Gotham Gazette

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Letitia James

Letitia James

  • 35 Questions for New York Politics in 2019

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    Cuomo & de Blasio celebrate Amazon to NY (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    1. Will Kirsten Gillibrand and/or Michael Bloomberg run for President?

    2. Will Andrew Cuomo explore a presidential run?

    3. How will Chuck Schumer perform as Senate minority leader amid a new power dynamic in Washington? What impact will Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have as she officially takes office and the year progresses? What other New York representatives will make significant impact in the new Washington, especially given

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  • Declared and Exploring Candidates for New York City Public Advocate

    10 candidates

    (l-r) Tish James, Ydanis Rodriguez, Melissa Mark-viverito, Jumaane Williams, Latrice Walker
    Rafael Espinal, Danny O'Donnell, Michael Blake, Erich Ulrich, Ron Kim


    There are roughly two dozen candidates who have officially declared or indicated they are exploring a run in the February special election for New York City Public Advocate, which will take place Tuesday, February 26.

    Attorney General-elect Letitia James officially vacates the office of New York City Public Advocate on January 1, setting off the next steps of the process, whereby Mayor Bill de

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  • Cuomo Reelected, Democrats Take the State Senate; 2018 General Election Results in New York

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    Gov. Cuomo votes (photo: @andrewcuomo)


    Democrats will take full control of New York state government in 2019 thanks to the reelection of Governor Andrew Cuomo and other candidates for statewide office, as well as wins in the state Senate that flipped control of the upper chamber. Democrats continue to hold a wide majority in the state Assembly. With help from New York, Democrats also flipped the U.S. House of Representatives.

    The state Senate and ...

  • 10 Things to Watch on Election Day in New York

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    (photo: The Governor's Office)


    New Yorkers will head to the polls on Tuesday, November 6, to vote for federal and state candidates in an election that could radically alter the direction of the state and the entire nation. Every seat in the state Legislature is on the ballot, as are the joint ticket of governor-lieutenant governor, the positions of state comptroller and attorney general, New York’s 27 seats in the House of Representatives, and one U.S. Senate position.

    Democrats, hoping to ride a surge of engagement in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s

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  • Running for Attorney General, Wofford Promises to Step Up Fighting Corruption, Step Back Fighting Wall Street

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    Kieth Wofford (photo via @Wofford4AG)


    Keith Wofford, the Republican nominee for Attorney General, appears to have a simple campaign message: he’ll make it harder for corrupt government officials to waste taxpayer money and make it easier for New York businesses to thrive.

    The first-time candidate for political office who has made a highly-lucrative career for himself as a attorney says that if elected the state’s top legal officer, he would step back what he calls the over-prosecution of corporations, especially financial institutions that have so often been the focus

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  • In Attorney General Debate, James and Wofford Contrast Careers, Approaches to Cuomo and Trump

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    Letitia James and Keith Wofford at NY1 (Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times - pool)


    The two leading candidates to become New York State’s next Attorney General faced off in the sole televised debate of the race on Tuesday night, going back and forth about the role of the state’s top legal officer and the degree to which political considerations might affect the way they handle their duties.

    New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, a Democrat, is the frontrunner in the race competing against Republican Keith Wofford, a Buffalo-native attorney who is

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  • Prominent Elected Officials Oppose De Blasio Charter Revision Proposals

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    Mayor de Blasio (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio is seeking to make a lasting impact on city governance through a charter revision commission that would transform the city’s campaign finance system, promote greater civic involvement in city affairs, and inject new blood into local community boards. But prominent elected officials, most of whom are Democrats like de Blasio, don’t agree with the proposals the mayor’s commission has put on the November 6 ballot and are urging New Yorkers to reject them.

    The mayor’s commission put ...

  • In Run for New York City Public Advocate, Blake Offers Federal and State Experience

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    Michael Blake (photo via Blake campaign)


    Michael Blake wants to bring his experience in federal and state government to city government as the next Public Advocate of New York City. Currently a member of the state Assembly from the Bronx, Blake worked in the administration of President Barack Obama before he became a political consultant and successfully ran for Assembly, defeating the chosen candidate of the political machine in his home borough thanks to a variety of factors, including his national network and fundraising prowess.

