Chuck Schumer, left, and Joe Pinion
Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democratic and the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, is running for reelection for another six-year term this year, facing Republican and Conservative Party nominee Joe Pinion, a political news commentator.
Schumer, who has been in office since 1999, has only risen to prominence since ascending to majority leader when Democrats took the Senate through the 2020 election. He holds commanding leads in polls and fundraising against his relatively unknown opponent, often faring far better in polling than his fellow Democratic incumbents in this year’s statewide contests.
Pinion and Schumer faced each other Sunday night in the only debate of the race, on Spectrum News and moderated by anchors Errol Louis and Susan Arbetter at Union College in Schenectady. During the hour-long debate, the two candidates offered differing perspectives on a wide variety of issues and political dynamics.
Schumer, who hails from Brooklyn and was previously in the U.S. House of Representatives, is one of New York’s most popular elected officials and an omnipresent one, known for his annual tour of every one of the state’s 62 counties, now 23 years in a row.
When Democrats took control of the 50-50 U.S. Senate given the vice president’s tie-breaking vote when needed, Schumer became the first Jewish official and the first New Yorker to become majority leader. Since then, he has delivered a series of major victories for the party, including several high-profile and big-dollar bills that have benefited his home state. Though he once described himself as an “angry centrist” and was viewed with suspicion from some on the left who believe he may be too moderate or aligned with business interests, he has since championed many progressive priorities including fighting for climate action, strengthening the social safety net, forgiving student loan debt, decriminalizing marijuana, reforming the immigration system, and more.
Under Schumer’s leadership, in partnership with President Joe Biden and the U.S. House majority, Democrats have passed a slew of major bills — occasionally with some Republican support — that have had or are projected to have significant impact on the country and state. Some of them have faced fierce criticism from Republicans, of course.
That list includes the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to provide economic stimulus and relief from the Covid-19 pandemic, the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in November last year, which will send about $27 billion to New York State alone, and the Safer Communities Act, the first major gun control legislation in decades. Schumer also negotiated the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the strongest piece of legislation to tackle climate change to ever pass Congress and one that is bound to assist in New York’s own climate goals. Pinion, like other Republicans, has criticized Schumer, Biden, and Democrats for what they call overspending, and not doing enough to combat inflation.
Schumer also successfully championed the CHIPS & Science legislation, to provide federal semiconductor manufacturing incentives, which facilitated Governor Kathy Hochul’s Green CHIPS program that will create thousands of jobs in the state. (Following those actions, Micron Technology announced it would make a massive investment in New York to build the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the country, creating tens of thousands of jobs.)
Schumer’s reelection ads often focus on his effort to “Save Our Stages,” the major federal funding that he secured to buoy performance venues from Broadway to comedy clubs and beyond.
A Yonkers native, Pinion is the first Black person to be a major party’s Senate nominee in New York. He has been a nonprofit worker, entrepreneur, and television news commentator. Most recently, he hosted his own show, “Saturday Agenda,” on the conservative cable channel Newsmax.
According to his Linkedin profile, after graduating from Colgate University in 2006, he co-founded Fandome.com, a sports video and news platform where he served as director of content acquisition till 2011. In 2013, he became director of youth development at Morris Heights Health Center in the Bronx, working there till 2016. Since then, he has been a national spokesperson for RePublicEN, a right-leaning group that promotes free market ideas to tackle climate change. He has been a board member of the Listen First Project since 2018 and, in 2018, he launched the Pinion Media Group, a digital multimedia company.
Pinion’s campaign website lists no accomplishments, agenda, or priorities. But in an October interview with WENY News, he said that if elected his main focus areas will be improving education, creating a constitutional right to literacy, establishing school choice in law nationwide, reducing disparities in rural health care, and tackling the flow of illegal drugs into the country. He’s run against Schumer with a significant focus on school choice and his support for charter schools, which Democrats often oppose.
Pinion also seemed confident that his challenge has Schumer worried. “The reason we haven't elected a Republican to the United States Senate? It is because we haven't really tried," Pinion told WENY News. “Chuck Schumer is running ads right now in Syracuse, in Utica, in Elmira, all across Chemung. He's not doing it because he just wants to spend money. He's doing it because he recognizes that he has a real fight.”
