31 Oct The Big Apple and Mini Apple, Plus Others
In Minnesota, we have mayoral and school board races on our ballots, including hotly contested races in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The election getting the most attention nationally, however, is the mayoral race in New York City, with considerable ink also being spilled (figuratively) on the open governorships in the states of New Jersey and Virginia.
To discuss the mayoral races this week, the Extremely Non-Extreme podcast was honored to have guests from New York and Minneapolis. Mike Conway, a New York lawyer, and Liam Conway, a student who has been directly involved in the mayor race there, provided great insights from the Big Apple. David Brauer, a veteran Minneapolis-based journalist and writer, did the same for the “Mini-Apple.”
Click here to watch the video or listen (39 minutes). Some highlights are described below.
New York City
Current New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, was being prosecuted for corruption until the charges were dropped in February. Voters were not as forgiving, however, and, after failing to gain traction in his re-election efforts, Adams switched to run as an independent and then dropped out of the race entirely a month ago.
That leaves this cast of characters: Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa.
After winning the Democratic primary handily, Mamdani is receiving the most attention, by far. He is 34, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America party, and is proposing to “tax the rich” to enable everyone else to have cheaper (or free) groceries, buses, child care, and rent.
It will be fascinating to see whether Mr. Mamdani, a sitting state legislator, can defeat scandal-plagued but Trump-supported Andrew Cuomo, a former Democratic governor of New York State (whose father also was governor), and, if so, by how much. As you will hear on the podcast, my guests in New York believe Mamdani will win comfortably, in part because Republican Curtis Sliwa, 71 and a long-time candidate, also is on the ballot and will split the anti-Mamdani vote with former Governor Cuomo.
Minneapolis
Like New York, Minneapolis is a deeply blue city. Omar Fateh, who, like Mr. Mamdani, is a young state legislator from the Democratic Socialists of America party, is running against a more traditional, establishment Democrat, two-term incumbent Jacob Frey. Many other candidates also are running.
Further, like the New York contest, the mayoral race in Minneapolis will have a broader impact. People around the country are watching these contests, in part because candidates running in next year’s 2026 midterms already are drawing attention to it. Republicans in particular are eager to cast all Democratic politicians as socialists – President Trump says “communists” – while traditional Democrats are warning that their own party is moving too far left to win in statewide elections or in more purplish areas.
Elsewhere
Only New Jersey and Virginia are holding state-wide elections on Tuesday, and current governors are ineligible to run in either, due to term limits. The race to become the new governor in New Jersey is hotly contested, with Democrat Mikie Sherril facing off against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. In some ways the race is a referendum on President Trump, who lost New Jersey by six points in 2024, compared with his 16-point loss there in 2020. Mr. Ciattarelli, a businessman and former state legislator, is embracing the Trump presidency, while Ms. Sherril, a current congresswoman with a military and prosecutorial background, is bashing the administration.
In the Virginia gubernatorial race, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is running against Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and fourth-term Democratic member of congress who is running as a centrist. Ms. Spanberger has one advantage, in that whichever party does not occupy the White House has won nine of the last ten governorships in Virginia. But it will be interesting to see whether Ms. Spanberger is hurt by her party’s candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, who won’t withdraw even though it has come to light that he texted he would “put two bullets in the head” of the Republican then-speaker of the state house. Ms. Earle-Sears is the current lieutenant governor and a marine corps veteran. President Trump has not endorsed her.
There also is one U.S. House race on the ballot for Tuesday, in Texas. There, an open seat will be filled by special election following the death of an incumbent Democrat. More than a dozen candidates are on the ballot.
Listen to more pre-election analysis on Episode 13 of the Extremely-Non-Extreme podcast, which, again, you can view by clicking here.
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Look for our periodic posts, as this blog and the Extremely Non-Extreme podcast explore and promote the ideas of principles and non-extremism in politics.
Principle Based Politics does not endorse or support any particular political candidate or party.
DKnight
Posted at 03:02h, 02 NovemberI typically don’t comment about your live podcasts–and your readers may be getting tired of me. But, I turned down the volume on the football/baseball games on TV–and listened to your podcast about elections in Mpls and NYC–and socialists–and I cannot contain myself. I must send this post–and have an adult beverage. What planet are these folks on? Mostly liberal white folks, upper income, living in relative peace and prosperity in upper income neighborhoods-advocating socialism. Where has socialism worked? Cuba/China/Venezuela/Russia/North Korea/Iran/Soviet Union/East Germany/Nazi Germany/Former Soviet bloc countries….?? Well..?? And yes–socialism is on the continuum to communism. You either get a cratered enconomy and despair–or a dictatorship–or both. These clueless people talk about “affordability”–sure–and what does that mean? Current administrations in France, Britain, and Germany are all struggling with this wrong approach–and they are not even completely socialist. My heavens–read a history book. Utopia will not break out from socialism–instead–it will be the exact opposite. We are competitive creatures. Giant collectivist government is against human nature, limits freedom, stops achievement and entrepreneurship–it is very bad–which is why dictators must enforce such dangerous nonsense. Lenin was a dictator–and then Stalin–and now Xi in China. Beware the smiling fakes–Mamdami/Newsom et al. Marxism/socialism/communism requires societal unrest–and astonishingly unwise elites–in order to take shape. Lord help us if people don’t get this right. These are the same lost “moderates” that have made our local congressional district blue. I am the canary in the coal mine–and I am correct.
Quentin
Posted at 04:10h, 02 NovemberI assume you are talking about the NY and Minneapolis candidates and the people who will vote for them, not my guests. The guests seemed to be reporting on what is happening in those cities, rather than advocating.