Charles B. Rangel, Harlem’s longtime dean of politics, asked a strong question for two of Governor Kathy Hochul’s top political aides at a private meeting last month: Where is the campaign?
Rangel told campaign officials that he was concerned that the governor would leave the black and Latino neighborhoods rich in votes unattended. There are no posters, no hand cards, no subway substitutes, no other ground operations that are normally used to drive voters to the polls for the June 28 primary for the governor of New York.
“There was absolutely no one who knew anyone who was doing anything,” Rangel recalled recently. “There was absolutely no action in the district.”
Representative Gregory W. Meeks, the head of the Queens Democratic machine, shared similar concerns at the same time. In a call with Ms. Hochul urged her to pay more attention to communities like hers and to develop a more diverse political operation that could excite voters.
And more recently, three major union leaders who support Ms. Hochul and spoke to The New York Times said they were perplexed that the governor’s team had not asked for help in requesting, convening, or conducting political assignments other than his predecessors demanded. One of them said bluntly that he saw no evidence of campaign activity.
By all accounts, Ms. Hochul is heading for a comfortable primary victory. He has cornered almost every major political endorsement and collected record donations, while spending more than his opponents, Thomas R. Suozzi and Jumaane D. Williams, on millions of dollars in advertising and digital television.
The leader has allowed Ms. Hochul’s team to deploy the so-called Rose Garden strategy, avoiding the kind of total and field campaign that its rivals use in an effort to keep cash and position a new governor who still introduces. she herself to New Yorkers over the political struggle before a grueling general election this fall.
Most of the political appearances he has made this spring, in black churches or parades, for example, have been official government events or publicity appearances. In the last month, his campaign has only marked five official events for the media.
In last week’s interviews, a wide range of elected officials, party leaders and Democratic strategists expressed concern that the governor’s discreet approach could come at the expense of building the old-fashioned political game and enthusiasm with the black base. Latino and union voters that a relatively untested candidate from West New York like Ms. Hochul will have to take Democratic voters to the polls in November.
They fear that the governor’s campaign strategy could cause Democratic participation in the state’s largest liberal stronghold to falter, leaving Democrats in key congressional and state careers vulnerable, if not endangering. control of the party in the governor’s mansion.
“She’s not from New York City, she’s from Buffalo,” Mr. Meeks in an interview, and suggested that Ms. Hochul should “move very vigorously” to bring more non-white working, business and New York City voices to the table. Although Ms. Hochul has a handful of prominent city advisors, her team is currently run largely by people from the states of New York, Colorado, Washington, DC, and North Carolina, with relatively little experience doing state races.
“He acknowledged that a lot of people in his campaign ran across the state, but it’s not necessarily endemic to New York City politics, which is important,” he added. “When you run for governor, you have to broaden that base. That’s what he’s doing.”
Representative Gregory Meeks said Governor Hochul needed to diversify his campaign team, especially as a candidate with few ties to New York City. Credit … Photo of Sarah Silbiger’s pool
And while Ms. Hochul seems poised to win the primaries, Democratic strategists warned that a slow turnout in the primaries could hurt her formula mate, Antonio Delgado, who is in tighter competition against Ana Maria Archila and Diana Reyna, and potentially saddle Mrs. Hochul. with an opposing contestant in the fall.
“Everyone’s scratching their heads. They haven’t held a rally and they have to vote,” said George Arzt, a Democratic strategist who has been campaigning in New York City since the 1980s. “The person who is in danger is not her, but her formula partner.”
Tyquana Henderson-Rivers, a senior adviser to Ms. Hochul with deep ties to New York City Democrats, defended the governor’s approach in an interview, acknowledging that the campaign was taking a “slower construction” approach. that some elected officials might be accustomed to. But he has his reasons.
This is the first year that the New York Governor-General primaries are taking place in June, rather than September, extending the campaign season between the primaries and the general election. The pandemic is still hampering certain campaign tactics in person. And Ms. Hochul’s team consciously retains the resources to prepare for a greater general electoral threat than its Democratic predecessors have faced for years.