Debate Differences
At Sunday’s Spectrum News debate, Schumer and Pinion differed on a variety of issues, including the success of Schumer’s record as Senate Majority Leader, the position he has held for nearly two years.
Schumer touted his work leading the Senate and working with a Democratic House majority and president, including bringing massive amounts of federal funding back to New York, “the most important climate change bill ever,” including help for home energy cost-reduction, the bipartisan gun safety legislation, student debt relief he said he pressured President Biden to order, and more.
Pinion took on what he called the Schumer “legend,” saying while the long-time New York senator “an exceptional politician” but not all he’s cracked up to be in terms of delivering for the state. He criticized Schumer over high costs of living and limited economic opportunity, among other issues.
At the debate, Schumer pointed to the covid pandemic as the key driver of supply chain problems and inflation across the globe, and outlined steps that he and the federal government have taken to bring down costs, such as movement on job-creation, capping prescription drug costs, and building renewable energy. Pinion, on the other hand, pointed to the trillions of dollars in federal pandemic-response as a key driver of inflation.
Pinion vowed to protect Social Security and said that if Republicans are to pass further tax cuts, they should focus on the middle class, calling for completely redoing the tax code.
Schumer said Sunday night that if President Biden runs again in 2024 he plans to support him. Pinion, asked about former President Trump running again, sidestepped the question to discuss his signature issue of education.
In their ‘cross-examination round,’ Schumer referenced the racist Buffalo massacre earlier this year and asked Pinion about whether he would join him in supporting an assault weapons ban. Pinion said “no” and focused his answer on removing “illegal guns” from the streets, finding the points where legal guns become illegal guns and crafting solutions.
After mentioning the crises of poverty, crime, and educational failure in New York, Pinion asked Schumer about why he hasn’t prioritized “standing up for New Yorkers.” Schumer discussed measures he has led on to address the issues Pinion mentioned, including, for example, the expanded child tax credit that he said he and many Democrats wanted to make permanent but Republicans were against.
Pinion, who is anti-abortion, has repeatedly called reproductive rights a states issue, indicating he does not think it should be legislated at the federal level in the wake of the Supreme Court overturnng Roe v. Wade. At Sunday’s debate, Pinion repeatedly declined to give his stance on abortion rights, instead calling it “settled law in New York state” and saying “I do not support a national ban.”
Schumer is staunchly pro-choice and hopes to see Democrats retain and grow their House and Senate majorities in order to codify Roe abortion rights into federal law in 2023. “If people don’t want that national ban [on abortion], which would overrule New York’s law, they have to elect Democrats to the Senate because we want to preserve a woman’s right to choose with Roe and all its protections.”
Polling, Money, and the State of the Race
A Siena College poll of 707 likely voters released October 18 had Schumer leading with 57% of the vote compared to Pinion’s 37%. In the poll, 53% gave Schumer a favorable rating, 40% gave him an unfavorable rating while only 7% either didn’t know him or refused to answer either way.
For Pinion, his favorable and unfavorable rating was matched, at just 8%, while 84% did not know him or did not weigh in.
Schumer has raised more than $36 million since January 2020 for his reelection campaign, and has spent about $26.5 million. As of September 30, he had more than $20 million in cash on hand. Seeing little threat to his own chances, Schumer has been funneling funds from those deep coffers into Democratic races across the country to defend the party’s precarious hold on the Senate.
Pinion has raised just under $400,000 for his campaign and has spent nearly all of it. As of September 30, he had just $7,533 left and owed nearly $65,000 in campaign debt.
Pinion defeating Schumer would be nothing short of a miracle in deep blue New York, especially given Schumer's fundraising, name recognition, and popularity. The state hasn’t elected a Republican Senator in 30 years, since Al D'Amato served three terms in office and lost to Schumer in 1998, and no GOP nominee has won any statewide race since 2002 (a streak gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Lee Zeldin appears to have the best chance to break of any Republican nominee this year).
