| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Rich Mendez, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo | |  Rep. Elise Stefanik is optimistic about Republican chances in New York, saying that the party may even be able to pick up seats. | Scott Olson/Getty Images | NEW YORK MINUTE: Today marks 10 years since Eric Garner was killed by police. There will be a march in his honor at 11 a.m. from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal to Tompkinsville Park, hosted by the E.R.I.C. Initiative Foundation founded by Garner's mother. More below on the impact of Garner’s death. ELISE’S STAKES: Rep. Elise Stefanik is bullish about Republican chances — and former President Donald Trump — in New York. Moments after her Tuesday night convention speech in Milwaukee, Stefanik told Playbook she expects Republicans will be able to play offense in deep blue New York. “We are on pace to potentially pick up seats, which I think we will in New York,” Stefanik said, noting Trump is trailing President Joe Biden by just “single digits” in the Empire State. Republicans are trying to block New York Democrats from flipping at least five seats this year on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley and Central New York. And both parties are aware of the stakes: The closely divided House could flip to Democratic control, handing Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries the speaker’s gavel. Democrats have signaled they plan to turn out voters by focusing on abortion, and a proposed amendment to the state constitution to enshrine reproductive rights could further energize the party faithful. The Democratic-allied House Majority PAC on Tuesday tied New York Republicans to the broader GOP opposition to abortion. “Make no mistake, by endorsing Trump and his VP, they are standing behind an agenda that calls for ripping away New Yorkers’ reproductive rights,” spokesperson Alisha Heng said. Stefanik has been working to prevent Democratic success in her home state — spearheading an effort to bring resources and money to New York in order to shore up freshman Reps. Brandon Williams, Marc Molinaro, Mike Lawler, Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota. She has also had to navigate the internal GOP squabbles that defined much of the last year, including a contentious leadership fight following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The new speaker, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, has been a frequent traveler to New York in recent weeks to bolster fundraising for battleground Republicans. And through it Stefanik has maintained Trump as an ally. Her staunch defense of him catapulted her to the position of House conference chair. In Milwaukee this week, Stefanik has been playing a prominent role as the longest-tenured House Republican from New York, including hosting a brunch for Republican women that featured Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Claudia Tenney. Stefanik said she spoke with Trump on Sunday, a day after the former president survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. “God was looking down on him,” she said. “He’s just excited about this unifying moment and what strong leadership we saw over this week and continue to see every day.” Her enthusiasm for Trump also has seemingly not waned after Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance was announced Monday as the running mate, beating out Stefanik and others for the coveted slot. She called it a “great choice” and said Vance “brings a real political talent to win in key states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania.” Stefanik was spotted in the VIP box at the convention near Trump and Vance as well as former Rep. Lee Zeldin. Trump has signaled he wants to focus on unity following Saturday’s shooting, which killed one person at the rally and wounded two other people. Nevertheless, many floor speeches at the convention have touched on the isolationist tenets of Trump’s MAGA base, underscoring how the former president has remade the GOP in his image and vanquished his opponents. Stefanik’s speech at the convention was more closely tailored to uniting the party itself. She knocked the Biden administration over border security, inflation and crime. The public safety issue has been especially resonant with voters “in my home state of New York,” Stefanik said. And she framed the consequences of the election in dire terms. “Our constitution and the very soul of the nation,” Stefanik said, “are on the ballot.” — Nick Reisman IT’S WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | The CNN-POLITICO Grill has quickly become a key gathering place for policymakers and thought-leaders attending the RNC in Milwaukee.
On Tuesday, POLITICO and Bayer convened two conversations: a discussion with Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and an executive conversation with Bayer’s Jessica Christiansen, senior vice president and head of crop science and sustainability communications.
The conversations focused on the news of the day in Milwaukee, including deeper discussion centered on the critical challenges faced by the agriculture sector.
