After helping Democrats win control of New York States government two years ago, progressives envisioned 2020 as the year to expand their foothold in the State Capitol in Albany.
They would use a proven playbook: Progressive groups would recruit liberal-minded newcomers to challenge entrenched Democratic state legislators whom they regarded as too moderate, and who had run unopposed for years.
But just as they were getting their grass-roots campaigns off the ground, the coronavirus descended on New York, dampening efforts to push the State Legislature leftward in the June 23 primary elections.
Because of the virus, in-person campaigning abruptly ground to a halt, stripping progressive challengers of the organizing tactics essential to counter the advantages of incumbency.
I really counted on grass-roots, door-to-door engagement, and thats been disrupted, said Jessica Gonzlez-Rojas, an insurgent candidate vying to topple Assemblyman Michael G. DenDekker, a six-term Democrat from northwestern Queens. And given the reality in our district, and how hard we were hit with the coronavirus, Im not sure peoples head space is on an election right now.
With about 30 Democratic lawmakers facing primary challenges next week, some more serious than others, left-wing groups from the Working Families Party (W.F.P.) to the Democratic Socialists of America (D.S.A.) have focused most of their efforts on a slate of seats in the State Assembly they deem ripe for the taking.
Some of the most viable challenges have unfolded in parts of Brooklyn and Queens that felt the brunt of the pandemic, and where gentrification and demographic shifts have helped fuel notable insurgent candidacies before, like those of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tiffany Cabn, who narrowly lost the Queens district attorney primary last year.
The recent weeks of protests against police brutality have added a new dynamic to the elections; many insurgents are hoping to transform the civil unrest into support from voters upset with the status quo. Lawmakers have quickly altered their campaigns to include references to their records on criminal justice, while challengers are calling out incumbents who have received campaign contributions from police unions.
The pandemic is expected to depress in-person turnout at polling sites on Tuesday: More than 625,600 voters in New York City have requested ballots to vote by mail, giving well-run campaigns the opportunity to specifically target that pool of voters.
That should benefit incumbents, but it is not a clear-cut advantage: In Pennsylvania, insurgents defeated six Democratic state legislators in the June 2 primary.
But successful insurgent campaigns, like those that helped Democrats regain full control of the State Senate in 2018, have tended to rely on a robust ground game of volunteers and canvassers, impossible to replicate in the era of social distancing.
In early March, candidates were in the throes of collecting signatures to get on the ballot when they were suddenly forced to recall volunteers from the field.
The new reality vexed challengers like Ms. Gonzlez-Rojas, 44, whose bid as a Latina community organizer to unseat a longtime white and male incumbent in an increasingly diverse part of Queens has drawn comparisons to Ms. Ocasio-Cortezs candidacy. She even has her own three-letter nickname, J.G.R.
With handshaking and in-person fund-raisers no longer options, Ms. Gonzalez-Rojas and other insurgents were forced to repurpose their campaigns. Virtual town halls and fund-raisers were held over Zoom. They shifted to digital media and set up phone-bank operations.
Its about reminding people that there is a very safe way to vote this year, Ms. Gonzlez-Rojas said, referring to the states expansion of absentee ballot voting. I really want to bring in voters who feel apathetic. This is a community that is 60 percent Latinx and weve never had anyone that understands the Latinx experience.
In a statement, Mr. DenDekker singled out his support for the so-called green light law passed last year, which allows undocumented people to apply for drivers licenses. I am proud of my record of standing up for my immigrant neighbors and people of color, he said.
Three other candidates are on the ballot against Mr. DenDekker, increasing the chances of a fractured vote that will presumably benefit the incumbent. But Ms. Gonzlez-Rojas, who received the W.F.P. endorsement, has raised over $150,000, more than the three other challengers, and not far behind Mr. DenDekkers $195,000 haul.
Still, there are limits to connecting with potential voters through digital means: Poorer and marginalized communities may be harder to reach. And it can often be more expensive than relying on an army of volunteers to knock on doors.
Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist taking on Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas in Astoria, facing her first primary challenge since she assumed office in 2011, said his campaign has had to pay 5 cents for every phone call and $1 per click for Facebook ads.
You plan for the world that you have seen, and then youre given an entirely different one, said Mr. Mamdani, a foreclosure-prevention housing counselor from Uganda, noting a $12,000 investment on a campaign office he has barely used because of the pandemic. Im proud of how weve adapted, but the only way you can now contact voters, it comes with costs.