Election Day is November 8; early voting runs October 29-November 6.
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Ben Max contributed to this article.
Sochie Nnaemeka (photo: @MaketheRoadAct)
October 26, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The Working Families Party Works to Keep Its Ballot Line, Win Key Races
Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the New York Working Families Party, joined the show to discuss the WFP's campaign to keep its ballot line, key races it is focused on in the 2022 election, its relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul, and more.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
Letitia James and Michael Henry
Since Attorney General Letitia James dropped her short run for Governor and announced her bid for a second term as New York State’s top legal official, she has spent limited time on the campaign trail. James, a Democrat whose work as attorney general has elevated her to national prominence, has had commanding polling and fundraising leads over her little-known opponent and, in a break from her fellow statewide incumbents, has declined to even debate him.
Her Republican challenger, commercial litigator Michael Henry from Queens, is running as a political outsider on a platform based on fighting street crime, corruption in Albany, and the rising cost of living.
James is seeking four more years based on what she sees as a series of accomplishments including defending the state's gun laws, abortion access, and environmental protections, as well as taking on former President Donald Trump and Governor Andrew Cuomo.
After more than two years of pandemic life and crime increases, typically-secure Democrats, including Governor Kathy Hochul and a host of congressional candidates, are feeling heat from their Republican opponents. While polling in the attorney general race has been limited, there is some indication that it has narrowed as well. The race has proceeded with relatively little public attention for a statewide office even for a contest with an incumbent running.
James has led in fundraising and polling throughout the election cycle against Henry, an unknown name in New York politics who is riding a wave of public dissatisfaction that has made Democrats uneasy. Hochul, James, and other Democratic incumbents have been seeking to shape the narrative around reproductive rights and the health of democracy while responding to anxiety around guns and violence.
The Attorney General is tasked with leading the state Department of Law and the hundreds of lawyers it employs to advise government decisions, defend the state in legal proceedings, and uphold the rights of New Yorkers. The role as the state's attorney involves the day to day protection of individuals as wage-earners, consumers, investors, and philanthropists, and litigation on issues relating to civil rights, public health, and the environment.
James became the first woman to be elected New York Attorney General and first woman of color elected statewide in New York when she won an open race in 2018. She won that election after a term as New York City Public Advocate, when she was the first woman of color to win citywide, and a decade representing part of Brooklyn in the City Council. Running on the Democratic and Working Families lines, James is backed by some of the state's biggest labor unions, civic organizations, and a host of moderate and progressive Democratic elected officials.
Henry owns a New York City-based law firm that deals in creditor bankruptcy and federal Perishable Agricultural Culture Commodities Act claims. He has garnered relatively little institutional support outside of securing the Republican and Conservative Party ballot lines, and endorsements from many Republican officials and law enforcement unions.
As Attorney General, James has used the office to investigate and sue former President Donald Trump, the NRA, and pharmaceutical companies fueling the opioid epidemic, among others. A report her office released last year found then-Governor Andrew Cuomo had serially sexually harassed members of his staff and others and helped lead to his resignation shortly after.
On the campaign trail, James has touted her work to curtail gun proliferation, lawsuits attempting to dissolve the NRA and hold gun companies liable for shootings. She recently sued Trump, his businesses, and members of his family for alleged fraud. While Trump was president, James initiated cases to block a number of his administration’s policies, including attempts to roll back environmental protections, abortion coverage, public benefits for immigrants, and many others. And James sued the NYPD after widespread brutality during racial justice protests in the summer of 2020.
As the state's attorney, James is also working with Hochul to defend new restrictions on concealed gun carry, recent absentee ballot expansions, and other policies.
Many of these cases will become the responsibility of the winner of this year’s election.
"I've spent my career fighting to make life better for New Yorkers," James said in a campaign ad released last week, "whether it's taking down violent gun and drug rings to keep our streets safe, protecting the rights of women, putting money back into our communities, ravaged by opioids, or standing up to corrupt politicians."
