Politics
Is Hochul the unlikely hero of Adams’ world indictments?
FRAUDTUITOUS: Gov. Kathy Hochul has spent the last four months beating the auto-insurance affordability drum and fighting the trial lawyers and unconvinced lawmakers who stand in her way.
She’s proposing limiting the ways car crash victims — especially those deemed at fault for the collision — can sue for damages, a move she says will cut the cost of auto insurance. She also wants to target insurance fraud and staged crashes.
It’s been a massive sticking point in negotiations to finish her now-late budget.
“If, God forbid, you are the majority reason that there’s an accident, you will no longer be entitled to pain and suffering,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters Wednesday. “That’s a pretty serious thing for people to accept. I mean, accidents do happen.”
But as Hochul hopes to draw the Assembly and Senate to her side, it just so happens that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York dropped indictments this week targeting a close personal friend of former Mayor Eric Adams and alleging a massive car-crash-victim-fraud scheme.
Perfect! Timing!
“This alleged scheme is exactly the type of fraud Governor Hochul’s auto insurance reforms are designed to curb in New York State,” Hochul spokesperson Kristin Devoe told Playbook in a statement.
Her office is arguing that the scheme might never have happened had Hochul’s proposed changes been in place.
“The Governor’s proposals would strengthen enforcement, allow more time to investigate suspected fraudulent claims and crack down on the networks and providers that make this type of fraud possible in the first place,” Devoe said.
Our colleague Chris Sommerfeldt reported this morning that federal prosecutors dropped a superseding indictment Thursday in their fraud case against Zhan “Johnny” Petrosyants, the man who hobnobbed, dined and clubbed with Adams during his tenure, as Hizzoner tested New York City’s nightlife “product.” The superseder alleged businessmen Vladislav Stoyanovsky and Dmitriy Khavko participated in the scheme as well. All three men pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors claim the men had car crash victims in medical clinics undergo dubious procedures conducted by clinicians who were part of the scheme. The indictment also alleges the men behind the operation billed insurers for procedures that never happened.
Petrosyants, Stoyanovsky and Khavko then allegedly filed no-fault claims to the insurance companies, who, under state law, are required to pay out the claims in just 30 days. The scheme brought in tens of millions of dollars, prosecutors said.
Hochul’s office wants to change that. The governor says she’d give insurers more time to investigate whether a no-fault claim is fraudulent. Right now, if an insurer delays a payout, it can’t defend itself in court by saying it was busy investigating the claim. Insurers would still have to pay interest on delayed payouts. And if someone sues to force a reluctant insurer to pay up, the insurer would have to cover attorneys fees.
The cost of paying out bogus insurance claims is a main factor in the high cost of auto insurance in New York, contends Team Hochul. Last year, insurance carriers reported 43,811 incidents of suspected auto insurance fraud to regulators, an 80 percent jump compared to 2020.
The Trial Lawyers Association says Hochul’s proposals would give insurance companies more time to delay and deny claims.
“Stripping away consumer rights while insurers rake in record profit is a giveaway to the industry that leaves New Yorkers to pick up the tab,” association spokesperson Sabrina Rezzy said in a statement. — Jason Beeferman
From the Capitol
TIGHTENING ALBANY’S BELTWAY: The much-derided I-787 — an asphalt apron familiar to Capital Region drivers who commute downtown to the statehouse — is one step closer to a makeover.
Hochul announced Thursday the state is opening a community outreach center amid an environmental review focused on how to improve waterfront access. I-787 runs parallel to the Hudson River.
“Reimagining the I-787 corridor is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of downtown Albany, so it is imperative that the people who live and work in the area have a major voice in how this project progresses,” Hochul said. — Nick Reisman
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
BLACKBURN’S BONDI PAST: In 2016, years before she became one of the Trump administration’s most prominent and polarizing officials, then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi had a young intern in her office named Conrad Blackburn.
That fact is now being seized on by Blackburn’s critics as he runs for a Harlem-based Assembly seat as a democratic socialist and unabashed enemy of Trump.
“It is unconscionable that Conrad Blackburn chose to work for Pam Bondi at the very moment she was leading the charge to keep more than a million Floridians, including one in five Black adults, permanently locked out of the voting booth,” Uptown Democratic Club President Donna-Marie Gibbons told Playbook, referencing Bondi’s effort to preserve a Florida law that made it difficult for felons to regain voting rights after serving time. “Anyone who signed up to work in that office while she was fighting to preserve this racist, Jim Crow-era machinery has questions to answer about their commitment to our community.”
