Gov. Hochul, Reps. Maloney & Ryan (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

Forecasters like the Cook Political Report and FiveThirtyEight predicted the Republican Party would win the House of Representatives in the midterm election, but it was a surprise the GOP only eked out a tiny 222-213 margin, a mirror image of the Democrats’ current majority.

It was especially galling for New Yorkers to lose four Democratic seats right here. There’s already copious commentary about the midterms, so my focus here is the

Congressman-elect Dan Goldman (photo: Goldman campaign)

December 21, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Rep.-Elect Dan Goldman on Priorities for Entering Congress

Congressman-elect Dan Goldman (D, NY-10) joined the show to discuss his transition period and priorities for his first term in Congress as he prepares to join the House of Representatives in January, becoming part of the narrow Democratic House minority under Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn. Goldman will represent the new 10th congressional district of New York, including Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

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Lester Chang, left (photo: Chang campaign website)

Though Democrats maintained supermajorities in the State Senate and Assembly after the midterm elections, they lost ground in several communities across the state and ceded several seats to the Republican Party in the State Legislature and in Congress.

One of the most notable Republican flips came in Assembly District 49, an Asian-majority district in Southern Brooklyn which covers parts of Bay Ridge and Borough Park and much of Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. There, 36-year Democratic incumbent Peter Abbate Jr. narrowly lost to Republican Lester Chang,

Gov. Hochul & Mayor Adams (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

Over the past month, New York Democrats have been grappling with the outcome of a midterm election with devastating implications—both on a local and national level. 

Despite Republicans falling short of expectations across the country, New York Democrats saw four Congressional seats and seven state legislative seats flipped by the GOP. Not to mention closer than expected races for statewide offices. 

None of this was inevitable. In fact, Democrats in far more competitive and divided states fared much

Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato (far left, photo: @Stacey23AD)

Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, a Queens Democrat, is leading by just one vote over her Republican opponent, Thomas Sullivan, after a manual recount for the District 23 election concluded on Wednesday. But, the race is still not over as a court battle for nearly 100 additional ballots remains to be decided.

On election night, Amato trailed Sullivan by 246 votes in an election with more than 32,000 ballots cast, a close enough margin to trigger an automatic hand recount. More than 1,000 absentee and affidavit ballots remained uncounted at the

Assemblymember Ron Kim (photo: @rontkim)

November 30, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Ron Kim on How Democrats Can Win Back Asian Voters

Queens Assemblymember Ron Kim, fresh off a narrow reelection win, joined the show to discuss how Democrats can win back Asian voters who have been moving toward Republicans in recent election cycles, what's wrong with the Democratic Party in New York, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded

A rally for Iwen Chu, center (photo: @Iwen4NY)

This month, Iwen Chu became the first Asian-American woman elected to the New York State Senate, clinching an unexpectedly tight victory over Republican Vito LaBella. Starting in January, Chu will represent the 17th Senate District, a newly-created Asian-plurality district in Southern Brooklyn, redrawn in the recent redistricting process based on demographic trends in the 2020 Census, which saw Asian Americans as the fastest growing group in New York in the last ten years.

Chu’s victory was hard fought, with a margin of just 215 votes as of November 21, and

A pre-election Democratic rally (photo: @nydems)

November 17, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: After a Disappointing Election, What's Next for New York Democrats

L. Joy Williams, a Democratic strategist, president of the Brooklyn NAACP, and host of Sunday Civics, joined the show to break down the 2022 election results and discuss what's next for the New York State Democratic Party and Brooklyn Democratic Party, Gov. Kathy Hochul, bridging divides among Democrats' progressive and establishment wings, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you

Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders, 2013 (photo: Governor's Office)

Democrats in New York are stinging from a rough 2022 election showing in which they lost several congressional seats to Republicans, potentially costing the party control of the U.S. House of Representatives. As they assign blame, many have pointed to a tumultuous redistricting precipitated by a broken state process, state legislative leaders who overreached in trying to draw overly partisan lines, a Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of Republicans, and former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose

Gov. Hochul (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

Kathy Hochul made history last week, becoming the first woman to be elected governor of New York. Hochul, a Democrat who took over in August 2021 after Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace, will now serve a full four-year term with the opportunity to more fully craft her agenda. But she already has a lengthy set of priorities either in motion or that she has promised to pursue, and there is more that others expect her to address, whether they voted for or against her. 

Though Hochul had a far more extensive campaign platform than

Rep. Pat Ryan with Gov. Hochul (photo: Ryan Campaign)

November 13, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: A Winning Formula for Democrats in Tough New York Races

Chris Walsh, campaign manager for Pat Ryan's two Hudson Valley congressional wins this year and Brad Lander's 2021 NYC Comptroller win, joined the show to discuss how campaigns work, how to win tough races, Democratic messaging, the specifics of Ryan's wins, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through

Gov. Hochul with fellow women in office, advocacy (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

November 11, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Gender and New York's 2022 Elections

Alexis Grenell, a Democratic strategist, co-founder of Pythia Public, and writer on politics and gender, joined the show to discuss Kathy Hochul's win as the first woman elected Governor of New York, messaging and gender in the campaign, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the

Gov. Hochul votes (photo: @KathyHochul)

Approximately 5.7 million New Yorkers across the state cast ballots in one of the closest races for governor in over two decades, according to unofficial 2022 election data. Some votes, especially final absentee ballots, are still being counted.

