Politics
Democrats look to ride anti-Musk sentiment to victory in Virginia next
Democrats are making Elon Musk their top political target in Virginia, hammering the tech billionaire in a new campaign blitz in the systems’ off year elections.
The message channels the anti-Musk playbook Democrats used successfully in Wisconsin last week, where the Democratic-aligned candidate defeated Musk’s choice for the state Supreme Court by a nearly 10 percentage point margin.
Building on its victory in Wisconsin, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is announcing aseven-figure investment in Virginia House of Delegates races, first obtained by Blue Light News. The DLCC also rolled out its initial list of “spotlight candidates,” a group of four Democrats in closely divided districts who will now get increased fundraising and visibility from the national group.
Democrats believe they have an even stronger argument against President Donald Trump and Musk’s government-slicing Department of Government Efficiency in Virginia, where the state economy depends heavily on the business of Washington and thousands of federal workers are facing layoffs.
“This is where DOGE is on display,” said DLCC President Heather Williams. “Virginia is sort of an epicenter for the DOGE destruction and its impact on workers and communities.”
The state has historically been a strong bellwether for the midterms, and Democrats believe that the map for them has significantly widened less than three months into Trump’s second term — a reflection of how theparty views battlegrounds across the country in the days after Musk’s involvement with the Wisconsin race backfired for the GOP.
Democratic campaign leaders now see deep-red Virginia districts that Trump won by double digits as within reach. Democrats say recruitment has exploded in the last several weeks, with candidates filing in a record 97 out of 100 districts.
The investment builds on $350,000 the DLCC has already given to the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, which has been running anti-Musk ads since late February and intends to keep targeting Republican candidates for supporting the Trump administration. The caucus has spent five figures on negative ads spotlighting the tech billionaire in 12 districts with GOP incumbents — and plans to ratchet them up as the election approaches.
“Between now and November, there will be lots of ads featuring Musk as he takes a chainsaw to our economy and our democracy, and the Republicans who are too terrified to stand up to him and Trump” said state Del. Dan Helmer, the Democratic campaign chair for the Virginia House of Delegates.
Musk, who Trump has said will step away from his role as a special government employee in the coming months, has indicated he intends to invest heavily to promote Republicans in the Virginia and New Jersey elections, along with the midterms, and the party may have a hard time turning it down.
“If somebody came up to me with a 10 million check from Elon Musk, I would be very, very hard pressed to say no,” said one veteran Virginia Republican operative, granted anonymity to speak freely. “Toxic money can buy a lot of TV ads.”
Democrats hold a razor-thin one-seat majority in the state House. They hope to build on that majority and deliver the party a trifecta by winning back the governorship, with presumptive Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger facing likely GOP contender Winsome Earle-Sears. The gubernatorial matchup is expected to be close, and the fight for state House control could be another nail-biter: Democrats returned to power in 2023 thanks to just 975 votes.
But Virginia Democrats are taking a spree of special election wins — including in January, when a pair of Democrats outperformed in Northern Virginia — as a sign that voters across the political spectrum disagree with the direction of the country under Trump. Democratic campaigns intend to make Musk and the ax he has taken to government jobs central to their argument against the Trump administration. They plan to link what they are calling an agenda of chaos and carelessness toward the middle class to Virginia Republicans.
“The MAGA brand is a dying brand, but they just don’t know it yet,” said House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat. “And so we’re going to help send that message in Virginia.”
Democrats have set their sights on ousting vulnerable Republicans in the suburbs of Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads to rural areas around Blacksburg. “We see all as part of the map now, as the impact of Musk’s evisceration of the federal government workforce becomes clear.”
In one mostly rural district encompassing Petersburg, Democratic candidate Kimberly Pope Adams is facing off against Republican incumbent Kim Taylor for the second time since losing to her in 2023 by just 53 votes. Adams said that in her conversations with both Democrats and Republicans, those voters are worried about potential cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare — and many are unhappy about Musk’s influence over the federal government.
“I’m hearing anger because people didn’t vote for Elon Musk, yet he seems to have such decision-making power, and it’s really upsetting to the voters in my district,” Adams said.
Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson took a swipe at the savings habits of millennials as she fielded a question Wednesday about Social Security during a Senate campaign debate.
Hinson, the Republican candidate facing off against Democrat state Rep. Josh Turek, was asked about ensuring the solvency of Social Security when she raised the broader prospect of savings by millennials, the demographic consisting of people born from 1981-1996.
She said the country needed to have a “serious conversation” about “how young people are saving money,” as part of the discussion about the future of Social Security.
“We also need to be talking about millennials saving money,” she later added. “Millennials are the worst group of savers in the country right now and have the least amount of savings. So those are ways where I think we can help have a bigger conversation around saving in general, planning for retirement, and making sure we’re all able to experience a robust retirement.”
Hinson faces a tough race in Iowa against Turek amid a difficult political environment for Republicans. Voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances, and they support Social Security while being concerned about the program’s future.
Hinson said she would not support cutting benefits and suggested creating a bipartisan commission to present suggestions to Congress to save the program. When pushed on her statement that “all options should be on the table,” she turned her attention to young people.
“I think my dad and I had this discussion when I was in sixth grade, looking at a ledger book and trying to figure out, hey, how are we going to make sure you’re set up for your life?” she said. “So we need to be having a conversation simultaneously to all solutions on the table, to make sure that it can stay solvent, while we’re also talking about, how do we get more young people to save?”
Hinson’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
Turek, when asked about Social Security, said he supports removing the payroll tax cap.
“The best way we can keep this solvent is by taking off the cap,” Turek said. “Let’s make sure that billionaires and large corporations are paying their fair share. That will move the needle in a very serious way to keep Social Security solvent.”
Hinson disagreed. “The only thing I’m hearing from him is that the only solution to everything is to raise taxes,” she said.
MO’ MONEY: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has received dozens of contributions surpassing the legal limit in recent months.
Blakeman has yet to refund roughly $360,000 to donors who have given to him above the cap, as POLITICO first reported on Monday. Gubernatorial candidates are allowed to raise $9,000 from individuals for each election — so $18,000 if they have both a primary and a general. Blakeman dodged a June election, so he’s required to give back any money he’s raised above $9,000.
Many of the excess contributions came early in the election cycle. Knicks owner James Dolan, for example, gave $18,000 on Jan. 20, before it was known whether there would be a primary.
But there have been at least 40 donations above the $9,000 limit that have come in since the Board of Elections certified the primary ballot on May 13, according to Blakeman’s disclosure reports.
Many of those came well past the primary. An Eric Sternberg who used a Nassau County PO Box, for example, gave Blakeman $15,000 in the spring. A donor with the same name who used a nearby home address gave $18,000 on Aug. 19; three more $5,000 checks from those Eric Sternbergs were reported on Sept. 10.
In addition to those 40 donations, there are several individuals who have gone over the limit by making multiple contributions. Former Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth, for example, gave $5,205.08 on May 22, then the same amount on July 31, bringing her total to $10,410.16 for the election cycle.
The unusual figure appears to arise from another way the Blakeman campaign is going past the $9,000 cap. His donation page asks people to make a supplemental contribution to cover processing fees — so somebody giving $5,000 gets a request to give an additional $205.08.
Attempting to donate $9,000 brings forth a suggested donation of $9,369.14. That exact amount has been given 22 times, including by Nassau resident — and one-time Trump administration official — Anthony Scaramucci.
“Anyone who looks at campaign finance filings will see every campaign eating the cost for processing fees,” Democratic campaign finance lawyer Ben Kallos said. “I admire the creativity of trying to have donors eat those costs, but you can’t go over the limit.”
Blue Light News asked the Blakeman campaign about the refunds it owes on Monday. It replied on Tuesday without addressing the issue.
“So many New Yorkers opened their wallets to support Bruce Blakeman that the state’s antiquated campaign finance system couldn’t keep up,” spokesperson Madison Spanodemos said. “The Board of Elections required the campaign to split its most recent finance report into multiple files since it included so much data, causing some contributions to appear multiple times.”
The Public Campaign Finance Board said it’s not to blame.
“Mr. Blakeman’s campaign is the only filer that experienced this issue,” Democratic co-director Brian Keegan said. “This is a user error, not a system error.”