    With the

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  • 'Speaker Heastie PAC' Gives to James for AG, Skoufis for Senate

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    Speaker Heastie, with Gov. Cuomo and Assemblymember Morelle (Governor's Office)


    New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s eponymous political action committee has continued to donate to Democrats in competitive races this year, recently making new contributions to Public Advocate Letitia James’ attorney general campaign and Assembly Member James Skoufis’ bid for State Senate.    

    The latest campaign finance filings with the State Board of Elections showed that Speaker Heastie PAC spent about $26,000 between September 21 and

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Republican Attorney General Nominee Keith Wofford

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


    October 10, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Republican Attorney General Nominee Keith Wofford

    keith wofford wbai 277Keith Wofford, the Republican nominee for Attorney General, joined the show to discuss his platform for assuming the role of the state's chief legal officer, outlining a vision very different from his main

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  • A Lifelong Democrat and Famed Civil Rights Attorney, Michael Sussman Runs for Attorney General as a Green

    peace exist sussman

    photo via Sussman campaign on Twitter


    A 19-year-old from Flatbush, Brooklyn sat in the Iron Forge, a middle-eastern restaurant on Q Street in Washington, D.C., and looked around. He had started his internship with the Democratic National Committee, and was given the opportunity to choose from a group of candidates whose campaign he wanted to work on. He saw the men around him, who he would work with in the coming months, the fall of 1973: Georgians Hamilton Jordan, Jodi Powell, Bert Lance, and Griffin Bell, along with the governor, Jimmy Carter.

    The young

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  • Closing the Door on Foreign Money in New York City Elections

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    How far and how deep did the Russian government and Russian nationals go to influence United States elections? While hacking and manipulation of social media have garnered significant attention from both the media and the Mueller investigation, it’s also clear that Russian money was being funneled through some surprising channels, such as the National Rifle Association (NRA).

    When Citizens United opened the floodgates for corporations to spend unlimited amounts in our elections, it also blasted open a loophole for foreign money to be used to influence U.S. elections. Earlier

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  • Post-Primary Campaign Finance Filings Show Cuomo’s Already Spent $28 Million

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    Photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running for reelection to a third term, successfully claimed the Democratic Party nomination earlier this month after a bitter primary battle against actor and education activist Cynthia Nixon. But the victory came at significant cost as Cuomo spent more than $20 million this year alone, nearly ten times what Nixon spent in total as she attempted to unseat him.

    Cuomo, who won with 64.4 percent of the vote to Nixon’s 34.4 percent in the September 13 primary, is headed into the

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  • With Fake Clinics Proliferating, New Yorkers Should Know Their Reproductive Health Care Rights

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    Letitia James and Andrea Miller, the authors


    When visiting a health care provider, most patients trust that they’ll get a reasonably high standard of medical care and assume that their medical providers will keep their information confidential, and are not actively trying to deceive them. But around the country, 2,700 fake women’s health centers – which sometimes call themselves “crisis pregnancy centers” – are lying to women and giving false information in order to prevent women from having abortions. One hundred of them are here in New York

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  • A Closer Look at Democratic Primary Turnout, Margins and Geography

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    Gov. Cuomo voting in Thursday's primary (photo: @NYGovCuomo)


    The Democratic gubernatorial primary between Governor Andrew Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon saw a significant surge in voter participation, but turnout still stood at only 27 percent of active registered Democrats.

    Compared to the 2014 primary election, when Zephyr Teachout challenged Cuomo, who was then seeking a second term, turnout more than doubled, according to preliminary numbers. And, turnout spiked slightly more in New York City than elsewhere. Specifically, 28 percent of registered

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  • 2018 New York State Primary Results: Cuomo, Hochul, James Prevail While Senate Upsets Abound

    cuomo james hochul

    (photo: @andrewcuomo)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo won the Democratic nomination by a wide margin Thursday, with his running-mate Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul surviving a much closer race, Public Advocate Letitia James prevailing comfortably in a crowded Attorney General primary, and more than half a dozen upsets of sitting state Senators, including six of the eight former members of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).

    Additionally, voter turnout was significantly higher than 2014, the last gubernatorial election year, perhaps owing to the

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  • James Eyes Statewide History as Democratic Attorney General Nominee

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    Letitia James (photo: @TishJames)


    New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, backed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, much of the rest of the state’s political establishment, and New York City voters, on Thursday won the Democratic attorney general primary, successfully fending off competitors Zephyr Teachout, Sean Patrick Maloney, and Leecia Eve.

    James, who pitched herself as having the best track record to become "the people's lawyer," was declared the victor of what appeared to be a wide open, three-way race, at around 10:30 p.m., when most precincts had

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  • Teachout-Maloney Battle May Help James Win Attorney General Nomination

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    Rep. Maloney at a Syracuse pub (photo: @MaloneyForNY)


    While the four Democratic attorney general candidates will be in New York City on Thursday evening watching the primary election results come in, two of the race’s three frontrunners — Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and Zephyr Teachout — are polling best upstate, competing for votes there as Public Advocate Letitia James dominates in the city.

    Though the New York political establishment has coalesced around James, and several editorial boards have endorsed Teachout, Maloney led the pack in a Siena College ...

  • A Closer Look at the Democratic Attorney General Candidates’ Legal Careers

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    The Democratic AG candidates at the NYC Bar Association forum (photo: @NYCBarAssnNews)


    At one of several attorney general candidate forums last week, the four Democrats in the race were asked for a highlight of their legal careers, and what is shows about how they’d approach the job.

    New York City Public Advocate Letitia James began with a quip about embracing an attack line against her that she wakes up every morning looking for someone to sue, going on to describe a pro bono client she took on whose father was murdered, whose mother abandoned him, and was

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  • Vacancy in the Public Advocate's Office? Call the City Council Speaker

    tish james co jo cityhall

    Letitia James and Corey Johnson (photo: Gotham Gazette)


    Two former speakers of the New York City Council -- Melissa Mark-Viverito and Christine Quinn -- are on the list of possible contenders for a potential vacancy in the office of public advocate should the current occupant, Letitia James, win the post of attorney general in this fall’s elections. But it’s the sitting Council speaker, Corey Johnson, who will get to do the job first if that scenario came to pass.

    James is competing against three other Democrats to win the party’s primary

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  • Statewide Candidates File Final Pre-Primary Campaign Finance Disclosures

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    (Photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    The primary election is next Thursday, September 13, and candidates for statewide office filed another round of campaign spending and fundraising reports this week, the final disclosures due before primary day.

    Governor Andrew Cuomo, a two-term Democrat, has been, for the most part, publicly nonchalant about his primary challenger, actor and activist Cynthia Nixon. But his campaign finance filings show he is spending far more to beat back her insurgent bid than he did four years ago,

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  • Potentially Crowded Public Advocate Special Election Could Feature Two Former Council Speakers

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    Christine Quinn, center, & Melissa Mark-Viverito (photo: City Council on flickr)


    The September primary election is just over one week away and if New York City Public Advocate Letitia James wins the Democratic nomination for attorney general over her three primary opponents, she will be a significant favorite to win the position in November owing in large part to the state’s Democrat-heavy electorate. No Republican has won statewide since Governor George Pataki captured a third term in 2002; it’s been far longer for a Republican attorney general.

    James

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  • Opponents Target Teachout as Democratic Attorney General Candidates Debate Role and Resumes

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    James, Maloney, Eve, Teachout (l-r)


    The four Democrats vying for the party’s nomination for attorney general faced each other in their second televised debate of the race on Tuesday at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.

    The debate became a 90-minute brawl as the four candidates -- New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, Congressional Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, former Verizon executive Leecia Eve, and Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout -- sought to set themselves apart from each other. But few differences emerged in their ideologies or campaign platforms as

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  • Pressed on SAFE Act, Teachout Downplays Past Opposition

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    Zephyr Teachout, right, greets New Yorkers (photo: @ZephyrTeachout)


    Zephyr Teachout has throughout her attorney general campaign made the case that she is the most progressive candidate in the race, but her shifted position on major New York gun control legislation counters the impression she is attempting to offer Democratic voters ahead of the September primary, and became a flashpoint last week during the first televised

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  • Being Labeled the ‘Sheriff of Wall Street’ Isn't Enough

    tish congress steps

    Letitia James, the author (photo: Gotham Gazette)


    Wall Street malfeasance has had devastating consequences in New York State. It precipitated the foreclosure crisis, in which tens of thousands of families lost their homes, others faced an unrecovered loss in property values, and many jobs were lost. Ten years later, the Trump Administration and the Republican Congress are weakening oversight by federal agencies by watering down the Dodd-Frank Act and undermining the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB).

    Today, Wall Street securities valuations are, by all

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