“We hear it,” said Mrs. Henderson-Rivers, when asked about his fellow Democrats who raised concerns about the campaign, before adding that Ms. Hochul would be humming when it matters. “It will not be cold, I assure you. We are encouraging. “
Undoubtedly, there are indications that the governor’s campaign is intensifying.
Ms. Hochul attended a breakfast hosted by Mr. Meeks in southeast Queens with more than 200 civic leaders and clergy in mid-June. Mr. Rangel acknowledged that the Hochul campaign had increased its presence in Harlem, where dozens of volunteers and paid staff, including the Hotel and Gaming Council, were spread out this past weekend to knock on doors and hand out literature. .
A campaign spokesman, Jerrel Harvey, said Ms Hochul’s field program and means of payment “will reach voters wherever they are and benefit all Democrats now and in November”.
The campaign says so far more than $ 13 million has been spent on television and radio, more than $ 1 million on digital advertising, and the state party has targeted more than 400,000 homes with traditional mail. many of them African American, Latino, and Asian. – figures much higher than those of any of its rivals.
“If I were the Democrats, I would be worried about a lot of things in November,” said Jason Ortiz, a veteran political agent with close ties to the hotel and casino union. “But Kathy Hochul would not be the governor.”
And yet, guessing on Ms. Hochul’s approach has been relatively common. Some supporters of the governor are making silent comparisons with her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, a ruthless political tactician who deployed unions, political substitutes, and used the governor’s office to gain large margins.
Mr. Cuomo made particular use of organized workers, using them as de facto political personnel, deploying union members to overshadow their opponents, knock on doors, and create a sense of momentum around their campaign.
Ms. Hochul, with notable exceptions, has so far largely limited her requests to donate money. Some of the unions, which asked for anonymity to prevent the alienation of Ms Hochul, said they planned to start efforts to get out of the vote of their own free will.
“It’s an unusual approach for a governor, but I think it’s strategic that it may be better in the city than might be expected,” said Henry Garrido, executive director of the city’s largest public union, District 37. ” Normally, what would happen, we have a model where you try to get the most out of your physical presence, appearing everywhere, meeting and talking. “
Instead, Mr. Garrido said, the governor had asked for his help in quieter events in the Latino communities of Inwood and the Bronx. He predicted that they would work for her.
Unlike Mr. Cuomo, Ms. Hochul has tended to avoid political focus for many more overtly political events, such as a Monday stop in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park, opting not to announce them publicly beforehand.
“He walked the streets with me,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who represents Mr. Rangel’s old quarter. Mr Espaillat tweeted about the events, but said Mrs Hochul’s decision not to make them public was his prerogative: “They do what they think is best”.
From left to right, Governor Hochul; Eric Gonzalez, Brooklyn District Attorney; and Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado at the Puerto Rico Day Parade in June. Credit … Porter Binks / EPA, via Shutterstock
In downtown Brooklyn, home to another large bloc of black voters whose votes are helping the ruling coalitions, it seems Ms. Hochul still has work to do to win two powerful leaders who could help galvanize the vote: Letitia James, the popular New York lawyer. general who briefly confronted her, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Mr. Jeffries has formally endorsed Ms. Hochul (not Ms. James), but has not yet campaigned with her and told associates she is disappointed. Ms. Hochul did not oppose a court-ordered redistribution plan for district districts imposed by the court. on some communities of color and the state delegation in Washington.
When asked if he thought Mrs. Hochul was doing enough for the color communities of New York City, Mr. Jeffries said he had no comment. Ms. James’ campaign also declined to comment when asked if she hoped to endorse the race.
Democratic officials and campaign strategists in the Latin strongholds of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx have shared their own concerns.
Luis A. Miranda Jr., founding partner of the MirRam Group, a political consulting firm working on the re-election campaign of Ms. James, said he came out of a recent dinner with Mrs. Hochul impressed with both the governor and a new “New York” initiative of the leaders of the State Democratic Party dedicated to converting Latinos …