. Tom Kane Jr. wins in New Jersey, wins re-election there. And New Jersey representative, Andy Kim, is now Senator-elect Andy Kim. The three-term Congress member succeeds longtime Senator Bob Menendez. Here he is right now, Andy Kim. He spoke last night in Cherry Hill to his supporters. We showed that politics isn't some exclusive club just for the well-off and the well-connected.

that we built something that epitomizes the grassroots. Kim soundly defeated his Republican competitor, businessman Curtis Bashaw. Kim will become the first Korean American to serve in the United States Senate. 65 and clear right now, partly sunny today and a warm one all the way up to 77, way above normal and gusty. And then tomorrow clouds give way to sunshine, still warm, a high near 75 and breezy. And then Friday, 64. The weekend is looking pretty good. Saturday's sunny and 59. Stay close. There's more after the break. WNYC.

Results are still coming in, but as of this morning, some of the most competitive races in our region remain undecided. Joining us now with what we know so far are WNYC's senior politics reporter, Bridget Bergen, and City Hall reporter Elizabeth Kim. Bridget, while former President Trump has been declared the winner, we know that Vice-Precise President Harris did carry New York. She did carry Connecticut and she did carry New Jersey. How did that translate down the ballot? Well, Michael, here in New York, voters reelected Kirsten Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate. And in New Jersey, Andy Kim is going to be the U.S. Senate that makes him the first Korean American elected to the Senate. But here in New York,

there's also news for the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, since Democrats lost their majority in the Senate, he will lose his leadership post as well. What about the congressional races? What do we know about the races north of the city? Up there in the Hudson Valley? Well, there are in Democratic Representative Pat Ryan held on to his seat in the Hudson Valley. He was, he defeated Republican Allison Esposito in the 18th congressional district, and that's got parts of Orange, Ulster, Putnam, and Duchess counties. In the 17th congressional district, which really goes right through the heart of the Hudson Valley, Westchester Rockland, Putnam Duchess, Republican Representative Michael Lawler defeated Democrat

Mondare Jones. There were also two seats that were flipped north of the city. Attorney Josh Riley defeated Republican Representative Mark Molinaro in that really expansive 19th congressional district. It stretches from the border of Massachusetts through the Hudson Valley all the way through the Finger Lakes. And then up near in the Syracuse area, state Senator John Mannion, a Democrat, defeated Republican Representative Brandon Williams in that 22nd District. How about the three competitive races on Long Island? It's very interesting, Michael. You know, a lot of people were saying the road to control of Congress runs through Long Island. The three seats that we were really watching, two of the

incumbents held on to their seat. Republican Representative Nicola Loda held on to his seat defeating Democrat John Avlon out there on the east end in the first, congressional district. And then Democratic Representative Tom Swazi won a full term in the House for the third congressional district. That's after he won that special election back in February. This time he beat Republican Mike LaPietri. Now all eyes are on the fourth congressional district. Things got a little weird there last night. The race was very close. Democrat Laura Gillen was leading by about 6,000 votes. The AP never called it. Her opponent, Republican Representative Anthony Di Esposito didn't concede. In fact, he gave some brief remarks talking about how many seats

Republicans have gained across Nassau County in the last four years. They basically control the entire county, town, city governments there. And then he said this. We knew this was going to be a tough race. We are ready to go to the mat. And I am hopeful that as soon as we get the results, there will continue to be a Republican representing the fourth congressional district. Now, Michael, going to the mat in this case, I think is making sure all votes are counted. I should say after he gave those remarks, there was a pretty significant delay before anyone from the NASA County Democrats or Gillen's campaign spoke to the audience. But around midnight, state and county Democratic Party chair, J. Jacobs took the stage, thanked everyone for their hard work.

He first introduced Swazi for a brief victory speech. And then he introduced Gillen, who took the stage with her family saying this. to be your new congresswoman thanking my opponent for his service and for a vigorous campaign so michael gillen was not waiting around for that concession no she's not yeah i asked her afterwards what it means that her opponent hasn't conceded and she told me they mean she's going to washington now of course there are still outstanding mail ballots ballots that are postmarked as of election day that arrive by Tuesday will still count in that race. And if the final margin comes down to less than one half of a percent, it would trigger an automatic recount. You can be sure that both of the candidates will have their

lawyers watching the next week very closely as those votes are canvassed and counted. And so we'll be watching to see if the AP makes a call sooner rather than later. Bridget, Annalind, I know you've been telling us about the statewide and citywide ballot proposals as well. Bridget, would you tell us about the statewide one, Proposition 1? Right. So that was the only statewide ballot proposition. It passed by what appears to be about a 20-point margin that was a measure to enshrine abortion rights and certain anti-discrimination protections into the state constitution's equal protection clause, you know, a section of the Constitution that hasn't been updated since the 1930s. There was a real push from grassroots groups to pass this measure after the Dobbs decision. But opponents warned that these new anti-discrimination provisions could lead to more. transgender athletes playing girls sports. There was a big campaign to protect girls sports, but the measure passed rather decisively.

Ballot questions two through six were citywide issues having to do with the balance of power between the city council and Mayor Adams. Liz, what do we know about those so far? Yes, so there were five ballot questions that were put before city voters. And I want to clarify something I said earlier this morning. It appears from the vote tallies that four of those five questions were passed by city voters, but only one has been confirmed by the Associated Press. And that proposal would give sanitation workers more power to clean public spaces. Now, all of these proposals were opposed by most of the city council and several other elected officials. And sorry about my dog. But, you know, but this is, this is likely to be

considered a win for the mayor. You know, he has been facing federal corruption charges, which has weakened him politically. So being able to have these measures pass at the same time, it will certainly validate, you know, validate something that he's been trying to do. with the commission. Liz, I'm going to switch gears here briefly. I know you've covered Mayor Adams for a long time now. Do you have any sense of what another Trump presidency might mean for him and his ability to govern the city, given the criminal charges he faces

and the potential back channel communication that could be taking place? The mayor is going to be put in a very difficult situation because he's going to face pressure to defend. the city's interests, to defend the city against Donald Trump's threat, for example, to undergo mass deportations. At the same time, the mayor is looking at these federal corruption charges. President-elect Trump, once he is in power, does have the ability to pardon the mayor of those crimes. So this is going to be a very interesting moment to watch the mayor and how he manages a relationship with a president that holds so much power over him and New Yorkers.

Indeed, indeed. And Bridget, just one quick question here. I have to ask you very quickly. 30 seconds. What surprised you last night, if anything, Bridget? You know, I think there was a shift in momentum, certainly at the Nassau County Democrats as more results came in. But that shift also, you know, it went from some some dower responses to what they were seeing nationally to a little bit of exuberance once Gillen took the stage and celebrated. And some of those wins may mean that New York is sending its first black speaker to the U.S. Congress. Indeed. WN.C's senior politics reporter, Bridget Bergen and City Hall reporter Elizabeth Kim. Thank you once again. Thank you.

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, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.