在新划定的纽约区,一个罕见的开放席位吸引了十几名候选人参加周二的民主党初选但酝酿中的紧张局势和类似的议程已经使领先的进步候选人与温和的领先者结成联盟,一些专家预测,由于可能的选票分裂,这一战略可能会对他们自己的选举机会产生适得其反的影响。
在人口普查后重新划分选区的过程中,州法院拒绝了最初的民主党地图,认为这是不可接受的不公正的选区划分,新的第10国会区是两个区的街区的横截面,跨越东河到布鲁克林的区公园,Dumbo和Park Slope,包括相当大的亚洲和拉丁美洲社区,东正教犹太人社区和tony brownstones的延伸。
重选的戏剧引发了在职者转移席位的连锁反应,希望不要失去办公室:第10位的现任众议院司法委员会主席杰里·纳德勒选择在第12位与长期盟友众议员卡罗琳·马洛尼竞选。他的离开邀请了许多其他候选人,包括新众议员蒙代尔·琼斯,他从他目前的选区(第17区)跳了出来,因为现任议员肖恩·帕特里克·马洛尼(众议院民主党竞选团队的负责人)从他的选区搬走了他的第18席,引起了一些普通国会议员的愤怒。
正是在这种复杂的背景下,周二的民主党初选将在10日结束。
竞选策略师说,在这些竞争者中,最大的分歧与其说是政策驱动的,不如说是身份驱动的。领先的候选人是前检察官丹·戈德曼;众议员琼斯;纽约市议员卡琳娜·里维拉;和州议员尤琳·尼欧。(前纽约市长比尔·白思豪也作为第13名候选人参加竞选,但后来退出了。)
2022年8月1日,正在竞选纽约第10国会选区席位的丹·戈德曼在纽约为一幅肖像摆姿势。
蕾拉妮·福斯特/纽约时报
该领域通常都同意突出的政策问题,如环境改革,堕胎权的编纂和攻击性武器禁令-这就是为什么,操作人员说,竞争集中在其他地方的差异。
领先的高盛赢得了《纽约时报》编辑委员会颇具影响力的支持,是最富有、最温和的人,也是最没有选举经验的人。
他在时任总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)2019年第一次弹劾审判期间,最主要的是担任众议院民主党人的法律顾问,他告诉美国广播公司新闻(ABC News),他引用这项工作来形容自己是“竞选中唯一一个站在战壕里对抗特朗普的候选人”。
高盛对该地区的富人区并不陌生,这里是名人、百万富翁和有影响力的政治民意调查者的家。作为李维·斯特劳斯的继承人,他投入了约400万美元的自有资金用于广播广告和有线电视广告,花费超过了竞选中的所有其他候选人。
更进步的候选人瞄准了这笔财富,认为高盛的百万富翁身份让他与经济和种族多元化的选民疏远了。
当地策略师Hank Scheinkopf告诉ABC新闻,鉴于高盛目前在竞选中的地位,进步联盟是“唯一的策略”。
Scheinkopf说:“通过联合力量,[进步人士]可以希望不同的选民群体会各自做出反应。”“同性恋者会站在琼斯一边,可能会投给高盛的拉丁裔选民会投给里维拉。这是他们试图瓦解高盛基于反特朗普记录而组建的联盟的唯一策略。”
理事会成员里韦拉告诉纽约每日新闻,高盛是一个“一注爸爸沃巴克。”众议员琼斯和众议员尼欧也在8月15日的联合新闻发布会上联手告诉支持者——他们的标语上写着“除了高盛以外的任何人”——说“丹·高盛不能买下纽约市。”
他们认为,他是一个“保守派”,反对最高法院的扩张,对全民医疗保险持不明确的立场,这是该党左翼支持的两项政策。
高盛对对手的评论不屑一顾,解释说他们“对我们的共同目标有不同的方法。”
“我不反对‘全民医保’,但我认为我们更有可能通过改革当前的体系来帮助人们,”他告诉美国广播公司新闻。“至于最高法院,我支持任期限制、司法道德准则和一个调查机构,该机构可以调查最高法院法官是否在参议院宣誓后撒谎。增加更多的法官是反民主的。”
高盛在初选中的对手也抓住了他得到的一个不太可能的“支持”——来自特朗普本人,通过特朗普社交媒体平台上的一份声明。
琼斯发微博“纽约不应该把这个人送到国会,”和Niou说特朗普的帖子是对选举中“利害关系的提醒”。
高盛很快拒绝了这位前总统的间接评论:“特朗普担心我,因为我在他的乌克兰电话后成功弹劾了他,并担心我进入国会的可能性。”
当被问及对渐进反弹的看法时,高盛告诉美国广播公司新闻:“任何对我的言论信以为真的候选人都不适合代表国会。”
政治专家表示,反对高盛的临时集体阵线有其自身的挑战。琼斯、里韦拉和尼欧在他们之间划分了支持,就像他们可能划分选民一样。里维拉得到了纽约众议员Nydia Velázquez和11199SEIU(一个著名的医疗保健联盟)的支持;虽然琼斯得到了国会进步党团、新泽西参议员科里·布克和众议院议长南希·佩洛西的支持。
Niou赢得了工人家庭党、环保组织日出运动和当地组织犹太投票的认可。
“如果这是一场排名选举,团队合作没有任何问题。问题是事实并非如此,”图斯克战略公司首席执行官克里斯·科菲说。“如果一些进步人士退出,转而支持一位非高盛的领先者,可能会击败高盛。但进步派有可能总共获得50%的选票,但高盛最终只获得28%的选票,因为选民已经捉襟见肘了。
(科菲虽然不隶属于任何候选人,但有捐赠里维拉和另一位候选人,州议员乔·安妮·西蒙的竞选活动。)
当然,第10届的进步候选人在竞选中不仅仅批评高盛。琼斯、尼奥和里维拉都利用了他们当选官员的经验。
Niou告诉ABC新闻,她作为一名患有自闭症的有色人种妇女的身份促使她将自己的候选人资格集中在残疾和生殖权利上。
“对于纽约的残疾人来说,这超出了罗伊诉韦德案的范围,”她说,她指的是最高法院裁决的逆转保障堕胎机会。“我支持全民医保。我们可以帮助低收入的有色人种母亲为不能闭锁的残疾婴儿获得配方奶粉,或者为那些想转变但在药物治疗上有困难的人提供性别确认帮助。每一期都是残疾问题。”
然而,周二可能会考验该地区的民主党选民是否只把一件事放在他们的脑海里。
