Month: August 2025

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is warning President Donald Trump and Republican governors that if they go forward with redistricting proposals, he will also implement mid-decade redistricting efforts in his state.

In a letter to the president Monday, Newsom said California “cannot stand idly by” as Texas — and other GOP-led states — attempt to follow Trump’s directive to create Republican-favored congressional maps.

“If you will not stand down, I will be forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in red states,” Newsom said. “But if the other states call off their redistricting efforts, we will happily do the same. And American democracy will be better for it.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Newsom’s letter comes as the battle over the Texas congressional map has begun to spread to other states, including Indiana.

With Democrats needing to flip just three seats to reclaim a House majority, Trump pressed the Texas Legislature to draw a new map that would give Republicans an additional five congressional seats. Democrats around the nation condemned the effort even as Texas officials began to move forward with a plan. Texas Democrats have left the state to avoid voting on the new map, with some settling indefinitely in California.

Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, headed to Indiana last week to urge Republicans in the Hoosier state to also create a new map. Separately, Ohio is mandated to redraw districts in the state, while talks are underway in Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. In total, Republicans could gain 10 or more seats ahead of the midterms.

Newsom on Monday called the efforts “hyper-partisan” and an attempt to “rig” upcoming midterm elections.

“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” Newsom wrote. “This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy.”

While Democrats have previously threatened to gerrymander their own maps if Republicans move forward with theirs, no moves have been made yet.

In his letter, Newsom said district maps should be drawn by “independent, citizen-led efforts.”

In a Monday afternoon interview with Fox News, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to escalate his state’s redistricting plans if Newsom moves forward with retaliatory redistricting.

“If California thinks they’re going to move their needle to the extreme and eliminate five Republican numbers of the United States Congress there, Texas is not going to do five: We will add 10 more Republican seats using the same procedure they are using in California,” Abbott said.

Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.

​Politics

It wasn’t just 2024: the Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is signaling a more permanent realignment by donating to battleground Republicans in the upcoming midterms.

For the second year in a row, the labor union’s political arm donated to the Republicans’ House campaign arm after nearly two decades of mostly backing Democrats. The labor union’s D.R.I.V.E political action committee — Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education — gave the National Republican Congressional Committee $5,000 in the second quarter.

In addition to giving to the NRCC, Teamsters doled out a combined $62,000 in contributions to nearly two-dozen GOP congressional candidates, including in significant battleground districts:

• Rob Bresnahan, Mike Kelly and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
• Pete Stauber and Tom Emmer of Minnesota
• Nicole Malliotakis, Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler of New York
• Jefferson Shreve of Indiana
• Dave Taylor, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli and Dave Joyce of Ohio
• Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith of New Jersey
• David Rouzer of North Carolina
• Tom Barrett of Michigan
• Blake Moore of Utah
• Darin LaHood and Mike Bost of Illinois
• Troy Nehls of Texas
• Vern Buchanan of Florida 

The group also gave this year to GOP Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jon Husted of Ohio, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
And it’s not just Congress: the Teamsters’ political arm donated $50,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association this past June.

“Our members are working people whose interests cut across party lines,” Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, told POLITICO. “And there’s no value in living in a bubble … where you only talk to certain people to the exclusion of others.”

The group hasn’t forsaken Democrats — it still gives them more, including $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in April.

“Congressional Republicans have betrayed America’s workers and union members by selling out our communities for the GOP’s billionaire backers,” said DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton. “House Democrats will continue to work hard to earn the support of unions and their members who have built this nation and will be critical in our comeback to victory next year.”

But the GOP donations signify a marked shift in the pivotal labor union’s strategy since 2024, when Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien delivered a historic address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and his outfit began more seriously supporting Republicans.

It comes as O’Brien has sought to reach out beyond the union’s traditional audience — and union members themselves are more open to backing Republicans. He recently hosted Ramaswamy on his podcast, and sat with The Free Press for an interview with Bari Weiss.

And it’s a warning sign for Democrats that their labor support — long a keystone of their base — continues to erode, as President Donald Trump chisels away at it in his effort to remake the GOP as a working-class party.

“Labor unions are finally recognizing the fact that their memberships are made up of workers from across the political spectrum,” said Bresnahan, who received $5,000 from the Teamsters and whose grandfather was a member of the IBEW.

Last year, the Teamsters donated $25,000 to the NRCC and gave $45,000 to the RNC in an effort to diversify their support as their rank-and-file members move rightward.

“Hard-working men and women across the country are rallying behind Republicans up and down the ballot because we fight for their jobs, their families, and their future,” said NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella. “Democrats have abandoned them for their deeply out of touch, radical policies. We’re bringing these voters home, and they will be key in growing our House majority.”

​Politics

With help from Amira McKee

MAMDANI’S BIG FOIL: Affordability was at the center of Zohran Mamdani’s primary campaign for New York City mayor. Donald Trump is the focus of his general election bid.

The Democratic nominee launched a five-borough tour “against Trump” on Monday to amplify how he believes the president will bring harm to New York City — and why he thinks he should be elected to lead the vanguard.

He’s also tying opponents Andrew Cuomo, Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa closely to Trump, adopting a classic Democratic general election playbook by casting two fellow Dems and the GOP nominee as the president’s favored picks.

Mamdani’s recalibration comes as Trump announced he’s activating the National Guard to respond to crime in Washington, D.C., listing New York and Chicago among the cities that could be next in line.