Mr. Mamdani was among the first legislative challengers in New York to use the growing anti-police sentiment as a cudgel against his opponent: A day after his campaign highlighted thousands of dollars that Ms. Simotas had received in contributions from police-affiliated groups, she said she would donate the money to charity. Ms. Simotas, however, said that she had made the decision after learning that police had pepper-sprayed two fellow lawmakers.
Ms. Simotas previously ran on the W.F.P. line, but the party did not make an endorsement in the race this year. She has spent more than $250,000 so far, more than her opponent, and said that her campaign has made over 182,000 phone calls to voters. But Mr. Mamdani has received 3,670 more individual contributions in the past eight months than she has in 10 years, according to his campaign.
Though she is being challenged by a democratic socialist, Ms. Simotas has a progressive record around issues of sexual violence, health care and criminal justice, and a platform that in many ways is not that different from Mr. Mamdanis.
Ive worked incredibly hard in Albany to pass progressive legislation that actually makes a difference in peoples lives, Ms. Simotas said.
Senator Julia Salazar, a progressive lawmaker who took office in 2018, has endorsed Mr. Mamdani and two other challengers. But most of her colleagues in Albany have avoided endorsing like-minded progressives taking on establishment legislators.
There are other races that do not fit the perfect mold of left-wing insurgent versus moderate incumbent, exposing rifts within the progressive movement.
Updated June 16, 2020
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who dont typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the countrys largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was very rare, but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you arent being told to stay at home, its still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people dont need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks dont replace hand washing and social distancing.
If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
In Brooklyns 57th District, Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley was backed by the W.F.P., but is being challenged by Phara Souffrant Forrest, a nurse and tenant activist who has received endorsements from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Salazar and the D.S.A.
Another W.F.P.-backed incumbent facing a primary challenge is Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, 77, who has represented a section of northern Brooklyn that includes Greenpoint and Williamsburg since 1973.
Keeping the same person in office for that long is just to keep certain groups comfortable and veer away from dialogue and talking about power, said his challenger, Emily Gallagher, a self-proclaimed socialist who was endorsed by Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout, former candidates for governor.
Mr. Lentol has spent $342,000 on the race, more than any other member of the Assembly facing a primary. A good politician should run scared, said Mr. Lentol, whose father and grandfather were also assemblymen.
His constituents have been flooded with campaign mailers that tout his support of criminal justice reforms and emphasize that he is a progressive Democrat. An independent expenditure committee, New Yorkers for Independent Work, backed by gig companies like Lyft, has also spent money on mailers to get Mr. Lentol re-elected, as the companies push back on proposals in Albany that would expand employment benefits to gig workers.
When the outbreak began in New York, many incumbents stopped campaigning and relied on the power of their office to help constituents and potential voters affected by the virus.
But many upstart candidates also changed tack: They transformed their campaign structures into so-called mutual aid networks, a community-organizing tool harnessed to help neighbors hit by the virus with medication, grocery runs and social services.
I knew thered be a massive amount of demand and assistance needed, said Katherine Walsh, an urban planner running against Assemblyman Flix W. Ortiz, a 25-year incumbent in Brooklyn. Our calls to our neighbors became check-in calls.
Ms. Walsh said the pandemic dampened her fund-raising efforts, but she still managed to raise over $115,000, more than Mr. Ortiz, who she noted had not received a single donation from people in his district, which includes Sunset Park.
Mr. Ortiz said he didnt ask for contributions from people in his community because they were suffering through the pandemic. Instead, he said, he has focused his efforts on helping hospitals procure ventilators and constituents receive unemployment benefits.
My contributions come from friends that dont have business with the state and the city, said Mr. Ortiz, the assistant speaker of the Assembly. I have a lot of friends. I call them and they help me out. I never pay attention to what other people are saying. I just tell people to look at my record.
Last year, the F.B.I. arrested Mr. Ortizs chief of staff, who was accused of stealing $80,000 in cash from a campaign account. The arrest opened Mr. Ortiz to criticism, and to two other primary challengers, Genesis Aquino and Marcela Mitaynes, a housing activist who has racked up endorsements from the D.S.A., the W.F.P. and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.
Mr. Ortiz and Ms. Walsh have raised more money than Ms. Mitaynes, but she leads the field in small-dollar donors.
I refuse all money from real estate developers, corporations and police unions, Ms. Mitaynes, who is originally from Peru, said in a statement. I am a tenant organizer and former undocumented immigrant who is running for Assembly to be a voice for working class people in Albany.
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Will the Pandemic Slow New Yorks Progressive Momentum? - The New York Times