“特朗普再次主导了讨论。如果高盛赢了,原因只有一个,”策略师Scheinkopf表示。“这是因为他是布鲁克林精英中最讨厌唐纳德·特朗普的人。”
12 Democrats vie for New York's 10th, with progressives pit against anti-Trump prosecutor
A rare open House seat in a newly redrawn New York district attracted a dozen candidatesfor the Democratic primary on Tuesday, but simmering tension and similar agendas have since allied leading progressive hopefuls against the moderate front-runner -- a strategy that some experts predict could backfire on their own electoral chances because of possible vote-splitting.
Following the post-census redistricting process -- and the state courts rejecting initial Democratic maps as unacceptable gerrymandering -- the new 10th Congressional District is a cross-section of neighborhoods across two boroughs, spanning south Manhattan over the East River into Brooklyn's Borough Park, Dumbo and Park Slope and including sizable Asian and Latino communities, Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and stretches of tony brownstones.
The redrawing drama set off a chain reaction of incumbents shifting seats, hoping not to lose office: The 10th's incumbent, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, opted to run in the 12th against longtime ally Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
His departure invited many other candidates, including freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones, who bounced from his current district (the 17th) because fellow incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney -- head of the House Democrats' campaign arm -- moved fromhisseat, the 18th, drawing the ire of some rank-and-file members of Congress.
It's against that complicated backdrop that Tuesday's Democratic primary in the 10th will play out.
Among the contenders, the biggest emerging differences are less policy-driven than identity-driven, campaign strategists say. The leading candidates are Dan Goldman, a former prosecutor; Rep. Jones; New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera; and state Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou. (Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also tossed his hat in the ring as the 13th candidate but later withdrew.)
The field is generally all in agreement on prominent policy issues such as environmental reform, the codification of abortion rights and assault-style weapon bans -- which is why, operatives say, the contest has focused on differences elsewhere.
