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

Letitia James and Michael Henry

Since Attorney General Letitia James dropped her short run for Governor and announced her bid for a second term as New York State’s top legal official, she has spent limited time on the campaign trail. James, a Democrat whose work as attorney general has elevated her to national prominence, has had commanding polling and fundraising leads over her little-known opponent and, in a break from her fellow statewide incumbents, has declined to even debate him.

Her Republican challenger, commercial litigator Michael Henry from Queens, is running as a political

NY AG Letitia James is vacating the position to run for Governor (photo: AG's office)

UPDATE: On December 9, 2021 New York Attorney General Letitia James dropped out of the race for Governor and announced her intention to seek reelection as Attorney General in the 2022 election.

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With current New York Attorney General Letitia James launching a campaign to be the next governor, the race to fill her seat is attracting a growing swell of candidates.

James, a Democrat elected in 2018, was planning to run for reelection and would

Climate change has many impacts (photo: governor's office)

Several weeks ago, when Hurricane Ida devastated New York, one thing became painfully clear: we are still not prepared for the climate crisis. At least 45 people were killed by the storm in the New York area, many of whom were low-income people

NY AG Letitia James with a big check (photo: @PatriciaFahy109)

It was with dismay that I read recent news reports about New York Attorney General Tish James embarking on a “HealNY” tour around the state to announce the distribution of $1.5 billion to fight the opioid epidemic.

The press announcements from the Attorney General's office

Governor Andrew Cuomo (Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's office)

Governor Andrew Cuomo struck a defiant tone Monday in his farewell address as he sought to defend his record in office and paint the attorney general’s sexual harassment investigation that prompted his resignation as “unfair” and “unjust.”

Cuomo is officially stepping down at 11:59 p.m., two weeks after announcing that he would resign following an independent investigation which found he had sexually harassed or groped 11 women, nine of whom are current and former state employees. His

Governor Andrew Cuomo (Don Pollard/Governor's Office)

Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced that he is resigning from office, just one week after a bombshell state attorney general report found that he had sexually harassed 11 women, nine of whom were current or former state employees.

Cuomo, in a live virtual address from his Manhattan office, said his resignation will take effect in 14 days, at which time

Photo: Kevin Coughlin/Governor's Office

Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple current and former state employees, and his executive office retaliated against one woman who publicly accused him of harassment, according to the findings of an investigation released on Tuesday by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

James released a lengthy report concluding a five-month investigation by independent attorneys

Governor Andrew Cuomo (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

July 31, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Governor Cuomo Faces Series of Scandals and Investigations

Luis Ferré Sadurní, a reporter with the New York Times in the Metro section, and Marina Villeneuve, a reporter with the Associated Press, both of whom cover Governor Andrew Cuomo, joined the show to break down the numerous investigations and scandals the third-term Democrat is facing and what comes next, including the highly-anticipated report from New York State

Letitia James, the author, celebrating the likely women's Council majority (photo: @21in21NYC)

New York’s biggest strength – by far – is its diversity. New Yorkers speak more than 700 languages, represent hundreds of countries, and span every level of socio-economic status. We’re every color, every religion, and every identity. Our communities thrive when we lean into our diverse cultures, ensuring voices from all corners of our city are heard and represented. Unfortunately, our City Council has historically failed to achieve that.

For a city with a

A celebration of women heading to City Hall (photo: @21in21NYC)

Triumphant speeches and words of solidarity filled the air at City Hall Park on Tuesday morning. A historic expected majority of women likely to fill City Council seats in January gathered at a press conference, pledging to bring a culture of mutual support and a commitment to underrepresented constituents to the legislative body. They were joined by current and former elected officials, advocates, and others who had been part of the yearslong effort to bring the 51-seat Council, where there are

Brooklynites celebrate Biden's win, Trump's loss (photo: Ethan Geringer-Sameth/Gotham Gazette)

It was a great day for the Doppler effect Saturday in Brooklyn as a near constant stream of car horns trumpeted elation after it became clear Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania and clinched the 2020 presidential election. Throngs of New Yorkers took to the streets, plazas, and parks to breathe a collective, mostly masked, sigh of relief.

In New York, that sigh took the form of spontaneous dancing on sidewalks and in streets, clanging pots and pans, and uncorking

Attorney General Letitia James (photo: @NewYorkStateAG)

In blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to sabotage the 2020 Census, a California court last week handed yet another key victory to the Office of the New York Attorney General. And this is just the latest in a string of triumphs coming from the office of the Empire State’s top lawyer as the president pushes his election-year agenda.