Spanodemos did not respond to questions about the large donations or what the committee’s actual war chest is. If every potential duplicate is removed from Blakeman’s filing, his contribution total would fall by $292,000. That would lower his balance to a $114,000 deficit, even before accounting for the $360,000 in refunds he owes.
A shift like that wouldn’t be unprecedented. Blakeman’s previous report, submitted on July 15, showed he had $4.7 million in the bank. An amended version submitted on July 22 changed his balance to $6.1 million. Yet another amendment on Aug. 13 said that his war chest in mid-July had actually been $4.3 million.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has recently received a handful of contributions over the limit as well. But as has been the norm for gubernatorial candidates, her committee has returned surpluses: The New York State Council of Machinists, for example, gave $10,000 on Sept. 15 and got $1,000 back on Sept. 28.
Hochul’s campaign has started to make Blakeman’s campaign finance foibles an issue in recent weeks.
“It’s against the law,” state Democratic Committee Chair Jay Jacobs said of the Republican’s large contributions. “He’s desperate for money, and desperate people do desperate things. And I think to him, it’s more important he try to get elected than comply with the law.” — Bill Mahoney
ONE WEEK AWAY: Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is pursuing a bold agenda to tame the city’s affordability crisis — making New York City a testing ground for progressives across the country. Join Blue Light News’s New York Outlook: Affordability, Industry & The Economy in NYC on Oct. 14 for live conversations about the business and policy decisions being made today that will shape the city’s economic future. The lineup includes NYC Comptroller Mark Levine, New York City Economic Development Corp. CEO Anthony Shorris, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Partnership for NYC CEO Steven Fulop, Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein, Charles H. Revson Foundation President Maria Torres-Springer, and more. Register now to attend in person or watch the livestream.
FROM CITY HALL
MAMDANI’S OCT. 7 MESSAGE: Mamdani marked the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack by condemning the “horrific war crimes” that took place in Israel that day — and then proceeded to blast the American ally for the military campaign it launched in response.
“On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss,” he said in a written statement this morning.
He then pivoted: “The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children … Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them — all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.”
Mamdani’s missive — which he also posted on X, where it had garnered nearly 11 million views as of early this afternoon — was consistent with how he has for years messaged regarding the events on and after Oct. 7. What’s remarkable is that he did it as mayor on a somber day — the kind of occasion for which elected officials typically deploy restraint. Today marked his first time commemorating the anniversary as mayor of New York City, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel, swaths of which believe Mamdani has fomented antisemitism by accusing the country of commiting a genocide in Gaza, a charge Israeli leaders vehemently deny.
Backlash to the mayor’s statement was swift.
“It is like turning September 11 into a day of mourning for al-Qaeda terrorists,” Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on X in response to Mamdani’s comments. “We will not let this happen. We will remember those who were murdered, and we will never forget who was behind this massacre.”
Rep. Dan Goldman, a fellow Democrat, called it a “reprehensible statement.”
“In the guise of ‘grieving’ with those mourning that day, Mayor Mamdani asserts as fact hotly disputed allegations that he knows full well will offend and further upset those same people he pretends to grieve with,” Goldman wrote on X. “On this day of all days, the Mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel embraces extreme activism instead of balanced leadership.”
A spokesperson for Mamdani declined to respond to such criticisms. The mayor is scheduled to attend an Oct. 7 remembrance vigil this evening.
Hochul commemorated the anniversary by ordering the Israeli flag be hoisted on top of the Capitol in Albany. She also ordered that flags be flown at half mast at all state government buildings across New York.
“It’s hard to fathom that it has been three years since the October 7 Hamas massacre. Three years since the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” the governor said in a statement. “The pain of that dark day has not faded. But neither has the strength, resilience and enduring hope of the Jewish people.” — Chris Sommerfeldt
From the Capitol
FEDERAL TAX CREDIT UNDER FIRE: New York’s legislative leaders are urging Hochul to reject a GOP-backed federal tax credit scholarship program, setting up a potential clash over the hot-button issue.