CATCH UP HERE | | | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City monitoring statewide storm developments. WHERE’S ERIC? Making a subway safety-related announcement with MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, then hosting a roundtable discussion with leaders in the Colombian community. In the afternoon he'll be hosting a town hall for older adults. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We really need that new energetic voice in politics.” — Broome County GOP Chair Benji Federman on J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
A march in honor of Eric Garner will depart from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and end with an event at Tompkinsville Park. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images | REMEMBERING GARNER: It’s been 10 years since Garner said the words “I can’t breathe” 11 times while in a lethal police chokehold on a Staten Island sidewalk after police tried to restrain him for selling loose cigarettes. The protests following his death gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. “I think it is as important as it ever was, but I think it’s more splintered than it ever was,” consultant Rachel Noerdlinger told Playbook about the current status of the BLM movement. Noerdlinger worked on City Hall’s response to Garner’s death as an adviser to then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. “A lot of people, elected officials, a lot of companies, in order to mitigate risk, started to make pledges,” she said. “Many of them were never fulfilled.” But Noerdlinger, a longtime rep for Al Sharpton, said social progress is bigger than “the hashtag and the slogan.” Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain who won the election on a tough-on-crime platform, has said police have come a long way since Garner’s killing. “One of the most important things you can do is control your adrenaline and be able to respond accordingly,” Adams said of cops on Tuesday. “I pray to God we don’t have an Eric Garner situation under this administration.” Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother, told Playbook she worries about what likely Republican wins in November would mean for police reform. “I think we would go back 50 years, I really do,” she said. She also said she appreciates Adams’ visibility on this issue, adding: “But he can’t do it all by himself, it takes a whole city to help him do it. I know some people criticize him that he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do or whatever, but from what I see, he’s really trying.” Criminal justice reformers have criticized Adams for backing aggressive policing without meaningful reforms, but Carr offered a different view — alluding to the five years she waited for de Blasio’s administration to fire the officer caught on video putting Garner in a chokehold. “I do think that if my situation would’ve happened under his administration, it’s my belief that it would’ve been handled differently,” Carr added. “Because I think that my case was handled totally wrong.” — Rich Mendez
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission is planning to adopt its final report at a meeting on July 25. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO | CHARTER CHATTER: Adams’ Charter Revision Commission is planning to adopt its final report, including ballot proposals for November, at a meeting on July 25. First in Playbook, more than 75 progressive organizations are putting out an open letter today asking them not to do it. “No process this harried, disorganized, and non-transparent could possibly produce charter revisions that are thoughtfully considered, informed by the public, and placed on the ballot with any democratic legitimacy,” the letter reads. Signees include frequent mayoral critics like the Working Families Party, New Kings Democrats and the NYCLU. The commission is all but certain to go ahead anyway, and spokesperson Frank Dwyer countered criticism that it didn’t engage the public. It’s received more than 2,300 written comments and more than 190 people testified in person already, which is more than the previous commission, he said. — Jeff Coltin I GOT YOU (I FEEL GOOD): After a huge fundraising filing, Adams is getting right back at it. He’s expected to attend a campaign fundraiser hosted by home care consulting group GlattHealth in Borough Park, Brooklyn tonight, according to an invite obtained by Playbook. Adams, up for reelection next year, lamented how much time he has to spend raising money at a press conference Tuesday — but also bragged that he pulled in more than three potential challengers combined. “I'm the hardest working man in show business,” he said, “like James Brown.” — Jeff Coltin and Maya Kaufman RNC FOIL: Republican National Convention attendees booed the mere mention of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s name from the stage Tuesday night when activist Madeline Brame said her late son’s assailants were facing justice until the “soft-on-crime” Democratic prosecutor was elected. “Suddenly, two of the homicidal maniacs responsible for my son’s death had their gang assault and murder charges completely dismissed,” said Brame, a New Yorker who has criticized Bragg in the past. Her son, Afghan War veteran Hason Correa, was stabbed to death in Harlem in 2018. A Bragg spokesperson noted that the four people involved in Correa’s killing were all convicted at trial of felony charges or pleaded guilty to felony charges and added that Bragg launched the Survivor Services Bureau. Bragg is a frequent target of GOP ire, particularly since securing 34 criminal convictions against Trump earlier this year. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, an outspoken Democrat, posted crime reduction statistics following Brame’s remarks. — Emily Ngo More from the city: — Adams said it was “stupid” to ask, but reduced payments to a white-collar defense firm could indicate that a federal investigation into his campaign has slowed. (POLITICO) — Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is seriously considering a run for mayor. (City & State) — Court delays are causing people to languish at Rikers Island for longer than necessary, Comptroller Brad Lander's office finds. (Gothamist)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado's new PAC aimed at bringing out young voters has already raised $350,000. