Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits

August 8, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Queens State Senate Rematch Features Different Kinds of Democrats, with Senator Tony Avella and challenger John Liu

State Senator Tony Avella says he decided to become part of the Independent Democratic Conference, which entered into a power-sharing agreement with Senate Republicans, in order to move his bills and bring resources back to his district. Avella's decision to join the breakaway faction of Democrats led to a primary challenge from former New York City Comptroller John Liu in 2014. Avella won.

Four years later, the negative attention on the IDC, which folded in April of this year to reunite with the much larger mainline Senate Democratic conference, has grown exponentially and Liu was recruited to take on Avella again. All eight members of the IDC are facing spirited primary challenges. Some of the challengers, like Liu, have a better shot than others. Liu, then Avella joined the Max & Murphy show on WBAI radio to discuss their race (they appeared in the second half hour of the show -- Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was the guest in the first half).

Listen to the conversation with the two candidates and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org