Her opponent has criticized her for backing changes to the state's bail law in 2019, which he blames for an increase in crime in recent years. That refrain is common among Republicans and moderate Democrats, including GOP gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin and Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, though there is no evidence linking bail reforms with increases in violent crime.
"You got what you wanted, it failed," Henry said of James' support for 2019 bail changes in an interview Monday on Fox 5 New York.
He also chastised James for not cracking down on pay-to-play politics, particularly involving Governor Kathy Hochul, who has raked in millions of dollars in campaign donations from entities with state business.
"Public corruption needs to be treated like the crime that it is," he said.
James' advantage as an incumbent with name-recognition is heightened in the deep-blue state, where Democrats hold all statewide offices and supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature.
Those dynamics, along with Democrats' significant voter-enrollment advantage, have only strengthened since 2002, the last time a Republican was elected to statewide office.
Through early October, James has raised roughly $10 million and spent $7 million, according to the latest filings, significantly more than the $400,000 Henry raised and $257,000 he's spent.
But recent polling has shown the gulf between Democrats and Republicans narrowing ahead of this election, and Henry, by some accounts, appears to be in the vicinity of striking distance.
A Siena College poll of likely voters in October showed James' lead narrow to 11 points, down from 16 in a September poll.
While Henry himself is not a known quantity, the topics he is campaigning on – crime and rising costs – are among the issues voters are most concerned with, according to recent polls. Meanwhile, both Trump and Cuomo have repeatedly criticized James, attacks that could impact her standing among some voters, even if she retains a strong Democratic base.
"I've been focused on my message discipline, I focus on the issues that are important to the people," he said on Fox. "In addition to crime, corruption and cost of living, in our ethnic communities education is a big issue. So I focus on what transcends party affiliation."
As he’s assailed James and her fellow Democrats, Henry has offered little in the way of policy specifics or ideas for how he would run the Attorney General’s Office differently.
Henry said he would use the office's bully pulpit to advocate the repeal of the 2019 bail reforms and the Less is More Act, a parole reform that limits incarceration for technical violations. He also said he'd introduce program bills in the State Legislature and ally with district attorneys and federal task forces to crack down on crime, without offering details.
The issues discussed on his campaign website are crime, corruption, and the deaths of nursing home residents from COVID-19.
The site lists few details on how he would use the powers of the Attorney General's Office to address his priority issues. His campaign would not provide further details on his crime, government ethics, or economic agenda, nor share information on his positions in any other areas.
"Of course, he has positions," wrote Candice Giove, Henry's campaign spokesperson, in an email response to a Gotham Gazette inquiry.
When asked to elaborate, Giove reiterated one of Henry's other grievances with James: her refusal, so far, to agree to a debate.
"Letitia James doesn't want New Yorkers to see the clear contrast between Michael Henry's vision to focus on New York's crime, corruption and cost-of-living crises and hers, which has been to focus on her own political future," Giove wrote.
Indeed, James is the only statewide official running for reelection this year who has not agreed to a general election debate with their opponent. She has made few media appearances, and declined an interview invitation from Gotham Gazette (Henry's campaign expressed interest in an interview but has yet to schedule one).
Like Hochul and other Democrats, James has appeared to respond to polling with overtures to voters concerned about crime. On Monday, she and Hochul appeared side by side to announce an increase in the use of the state's Red Flag Laws, which had passed under Cuomo but were criticized for being underutilized and strengthened by Hochul and the Legislature this year. The announcement came with a $4.6 million increase in the Attorney General's budget to support state police seeking extreme risk protection orders.
Last week, James indicated bail reform was among a range of issues that should be examined in the next legislative session to address public safety concerns. Standing next to Hochul on Monday, James reiterated that she believes it is appropriate to examine bail reform and all other pieces of the criminal justice system as needed, but clarified her position.
"To be fixated on bail reform without regards to looking at data, I think, is a misstep," she said.
Early voting is from Saturday October 29 to Sunday, November 6. Election Day is November 8.
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by Ethan Geringer-Sameth, reporter, Gotham Gazette
@GeringerSameth @GothamGazette