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo | DELGADO SPEAKS: Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is continuing to flex his political muscle. Delgado’s new Voice for New York PAC, aimed at mobilizing young voters, has already raised $350,000. According to its announcement, it plans to “use every medium, platform and influence available” to engage with voters between the ages of 18 and 34. The goal is to target sufficient numbers of voters in the state’s swing House districts in order to make a difference in those races, Delgado spokesperson Peter Kauffmann wrote in an email to Playbook. Delgado, a former House Democrat from a Hudson Valley battleground district, raised his profile last week by calling for Biden to end his campaign for a second term amid Democratic-fueled concerns over his disastrous debate performance. The lieutenant governor’s announcement was a break with his Gov. Kathy Hochul, his boss who has been a steadfast Biden defender. Delgado is focusing further down the ballot as well. A separate entity he launched earlier this year, Voice PAC, to help New York House Democratic candidates in battleground districts has raised more than $259,000. The PAC has contributed to Democratic Reps. Pat Ryan and Tom Suozzi and the party’s swing-seat challengers Mondaire Jones, Josh Riley, Laura Gillen and John Mannion. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — State education officials are changing how schools conduct lockdown drills. (POLITICO Pro) — A jury found the MTA is at fault for a deadly Metro-North crash in 2015. (LoHud)
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Or, follow along with every update from the Republican National Convention with POLITICO’s live blog | | | | | | | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
Rep. Mike Lawler's spokesperson said his opponent Mondaire Jones should "immediately apologize" for criticizing Lawler so heavily after the recent assassination attempt on Trump. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | HIGH VISIBILITY: Lawler, a swing district Republican, has been featured relatively prominently at this week’s convention in Milwaukee, even though he isn’t a delegate and has not endorsed Trump. (He has said he’ll support his party’s nominee.) The Hudson Valley House representative got a main-stage shoutout Monday from Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, to match the local Teamsters endorsement that he has secured, as Playbook has reported. Lawler’s rival, Democrat Mondaire Jones, latched on Tuesday to how the House member had positioned himself next to Stefanik in view of cameras (and the national spotlight) as she cast the Empire State’s 91 delegate votes for Trump. “This is all very gross. Mike Lawler masquerades as a moderate on television, but in reality, he votes and enthusiastically supports Donald Trump like an extreme MAGA Republican,” Jones said. “Donald Trump is responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, wants to raise prescription drug costs for seniors and is an enemy to democracy itself.” The Lawler-Jones matchup is expected to be one of the country’s most competitive House races this fall. Jones is one of several purple-district New York Democrats repeatedly outraising their Republican rivals, according to their latest campaign finance filings, POLITICO reported. Lawler campaign spokesperson Chris Russell noted the Republican has been ranked the fourth most bipartisan member of Congress and was lauded by O’Brien for working across the aisle. “Jones’ bizarre decision to spew divisive and inflammatory lies barely 48 hours after former President Trump was nearly assassinated shows how unfit for office Mondaire really is,” Russell said. “Despite widespread calls to tone down the rhetoric, including by President Biden and former President Obama, Mondaire can’t seem to help himself. It’s sad. He should immediately apologize.” — Emily Ngo MOLINARO’S POLL POSITION: Molinaro, a freshman House Republican, leads his Democratic challenger, Riley, by nine points, according to a polling memo that’s first in Playbook. Molinaro later today is set to release the findings of a survey conducted for his campaign by pollster Cygnal showing him leading Riley 47 percent to 38 percent in the district. Fourteen percent of voters are undecided. The poll in the battleground Hudson Valley House seat comes as Republicans are defending five seats in New York whose outcomes could determine which party controls the narrowly divided House. Molinaro, a former Dutchess County executive who ran for governor in 2018, is facing Riley in a rematch from two years ago. Riley, like his fellow Democratic House candidates in swing districts, outraised Molinaro this fundraising quarter. His campaign also launched its first TV ad this week, a bio-themed spot. Still, Molinaro’s campaign is confident enough to make the results public. The survey was conducted between July 9 and 11 — prior to the assassination attempt against Trump, an event that has galvanized Republicans. “Despite millions being spent on negative TV ads and lies against Marc in this cycle alone, our campaign has demonstrated exceptional resilience, reached significant milestones, and expanded our support,” Molinaro campaign manager Matt Organ wrote in a memo to supporters on the survey. The poll of 420 registered voters has a 4.7 percent margin of error. — Nick Reisman
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Who’s who from New York at the RNC and the DNC. (Gothamist) — Will anybody actually make Amazon follow the city’s parking rules? (Hell Gate) — Women in New York City are paid less than their male counterparts, even within the same jobs and after accounting for education and experience, a report finds. (Crain’s New York)
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