That amounts to roughly 43% of New York's 13.1 million registered voters, a lower turnout than in the 2018 gubernatorial election, when a surge of electoral enthusiasm driven by opposition to the Trump presidency and other factors pushed turnout to 48%.

In 2018, Democrats cruised to victories in

Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins & Deputy Leader Gianaris (photo: NYS Senate Photography)

New York Democrats are poised to retain a comfortable majority in the State Senate but could lose the supermajority they have held since the 2020 elections.

Senate Democrats headed into the general election with 42 members in the 63-seat legislative chamber, and needed to hold on to that number to keep their supermajority. Republicans held 20 seats, while one that was most recently held by a Democrat was vacant.

On Wednesday, with most votes tallied, Democrats were victorious in at least 40

Gov. Kathy Hochul & Basil Smikle Jr. (photo: @BasilSmiklePhD)

November 9, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down the 2022 New York Election Results, with Basil Smikle

Dr. Basil Smikle Jr., former Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party and currently a professor at Hunter College, joined the show to break down the results of New York's 2022 general election.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or

Tom DiNapoli, Letitia James, and Chuck Schumer

Beyond the top of the ticket governor's race that has gotten most of the attention, Democrats running for New York's other statewide offices on the ballot also prevailed Tuesday night.

Though some of the races appear tighter than Democrats might have hoped in a state where they outnumber Republicans two to one, the wins come in an election year where many political dynamics favored the GOP.

Incumbents U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, State Attorney General Letitia James, and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli each won against their

Gov. Hochul at a climate action announcement (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)

Voters across New York have approved $4.2 billion in state borrowing proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature to pay for major projects environmentalists say are key to developing a more robust response to climate change and pollution.

In numbers sure to shift as more votes are counted, initial election night tallies showed about 68% of voters approving the measure, 28% disapproving, and 12% of voters not weighing in at all. The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act

Supporters promote racial justice ballot measures (photo: Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit)

New York City voters approved three ballot measures meant to alleviate impacts of structural racism on New Yorkers of color and create a more equal city through equitable city services.

Questions 2 through 4 on the city ballot were proposed amendments to the City Charter to add a preamble recognizing the impact of racist institutions past and present and establish a new statement of principles; create an Office of Racial Equity required to spearhead the development of a racial equity plan; and

Gov. Hochul sworn in, August 2021 (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Democrat Kathy Hochul, New York's first female governor, was elected to the position for the first time Tuesday, winning a full term in a race that put Democrats' control over the traditionally blue bastion to the test.

The race was called just after 11 p.m. Tuesday, with Hochul beating her Republican challenger, U.S. Rep Lee Zeldin, by an unclear margin given lags in vote reporting from Zeldin’s home county of Suffolk. By early Wednesday morning when most votes were counted, Hochul's margin over Zeldin was

Democrats rallying (photo: @PatRyanUC)

UPDATE: On election night, results showed the Working Families Party achieve enough votes on its ballot line for Kathy Hochul to retain its political party status and ballot line in upcoming elections. In response to the New York gubernatorial election results, Director of the New York Working Families Party Sochie Nnaemeka released the following celebratory statement:

“The Working Families Party is proud to have secured more than enough votes to maintain our ballot line and continue fighting for working New Yorkers. Our grassroots volunteers mobilized voters from

Out to vote (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

With Election Day arriving, the tightening race for governor of New York has been one of the 2022 election cycle's biggest surprises.

In the long-time calculus of New York elections, any Republican would need stars to align across the map to win statewide, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one. Even party-unaffiliated voters are now a larger group in New York than registered Republicans. 

The math

State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt (photo: NY Senate GOP)

November 7, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Republican Leader Rob Ortt on State Senate Races

New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt joined the show to discuss Republicans' hopes for a big election night in retaking seats won by Democrats in recent election cycles.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your

State Senate Deputy Leader & Campaign Chair Michael Gianaris (photo: Office of Senator Gianaris)

November 7, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Democratic Campaign Chief Michael Gianaris on State Senate Races

State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, the Chair of the New York Democratic Senate Committee, joined the show to discuss the State Senate battleground races and Democrats' hopes for keeping their supermajority.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You

On the waterfront (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

As New Yorkers head to the polls in this general election, which ends on Tuesday, November 8, there’s more than just candidates on the ballot. Voters across the state will decide on one ballot proposal, with three more for New York City voters only.

These ballot measures, or propositions, are yes/no questions on proposals to enact laws or constitutional amendments. Placed on the ballot for approval or rejection by the electorate, these major questions give enormous power to

Lee Zeldin, left, and John Burnett (photo: @IamJohnBurnett)

November 4, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: High Hopes for the New York GOP

John Burnett, Executive Vice Chairman of the New York State Republican Party, joined the show to discuss the GOP's high hopes for this year's elections, especially in the race for Governor where Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin is running against Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and appears within striking distance.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax.