Category: Politics

For nearly four years, Ken Salazar — the U.S. ambassador to Mexico under former President Joe Biden — grew increasingly frustrated with the White House’s border plan.

Salazar says he begged for a “border czar” to run point on interagency coordination; he never got one, and instead, the moniker was inaccurately and problematically affixed to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. He asked for the White House to openly call it a border “crisis”; the designation came too late.

Salazar became so distraught that by July 2024, three weeks after Biden’s disastrous presidential debate performance, he decided to take matters into his own hands: “I should run for president,” Salazar told himself, according to his forthcoming book, a copy of which POLITICO obtained before its July 28 release date.

“There was political failure to understand the reality of the crisis at the border, and the political consequence it would have on Democrats in the 2024 election,” Salazar told POLITICO.

Salazar doesn’t want his party to repeat the past. His book, Borderlands: My Fight for an Inclusive America, is part-memoir, part-manifesto. Salazar — the former Interior secretary, Democratic U.S. senator, and Colorado attorney general — makes a case for what he calls “a new North American alliance,” in which the U.S., Canada and Mexico integrate their supply chains, jointly patrol their shared borders and promote cultural and educational exchanges. He sees it as a revival of former President John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress.

But the book is also a warning to future 2028 Democratic presidential candidates.

Salazar is positioning himself as his party’s immigration whisperer, meeting with presidential hopefuls and pitching them on his “borderlands platform,” which says the U.S.’ borders are “broken” and “must be fixed.” He said in an interview that he’s already met with Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego about his plan, and he has a meeting scheduled with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. (Spokespeople for Kelly, Gallego and Pritzker did not respond to requests for comment.)

Salazar never followed through with his plan of running for president in 2024. Although he dialed up advisers and operatives and drafted out a platform, the Democratic Party did not hold a mini-primary to choose its new nominee after Biden dropped out. Instead, Biden hand-picked his successor, Harris — a decision Salazar calls a “mistake.”

Salazar writes that he consistently petitioned the White House to create a “border czar” position, allowing someone in Washington to run point on the interagency response to the immigration crisis. Harris, as vice president, had been tasked with addressing “root causes” of migration, and she devoted her efforts to addressing corruption in Central America. Salazar saw that as insufficient: “But sadly, her designation in this position was having no effect on migration flows,” he writes. He pressed several White House officials, and even Biden himself, to create the position. The designation never came.

“[Harris] had been placed in charge of getting at the ‘root causes’ of migration, but many felt she had been ineffective,” Salazar writes, suggesting perhaps she hadn’t been given enough authority or felt that taking more responsibility on the issue would be “political suicide.” “For whatever reason, she had been unable to help with the border and migration crisis, even though she’d sat next door to the Oval Office for almost four years.”

A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

Salazar’s book arrives at a moment when Americans view President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement with widespread pessimism. A POLITICO Poll in April showed that half of Americans — including one quarter of his 2024 voters — said Trump’s mass deportations campaign is too aggressive. But his border policy is still viewed favorably, and Americans still broadly trust Republicans over Democrats on immigration — a fact some Democrats chalk up to a “Biden hangover.”

It’s likely to kickstart a fresh round of recriminations within the Democratic Party, on the heels of former first lady Jill Biden’s new memoir detailing her husband’s exit from the 2024 campaign. Joe Biden is also expected to release a new book soon, though a spokesperson clarified that “the release date has not been finalized.”

Salazar, in his book, is candid about the failures of the previous administration — and how those shortcomings provided a window for Trump to ride a wave of voter frustration with immigration enforcement back into office.

His administration colleagues disappointed him on other fronts. In October 2023, when former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited Mexico, Salazar notes he pushed him for a consistent, White House-driven message on the border crisis. (“We used the word ‘crisis’ freely and often,” Salazar writes, “even if at that time the White House refused to acknowledge it as such.”) Salazar claims Mayorkas told him: “Ken, I have a lot on my plate already. I’m about to be impeached for all this border stuff. The Republicans have it out for me.”

Mayorkas declined to comment about Salazar’s characterization.

Salazar’s consistent efforts, and failures, to garner buy-in from the White House on addressing the border crisis led him to question how seriously his Democratic colleagues took the issue and how well they understood the U.S.’ relationship with Mexico. “I’m not sure this administration knows what they’re doing,” Salazar told his wife at the tail end of Biden’s visit to Mexico in 2023.

