Source: Politics<\/p>\n
DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 13<\/span><\/p>\n OPERATIVES GONNA OPERATE: Republican Rep. Mike Lawler isn\u2019t facing a primary challenge for his seat \u2014 but he\u2019s got his hands full with the one across the aisle anyway.<\/p>\n The GOP member of Congress spent the last few days meddling in the crowded Democratic primary for his seat \u2014 sending covert text messages that some say were designed to look like they\u2019re from Democrats and deploying his campaign manager to challenge the signatures of a lefty Democratic candidate.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Lawler \u2014 who also serves as the Rockland County Republican Chair \u2014 held a rally Sunday to launch his own campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is him. This is his deviousness,\u201d Putnam County Democratic Chair Jennifer Colamonico said of Lawler\u2019s strategy. \u201cJust get in and stir shit up.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, a blast text message reached dozens of Democratic voters in NY-17 highlighting how one Democrat in the race was allegedly attacking the other by challenging their signatures to get on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cKathleen Kahng, a Conley campaign surrogate and former Putnam County legislative candidate, filed objections to the petitions of two Democrats competing in the June primary,\u201d the message read, referencing Army vet Cait Conley, who is running for Lawler\u2019s seat as a Democrat. \u201cNot a concerned voter. A Conley insider. This isn\u2019t democracy. It\u2019s field-clearing.\u201d<\/p>\n The text \u2014 which was sent out on the night of the Democratic debate in the district \u2014 included a picture of Conley and Kahng and the words \u201cDC INSIDER KICKING LOCAL CANDIDATES OFF BALLOT.\u201d<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t say who it was from, but when recipients texted back \u201chelp,\u201d a second text popped up: \u201cMike Lawler: For help, reach out to mike@lawlerforcongress.com. To opt-out, reply STOP.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawler\u2019s campaign declined to comment on the blast text. But it\u2019s his latest barrage into the competitive Democratic primary as he\u2019s likely looking at tougher odds at reelection than in 2024, after the Cook Political Report moved its rating of the district from \u201cLeans Republican\u201d to \u201ctoss-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawler, a former campaign manager, lobbyist and political strategy firm<\/a> founder, has long been recognized by Republicans and Democrats alike for his shrewd political abilities and tireless campaigning. Two years ago, he was one of the only House Republicans to win reelection in a district that voted for Kamala Harris for president by less than a one-point margin<\/a>.<\/p>\n In that election, he was also accused by the Working Families Party<\/a> of being the mastermind who encouraged a \u201cghost candidate\u201d to run on the lefty third-party\u2019s ballot line. The candidate \u2014 who was almost never seen in public<\/a> \u2014 was running in an apparent attempt to siphon votes<\/a> from former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones. Last year, on Lawler\u2019s home turf, a similar strategy appears to have played out in races for town council<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year, no mysterious candidates will be on the ballot for Congress in NY-17 from the Working Families Party, filings show. However, board of elections filings show Lawler\u2019s campaign manager, Ciro Riccardi, filed preliminary paperwork to contest Democratic Rep. Effie Phillips-Staley\u2019s ballot access signatures.<\/p>\n \u201cLawler is wasting everyone\u2019s time with frivolous political games that will go nowhere,\u201d Phillips-Staley spokesperson John Tomlin said in a statement. \u201cClearly Effie\u2019s momentum is making him nervous and he\u2019s terrified to face her in November.\u201d<\/p>\n Riccardi responded in a statement saying that Phillips-Staley\u2019s signatures were \u201crife with fraud and errors\u201d but did not identify what those errors were. Team Lawler plans to file a \u201cspecific objection\u201d by tomorrow, which will reveal more details.<\/p>\n He also said that Lawler \u201cwill be happy to face whoever survives this clown show in November.”<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats whining about our campaign defining our opponents are the same ones trying to rig their own primary,\u201d Riccardi said. \u201cWe’re not hiding anything.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, Lawler\u2019s mass text about Democrats filing preliminary challenges to other candidates\u2019 petitions appears to have successfully struck a nerve.<\/p>\n When Playbook reached out to Putnam County Democratic Vice Chair Kathleen Kahng \u2014 the person who objected to Democratic candidate Mike Sacks and John Cappello\u2019s petitions \u2014 she referred Colamonico, the Putnam County chair, back to us for comment.<\/p>\n Colamonico told us her party won\u2019t follow through with its initial objections to the two Democratic candidates\u2019 petitions and dismissed the move as \u201cregular order committee business, that’s all.\u201d<\/p>\n Conley\u2019s campaign refused to answer questions about whether Kahng was acting on their behalf to challenge her opponents\u2019 petitions. And Suzanne Berger, the Westchester Democratic chair, told Playbook she and the other Democratic county chairs talked to each other about \u201cdoing our due diligence\u201d in advance of Colamonico making the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more candidates there are in a race, the less ability there is to focus on the candidates that are more likely to win the primary,\u201d Berger said.