It also follows a New York Times story about how Trump has talked with Cuomo as the president considers involving himself with the election. Cuomo has denied discussing the race with Trump.

“We see far too many parallels between Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo, far too many stories that make clear that both administrations have been characterized by corruption, by a sense of impunity,” Mamdani told reporters Monday at the offices of 1199SEIU, which endorsed Cuomo in the primary but is backing Mamdani in the general election.

The young state assemblymember who stunned the Democratic establishment by defeating Cuomo in June — despite the former governor’s universal name recognition and a $25 million PAC in his corner — now faces the task of winning the November election by a hefty enough margin to bolster his mandate. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is still seeking the endorsements of party leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

But with or without them, he’s going after Trump — and anyone he argues would be used by Trump against New Yorkers.

He noted Monday that Cuomo conversed with Trump, Adams’ criminal fraud case was dropped at the urging of the Trump administration and that Sliwa shares a political party with the president.

“My administration will be Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” Mamdani declared just last week, arguing his policies will lift up the same working class voters the president has left behind with cuts to health care and food benefits.

Trump has questioned Mamdani’s citizenship, vowed to arrest him if he interferes with federal agents’ crackdown on illegal immigration and threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani doesn’t “do the right thing.”

Cuomo, making another bid for mayor after losing by nearly 13 points in June to Mamdani, has argued that Trump would step all over Mamdani. Cuomo said he already stood up to Trump as governor during the Covid pandemic.

“Trump will flatten him like a pancake,” Cuomo posted on X. (He used another food simile in a June primary debate, saying Trump would cut into Mamdani “like a hot knife through butter.”)

Adams, the incumbent mayor, has said he is not beholden to anyone, including the president. He has insisted that he seeks a working relationship with Trump for the benefit of the city.

And Sliwa, the longshot Republican making a repeat bid for mayor, has no direct relationship with Trump at all. In fact, the GOP nominee has encouraged Trump to stay out of the race for mayor.

“Comrade Mamdani is the American people’s worst nightmare,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded Monday, charging that Mamdani’s policies will tank the economy, increase crime and favor undocumented immigrants over American citizens. — Emily Ngo

PROGRESS IN READING AND MATH: The nation’s largest school system saw notable gains in reading and math scores this year, but disparities persist among Black, Hispanic and disabled students, according to results announced by New York City officials today.

About 56.3 percent of third through eighth graders were proficient in English during the 2024-25 school year, a 7.2 percentage point increase from the previous year, according to the latest data. Last school year’s figures represented a nearly 3 percentage point decrease from the year before — and coincided with the rollout of a new reading curriculum.

Math scores continued to rise, with 56.9 percent of students meeting standards, compared to 53.4 percent last year and 49.9 percent in 2023.

Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos acknowledged there were some “implementation hiccups” in the beginning.

“These numbers are telling us — both in [NYC] Reads and [NYC] Solves — that we’re heading in the right direction, but work still needs to be done,” she said in an interview. “So this is just fueling us to do better. It’s by no stretch of the imagination a time for us to rest.”

The percentage of Black, Hispanic and English language learners, as well as pupils with disabilities, scoring proficiently remain disproportionately low despite increases.

About 43 percent and 43.1 percent of Black and Hispanic students, respectively, demonstrated mastery of math, compared to 38.4 percent and 39.7 percent the previous year.

Aviles-Ramos called the persistent discrepancies “unacceptable” but also touted the improvements.

“They are huge increases and we beat pre-pandemic levels and so we know that what we’re doing is working,” she said. — Madina Touré

CUOMO’S ZOHRAN LAW PUSH: Cuomo promoted “Zohran’s Law” today, his new plan to block wealthy people from living in rent-stabilized apartments.

His proposal — while clearly political in origin — comes with a big practical question mark: Just how eager would the Democratic-dominated state Legislature be to work with Cuomo to pass such a measure if he were elected mayor?

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said the changes could be enacted if Albany agreed to repeal the Urstadt Law. “If that was successful, we could do that at the city level,” he said.

The law, a measure enacted during Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s tenure, gives Albany control over rent rules. Progressives have spent decades demanding Urstadt’s repeal, but their push has been met with long odds, with most Albany lawmakers over the past half century hesitant to give up the power to control housing rules, as well as donations from landlords who have historically been the state’s top campaign contributors. Even progressive legislators who’ve supported repeal in the past would likely be hesitant to move forward if it meant giving Cuomo more power.

As governor, Cuomo floated repealing the law when he attempted to force real estate groups to the table during housing talks in 2011, according to testimony in former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ corruption trial. But he never publicly championed giving up that power while governor.

“There are people running for governor right now and I don’t know where they stand on Urstadt, including Gov. Cuomo,” then-City Councilmember Jumaane Williams said in 2014. “I would like to know where he stands on repealing Urstadt and bringing Urstadt back to New York City.” — Bill Mahoney

— MAMDANI’S PUBLIC SAFETY: Mamdani’s vision for a new Department of Community Safety shows promise, but public safety experts say transferring NYPD duties to the proposed agency could pose an administrative challenge. (Gothamist)

— SHUTTERED SHELTERS: New York City real estate developers are looking to convert closed hotel shelters into residential apartments. (The Wall Street Journal)

— ICE CAPITAL: New York City is leading the nation in immigration courthouse arrests by ICE authorities. (THE CITY)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

​Politics