Trump fired Bondi as his U.S. attorney general Thursday.
Blackburn, who grew up in Florida, said criticism of his stint with the attorney general there says more about his haters than it does about him.
He told Playbook he took the unpaid, two-month internship in Bondi’s criminal appeals bureau while in law school — and the experience drove him to become a public defender, a role he continues to serve in to this day.
“I did not need very long to say that the system was broken and I needed to spend my time working to protect Black folks from it, with actions, not just words,” Blackburn said.
“I am happy to debate my record on its merits,” he continued. “But harkening back to my days as a 1L, as a poor kid trying to work in the criminal appeals bureau of the Florida AG’s office as some kinda gotcha? That is everything wrong with politics now. If the powers that be in this district focused on the issues, they would have to explain the lack of meaningful change in the community…Heck, if the powers that be did their jobs, I may not be running in this race at all.”
Blackburn is facing off in June’s Democratic primary against Assemblymember Jordan Wright, the son of Manhattan Democratic Party head Keith Wright.
New York Focus reported today that Charlie King, a longtime aide to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is launching a super PAC to boost Wright, whose district Mayor Zohran Mamdani comfortably won in last year’s election. — Chris Sommerfeldt
IN OTHER NEWS
— ARRESTS SURGE: ICE arrested more New Yorkers between November and January than in any comparable period since 2022, according to federal data. (Times Union)
— ONE MAN’S TRASH: Reports show that progress in New York’s composting push slowed after officials halted fines and enforcement efforts. (Gothamist)
— BLESS THIS MESS: Competing lobbying groups in Hochul’s car insurance reform fight are clashing over dueling clergy letters and even disputing who actually signed which. (City and State)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
President Donald Trump is asking voters to “pretend” he is on the ballot. That might backfire.
New results from The POLITICO Poll show that Democratic midterm voters are more motivated to oppose the president than Republican voters are to support him. Many Republican voters also aren’t looking for blind loyalty to Trump in the midterms: Half say they’d rather their local candidate aim to win, even if it means speaking out against the president.
It’s not uncommon for voters in the party out of power to be more motivated in a midterm year. But the lopsided findings are an ominous sign for Trump, who has fundamentally reshaped the GOP over the past decade and has once again staked his brand — and political capital — on delivering wins for Republicans in November.
With less than two weeks before the election, the poll suggests Republicans are pragmatic, and care more about preventing a blue wave than standing by Trump. And in a year when voter frustration over high pricesappears poised to play a major role, that distinction could prove consequential.
The poll, conducted by London-based firm PF Global, reveals the extent to which frustration with Trump is driving Democrats: Nearly half of Democratic midterm voters say they will be voting “mainly to oppose President Trump,” compared to just 38% of Republican voters who say they will be voting mainly to show support for Trump.
Instead, a plurality of Republican midterm voters — 48% — say their main motivation when casting a vote is to show support for a local candidate. Only 37% of Democratic voters agree.
“[Trump is] 100% motivating Democrats more than Republicans,” said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist. “That may have been the case regardless, but it’s even more true with words like ‘diesel’ and ‘Iran’ now a part of everyday political discussion.”
Half of Republicans think candidates have a better chance of winning if they align themselves with Trump rather than breaking from him, compared to just 30% who believe candidates would have a better chance of winning if they break away.
But half of Republicans also accept their candidates speaking out against the president if that’s what they need to do to win their own election. That’s compared with 37% who say candidates should remain loyal to the president and support his agenda, even if it means risking a loss.
On top of that, majorities of Republican voters say Trump himself should give candidates some room to break with him on specific policy issues to win elections.
If it helps GOP candidates’ chances of winning, they said, the president should allow for disagreement on the speed of AI development, the cost of living, and whether the war in Iran was a good decision. That holds true for pluralities or even majorities of Trump 2024 voters who self-identify as part of the “MAGA” movement across each policy area, suggesting that even his most loyal voters want the president to let candidates distance themselves if it can help them win.
“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party, and he is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in Congress,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.
RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said “Blue Light News didn’t need to conduct a poll to know that Democrats are motivated by their hatred for President Trump and Republicans.” She added that the GOP is “running on actual accomplishments like cutting taxes and securing the border,” while saying Democrats have made “investigations, obstruction, and impeachment” their campaign platform.