<\/p>\n Sacks, whose petitions were challenged, didn\u2019t like that.<\/p>\n \u201cI find that deeply anti-Democratic,\u201d Sacks said. \u201cIt goes further to the deep dissatisfaction that everyday Democratic voters have here with our party leadership. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n SHED A TIER: The labor-led drive to overhaul the Tier 6 pension category is steamrolling through the state Capitol \u2014 with few officials disagreeing with powerful unions seeking to lower the retirement age and reduce employee contributions.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a disheartening development for Republican Assemblymember Michael Fitzpatrick, a Long Island lawmaker who is perhaps the most vocal and rare opponent to changing the pension.<\/p>\n \u201cYou now, in a sense, have a professional Legislature,\u201d Fitzpatrick said in an interview. \u201cThat\u2019s right where the unions want us. You\u2019re asking the legislators to vote against their own financial best interest. So who is going to say no to the alphabet soup of unions when, if I lose, I\u2019m out of the pension system.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more from POLITICO Pro\u2019s Nick Reisman.<\/a><\/p>\n TRAVELING SEPARATELY: New York lawmakers passed a third temporary stopgap spending bill Monday afternoon as deadlock sets in over Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s push to overhaul the state\u2019s car insurance laws.<\/p>\n The state budget is now more than two weeks late as the governor and Democratic-led Legislature remain at odds over a host of issues, including her push to weaken a 2019 climate law and opposition to raising taxes.<\/p>\n But the Hochul-backed car insurance proposals have emerged as a major sticking point \u2014 with lawmakers beginning to publicly grumble that the governor is not willing to negotiate on the subject.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a one-way street on the auto insurance issue,\u201d Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said.<\/p>\n Read more from POLITICO Pro\u2019s Bill Mahoney and Nick Reisman<\/a>.<\/p>\n MAMDANI AND ZUCMAN’S TAX DAY: The deadline to file income taxes is Wednesday, and to commemorate the occasion, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, top French economist Gabriel Zucman<\/a> and Nobel prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz will host a joint conference on \u201cconfronting global inequality” at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.<\/p>\n Mamdani and Zucman are both advocating for a 2 percent tax on the ultra-rich, but with some major differences. While Mamdani is calling for a 2 percent tax increase<\/a> on New Yorkers earning more $1 million per year, Zucman wants rich households to pay at least 2 percent of the value of all their assets in taxes every year.<\/p>\n In 2024, during the Brazilian G20 presidency, Zucman pitched a global version<\/a> of his tax, targeting the world\u2019s billionaires. A national version of the \u201cZucman tax\u201d dominated the French political debate last year, but it has not been implemented<\/a>. Zucman, though, remains confident<\/a> that sooner or later his dream will come true. Mamdani, Zucman and Stiglitz are expected to also spell out their ideas in a joint op-ed. \u2014 Giorgio Leali and Anthony Lattier<\/p>\n PRIDE FLAG FLIES: The Trump administration is agreeing to fly a pride flag at Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan\u2019s Greenwich Village after civil rights groups sued the federal government following the flag\u2019s sudden removal in February.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fought the Trump administration \u2014 and we won,\u201d Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement. \u201cThe Trump administration has blinked and backed down from its contemptuous attempt to erase American history.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Trump administration quietly removed the flag after it issued a memo<\/a> mandating that \u201conly the U.S. Flag, flags of the [Department of the Interior], and the POW\/MIA flag will be flown\u201d by the National Park Service. Groups like The Gilbert Baker Foundation, Village Preservation and EQNY Fund Inc. sued to say the flag\u2019s removal was an \u201carbitrary and capricious action.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s agreement settles that suit. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n \u2014 MISS DIRECTION: Council Member Farrah Louis directed $450,000 to BHRAGS Home Care, a Brooklyn nonprofit currently under a federal corruption investigation. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 PARK, MEET PLAZA: Mamdani is proposing to shut down a hazardous roadway at Brooklyn\u2019s Grand Army Plaza in the hopes of restoring the Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Memorial Arch as a direct gateway to Prospect Park. (The New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 TOUGH CROWD: Republican Rep. Mike Lawler faced a hostile audience at his latest town hall in Putnam County, where residents pressed him on his support of the Trump administration and the ongoing war in Iran. (Lohud<\/a>)<\/p>\n Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here<\/a><\/p>\nFrom the Capitol<\/h3>\n
FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n
IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n