Front-runner Goldman, who won an influential endorsement from The New York Times' editorial board, is the wealthiest and most moderate and has the least amount of experience in elected office.
He most prominently served as counsel to House Democrats during then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, in 2019 -- and has cited that work to describe himself as "the only candidate in the race who has been in the trenches standing up to Trump," he told ABC News.
Goldman is no stranger to the district's well-heeled enclaves, which serve as home to celebrities, millionaire mega-donors and influential political pollsters. A Levi Strauss heir, he invested some $4 million of his own money into broadcast ads and cable spots, outspending every other candidate in the race.
The more progressive hopefuls have targeted that wealth, arguing that Goldman's millionaire status estranges him from an economically and racially diverse electorate.
Local strategist Hank Scheinkopf told ABC News that the progressive alliance was the "only strategy," given Goldman's stature in the race so far.
"By joining forces, [progressives] can hope different voter demographics will respond individually," Scheinkopf said. "Gay people will side with Jones, and the Latino vote that might have gone to Goldman can go to Rivera. It's the only strategy they have to try to break apart the coalition Goldman assembled based on his anti-Trump record."
Council Member Rivera told The New York Daily News that Goldman was a "one-note Daddy Warbucks." Rep. Jones and Assemblywoman Niou also joined forces in a joint news conference on Aug. 15, telling supporters -- whose signs read "Anyone But Goldman" -- that "Dan Goldman cannot buy the city of New York."
They contended he is a "conservative" who opposes an expansion of the Supreme Court and holds an unclear position on Medicare for All, two policies supported by the party's left flank.
Goldman has shrugged off his opponents' comments, explaining that they "have different approaches for our shared goals."
"I don't oppose 'Medicare for All,' but I think we are much more likely to help people by reforming the current system," he told ABC News. "As for the Supreme Court, I support term limits, a judicial code of ethics and an investigative body that can look into whether Supreme Court justices lied under oath before the Senate. Adding more justices is just anti-democratic."
Goldman's opponents in the primary have also seized on an unlikely "endorsement" he received -- from Trump himself, via a statement on Trump's social media platform.
Jonestweetedthat "New York should not send this man to Congress," and NiousaidTrump's post was a "reminder of what the stakes are" in the election.
Goldman quickly rejected the former president's backhanded comment: "Trump fears me because of my work to successfully impeach him after his Ukraine call, and fears the possibility that I enter Congress."
When asked about the progressive backlash, Goldman told ABC News: "Any candidate who takes his remarks toward me at face value is not fit to represent Congress."
A temporary collective front against Goldman, political experts say, has challenges of its own. Jones, Rivera and Niou have divided endorsements among themselves, just as they may divide up voters. Rivera is backed by New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez and 11199SEIU, a prominent health care union; while Jones has the support of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Niou earned the approval of the Working Families Party, the environmental group Sunrise Movement and the Jewish Vote, a local organization.
"There's nothing wrong with the team-up if this were a ranked-choice election. The issue is that it's not," said Chris Coffey, CEO of Tusk Strategies. "If some progressives drop out and endorse a non-Goldman front-runner, one might defeat Goldman. But it's possible that the progressives together get 50% of the vote, but Goldman ultimately wins with, say, only 28% of the vote because voters are already stretched thin."
(Coffey, though not affiliated with any candidate, hasdonatedto Rivera's campaigns and that of another candidate, state Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon.)
The progressive candidates in the 10th have, of course, campaigned beyond criticizing Goldman. Jones, Niou and Rivera have all tapped into their experience as elected officials.
Niou told ABC News that her identity as a woman of color with autism motivates her to center her candidacy on disability and reproductive rights.
"It goes beyond Roe [v. Wade] for disabled folks in New York," she said, referring to the reversal of the Supreme Court's decisionguaranteeing abortion access. "I support universal health care. We can help low-income mothers of color get formula for disabled babies who can't latch, or gender-affirming help to folks who want to transition but struggle with medication. Every issue is a disability issue."
Tuesday, though, may test whether Democratic voters in the area have only one thing at the top of their minds.
"Trump dominated the discussion yet again. If Goldman wins, it will be because of one reason," said Scheinkopf, the strategist. "And that's because he is the best-known man among Brooklyn elites who hates Donald Trump."