Still, the tension is playing out in real time as Republican candidates locked in competitive races walk a tightrope between maintaining Trump’s support — and that of his MAGA base — without alienating critical moderate and independent voters. They’re especially under pressure as Trump hits the campaign trail in battlegrounds and red states, with several candidates having to quietly make calculations whether it will hurt them politically to appear next to him.
“I think Republicans … are stuck choosing which finger to cut off,” said a national GOP operative, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the midterm landscape. “There is no good answer.”
In Iowa, where voter frustration over some of Trump’s marquee policies, including tariffs and rising costs stemming from the Iran war, has mounted, Republican candidates have sought to create some distance from the president. Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, the party’s Senate nominee, has said the war needs to be “brought to a successful and immediate end.” She also skipped a rally Vice President JD Vance held in the state last month.
Several other GOP candidates have also skipped Trump rallies in their home states, and many have grown increasingly wary of mentioning Trump in ads, including in red states that over the last few months have suddenly started to look competitive. In battleground Georgia, GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson has carefully navigated his relationship with Trump, avoiding public breaks with the president on policy but still limiting direct references to him in campaign ads and on the debate stage.
“I don’t know that Trump coming [to Georgia] helps Republicans more so than it excites Democrats, especially in a wave election year,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County GOP chair who is supporting Jackson.
That leaves Republican candidates in a tricky position: Their voters are willing to accept breaking from Trump if victory is on the line, but voters — and candidates — won’t know what will cost them their race until it’s too late.
“There’s no reason to gratuitously attack the White House and make an enemy,” the national GOP operative said. “But the end game here is to get reelected, and if they have to get reelected, but the president’s annoyed at them for a period of time, they’ll get over it.”
While Republican candidates balance loyalty to Trump with the possibility of breaking away on certain issues, Democratic midterm voters remain highly motivated to vote against Trump’s agenda.
Even Trump’s endorsement of a Republican candidate seems to influence Democrats more than Republicans: Roughly 70% of Democratic midterm voters say his endorsement would make them less likely to support a candidate, compared to 55% of Republican midterm voters who say the endorsement would make them more likely to support a candidate.
“The midterm elections are about anger management and failed expectations,” said North Carolina based GOP strategist Paul Shumaker. “A lot of Republicans and swing voters feel like their expectations have not been met in helping address their economic concerns.”
Alec Hernández and Alisa Vasquez contributed to this story.
Can Angie Nixon prove Democrats can win in Florida?
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Democrats’ top Senate-focused super PAC will report raising $354 million through Oct. 14 — including roughly $88 million in the first two weeks of the month— as Democrats race to seize control of the upper chamber in the election’s closing weeks.
Senate Majority PAC shared their fundraising totals, which are higher than any previous cycle, with Blue Light News ahead of a Federal Election Commission deadline later Thursday. The super PAC had $32.7 million in the bank as of Oct. 14.
“This is already the strongest cycle in Senate Majority PAC’s history, and it’s arriving exactly when it counts,” SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “We’re on the air across the battleground through Election Day, and every dollar is going toward beating price-gouging Republicans and winning back the Senate.”
That’s more than the $306 million SMP raised in the 2024 campaign cycle, according to FEC filings, its previous high.
SMP is still being outraised by the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP’s top Senate super PAC, in large part thanks to billionaire Elon Musk and other Republican megadonors. Musk gave $158 million to SLF in the third quarter, according to its most recent FEC report, and the super PAC in turn sent that money to Texas’ Senate race in order to boost the scandal-plagued GOP nominee Ken Paxton.
As of Sept. 30, SLF had raised more than $423 million for the cycle.
Democrats have been able to offset much of Republicans’ super PAC cash advantage on the airwaves because of stronger candidate fundraising.
But Republicans still have the advantage of a favorable map — and more outside money — as they hope to maintain control of at least one chamber of Congress next month.
- Democrats want Mullin in the hotseat in the next Congress
- John Barrasso to campaign with Ken Paxton
- Capitol agenda: Bennie Thompson warns about Dems’ late bet
- Poll: Trump wants the midterms to be about him. That could backfire.
- Can Angie Nixon prove Democrats can win in Florida?
- Elon Musk pours another $76 million into boosting Republicans
- Senate Democrats’ campaign arm takes out $15M loan
- Democrats’ top Senate super PAC has raised $354M this year
- Biotech investment is the new front in the U.S.-China trade fight
- A final farewell to NYC’s horse carriage industry
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