While the president’s rhetoric often translates to the

NY Attorney General Letitia James (photo: @NewYorkStateAG)

It’s been over six months since my younger brother Matthew Felix was unjustly and needlessly murdered by the Nassau County police. Over 190 days of those officers not being held accountable for robbing him of his life the week before his 20th birthday. On February 25, 2020, the Nassau police department believed my brother to be the alleged perpetrator of a carjacking and proceeded to

NYPD officers; the department remains under multiple investigations (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)

The New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) and Law Department have missed the August 31 benchmark set by Mayor Bill de Blasio to submit a final report in their joint investigation into the NYPD's response to summer protests that broke out in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Officers' frequently violent engagement with demonstrators marching against police racism and brutality led to hundreds of allegations

A pre-pandemic Census press conference (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

With less than a month left till the U.S. Census Bureau intends to end its constitutionally-mandated decennial population count, elected officials and advocates issued a dire warning to New Yorkers on Tuesday to fill out the Census questionnaire or risk losing crucial funding for a raft of federal programs as well as political representation in Congress.

Last month, the Trump administration moved up the deadline for the 2020 Census from October 31 to September 30,

Charles, left, & Inez Barron, right, at a ceremony with the Mayor & others (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

Anything short of a revolution won’t satisfy Charles and Inez Barron, the married Brooklynites who hold seats in the State Assembly and City Council, respectively, and the police reforms and city budget passed in the wake of recent widespread Black Lives Matter protests serve merely as a distraction to their radical idea of Black-led politics. 

Assemblymember Charles Barron and City Council Member Inez Barron, both Democrats, have a

Taxi driver-owners protest at City Hall (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

Last May I wrote a column criticizing the practice of including taxi medallion sales revenue in the city’s operating budget and pointed out the perverse incentive it creates to encourage high sales prices. My comments were triggered by the publication of a compelling investigative series on the New York City taxi medallion market ...

(photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photo Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio and other top city officials have remained mostly quiet about their positions on a set of proposed changes to city government and elections, which are set to go before voters when early voting begins on Saturday. The five “yes” or “no” ballot questions include 19 distinct proposals from the 2019 Charter Revision Commission, whose members were appointed by the mayor, comptroller, public advocate, City Council speaker, and five borough

NY AG Letitia James (photo: @NewYorkStateAG)

For a company of only a few dozen employees, the Trump Organization has accumulated an astonishing rap sheet of fraud, crime, and other corporate misconduct over the years. And since its owner came to occupy the Oval Office, the company has sunk to new depths as a vehicle for influence and corruption by supplicants from corporate lobbies and foreign governments.

Now that federal prosecutors have ...

The Shinnecock billboard on Route 27 (photo via a Shinnecock Nation member)

New York State Attorney General Letitia James earned a reputation as a relentless fighter for working people in the Brooklyn gentrification struggles of the early 21st century. Representing parts of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant in the early 2000s, City Council Member James insisted that low-income and working people must have a place and a future in Brooklyn.

Block by block, James helped community members keep their

(photo: @Charter2019NYC)

Three former New York City Public Advocates argued for strengthening the powers of the office. Former and current Law Department officials defended the agency’s independence. Experts on city government argued for and against expanding the powers of non-mayoral elected officials. And a Board of Elections official detailed the logistics of implementing ranked-choice voting in New York City.

Those were the broad themes of a Monday night hearing held at the City Council chambers by the 2019 Charter Revision Commission,

Corey Johnson, Laurie Cumbo, Tish James (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)

A charter-mandated city commission meant to help New Yorkers access information about their government sputtered to a stop in 2016 owing to a lack of funding, barely three years after being revived by former Public Advocate Letitia James. Now, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who is also acting public advocate for the next several weeks, is taking up James’ unfinished business and attempting to raise the commission from its grave.

The Commission on

AG Tish James (photo: New York Attorney General website)

In 2018 Letitia James won a historic election to become the first woman of color to hold statewide office in New York and the first woman to be elected Attorney General. Filling a seat vacated by Eric Schneiderman (a misogynist playing women’s champion by day), James pledged to be a new kind of people’s lawyer, “unbossed and unbought” by Governor Andrew Cuomo

Tish James voting (photo via Gotham Gazette)

Updated as of January 29.

In February, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to cast a ballot for a new public advocate in the first-ever special election for a citywide office. The current vacancy was created when the most recent officeholder, Letitia James, was officially sworn in as the state’s attorney general, a position she won in the November general election.

The public advocate is the people’s representative, a watchdog and ombudsperson, with a post that has little direct influence over city