The Treasury Department released a pair of rules for the initiative — which was included in President Trump’s sweeping 2025 tax-and-spending package — last week. The program would give donors to nonprofits that support educational expenses a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 annually. Married taxpayers filing jointly could receive a credit of up to $3,400.
In a statement Wednesday, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said the regulations would undercut the state’s ability to establish “meaningful guardrails,” leaving New York with little control over which schools and expenses qualify or how the funding is used. She also said it would allow the money to potentially flow to schools outside the state.
“I am apprehensive about this federal proposal and have serious reservations about the potential impact it could have on public schools across New York State,” Stewart-Cousins said. “New York should not opt in to this program.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie also said Tuesday that his chamber will prioritize ensuring public schools are fully funded.
“Public dollars should support public schools that serve all children and are accountable to the taxpayers who fund them,” Heastie said in a statement. “New York should opt out of the federal voucher program and continue investing in the public schools that educate the overwhelming majority of our children.”
The city’s and state’s teachers unions, with which the Legislature is closely aligned, have also urged Hochul to reject the program.
Spokespeople for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the opposition of legislative leaders.
But Hochul has signaled support for the scholarship program.
Ahead of the release of the regulations, her office said the credits could expand educational opportunities for public and private school students statewide “without diverting resources from public schools or state and local budgets.” The governor’s team also said public schools could benefit from the program. — Madina Touré
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
TAKING THE STAGE: A debate is on the books in the battleground race between Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi and his Republican challenger, former Assemblymember Mike LiPetri.
The debate, hosted by News 12, will air on Oct. 20. The station said that’s the only Long Island congressional debate it’s hosting after Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen and Chris Gallant, Republican Rep. Nick LaLota’s Democratic challenger, declined News 12’s invite for their respective races. Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino’s campaign did not respond to its invite, the station said.
Suozzi defeated LiPetri by 4 points in 2024. National Republicans are pouring millions into the seat in the final stretch of the race with the hope of flipping it this year. — Madison Fernandez
POLL POSITION: Hochul leads Republican foe Bruce Blakeman by 11 points in a Marist University survey released this morning.
Hochul, seeking a second full term, draws 53% in the poll; Blakeman stands at 42%. Voters by a 55% to 42% margin plan to support the Democratic congressional candidate, the survey found.
The poll of 1,361 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. It has a 3.6 percentage point margin of error. — Nick Reisman
IN OTHER NEWS
— GROCERY BRANDING: Branding for Mamdani’s signature city-run grocery stores will be handled by the same Brooklyn design firm behind trendy products like Graza olive oil and Yellowbird hot sauce. (New York Magazine)
— GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE: New York City plans to spend nearly $9 million on local organizations providing gender-affirming care to minors, after two major hospital systems in the city struck deals with the Trump administration to stop providing such care. (Gothamist)
— MAKE POLITICS SEXY AGAIN: Long Island Democratic congressional candidate Chris Gallant is leaning into sexiness, after the New York Post revealed last month he had appeared in bondage photos more than a decade ago. (The New York Times)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers called for an end to the “tariff war” with Canada in a new campaign advertisement released on Wednesday, another break from the Trump administration weeks before the midterm elections.
Rogers’ ad comes as Republican campaign groups across the country have entered triage mode in an effort to salvage GOP control in an unfavorable political environment.
“Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now,” Rogers said in the advertisement, which is part of a coordinated spend between his campaign at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
He added, “as Michigan’s senator, I’ll bring both parties together to lower your prices.”
Each year, Michigan does roughly $80 billion in trade with Canada, according to the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
The new video comes weeks after he put out another advertisement breaking with President Donald Trump, publicly calling for the war with Iran to end “quickly.”
In both commercials, Rogers said that prices are too high and neither mentioned the president by name.
The latest ad is a shift from his previous positioning on trade with Canada.
Last month, Rogers said that some of the tariffs imposed on Canadian goods are needed, as the state’s manufacturing sector has been gutted by cheap foreign imports in the past.
“President Trump is right to put America first — and tariffs are necessary, but are not a one-size-fits-all solution,” Rogers previously said in a press release.
But, he also said he has the pull to end the trade war threatening Michigan.
The White House, along with Rogers’ and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaigns, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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