Finally, in June 2024, Biden issued an executive order that effectively closed the southern border, which Salazar cheered as a success. “This should have been a moment of vindication — after all, American voters were demanding action on the border — but it was too late, and images of an out-of-control border would dominate the closing months of the presidential election,” Salazar writes. (Last month, Mayorkas also implied the Biden administration should have taken that action sooner.)

The border was “antiquated, under-resourced, underdeveloped, insecure, and broken,” Salazar adds. “In this, Trump had been correct.”

It’s a warning sign to Salazar’s party both in this year’s midterm cycle and in 2028: Downplay voters’ concerns on immigration and the border at your own peril.

Salazar’s hope is that the Democratic Party’s next standard-bearer will take up his “borderlands” platform, which places the impetus for border enforcement upon all three North American countries. If no one does, though, he isn’t closing the door on a run himself.

Asked three times by POLITICO if he’s considering a presidential bid in 2028, he demurred. “I can’t see the future beyond the reality that we have a November 2026 election, and a lot’s going to happen this year,” he said. “Looking ahead, I want this borderlands platform to be part of that agenda for the future.”

Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed.

​Politics

Voters punished ruling parties across the globe in 2024. They are doing it again now.

The same voters who rejected their rulers without mercy on both sides of the Atlantic — throwing out Britain’s Conservatives after 14 years in power and humbling Democrats in the United States — are now poised to deliver resounding defeats to the very leaders they elected two years ago.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces the prospect of being ousted later this year if a key rival in Manchester can pull off a win in a special parliamentary vote next week. President Donald Trump, while locked into power until January 2029, appears to be barreling toward lame duck status with Democrats growing increasingly bullish about their midterm prospects in November — particularly in winning back the U.S. House.

And The POLITICO Poll suggests Western voters’ desire for political bloodletting hasn’t abated.

Building on previous work by Public First, the London-based firm that conducts the survey, a new analysis of May POLITICO Poll results show large shares of voters in both the United Kingdom and United States express deep cynicism about politics and a constant desire for radical change — suggesting the forces behind the backlash may still be potent, and that power switching hands this year may not be enough to quell them.

In America, 71 percent of adults say politicians only look out for themselves, including 79 percent of those who backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and 71 percent who voted for Trump. In the U.K., voters are similarly angry at politicians, who they blame for being unable to address a variety of issues, including cost of living and immigration. New results from The POLITICO Poll, conducted over the weekend, show a 56 percent majority of U.K. adults said the bigger problem with politics in the U.K. is the politicians who do not do the right thing, while just 15 percent blame the system itself.

That deep dissatisfaction has metastasized into a perpetual anti-incumbent frustration in recent years. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party had its worst result in a national election in several decades, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau stepped down amid growing voter frustration. Just since February of last year, the rulers of Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have all been ejected at key elections.

Now the U.K. is watching the vote in Makerfield next week, which may determine whether Starmer gets to keep his job amid public outrage at his handling of fallout from the Epstein scandal, and voter concerns about immigration, the economy and law enforcement. If Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, succeeds in being elected back to Parliament next week, it will almost certainly trigger a series of events that could end in the removal of the deeply unpopular Starmer as the head of the Labour Party — and prime minister.

The result could ripple across the Atlantic as Republicans face their own political headwinds ahead of the crucial November midterms in the United States.

“What we’re seeing is a cross-Atlantic disconnect between voters and electeds,” said Kevin Madden, a longtime GOP communications strategist in Washington and senior partner at Penta, a consulting firm.

“Voters in the U.S. are squarely focused on at-home domestic priorities and kitchen-table concerns like food, health care and housing costs. So when the headlines are focused on foreign conflict and disruptions to global markets, those will reinforce the disconnect.”

Deep cynicism in the UK spells trouble for Starmer

In 2024, the rejection of incumbents came amid a growing frustration over the cost of living and broader economic anxieties. Whether that backlash was a temporary response — or reflects an engrained dissatisfaction with political institutions — is a question now confronting leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, as affordability concerns continue to spiral.

In the U.K., the analysis from Public First finds a deep sense of political disillusionment. The firm developed a series of measures to understand that feeling of “anti-politics”, and cynicism stood out: Voters who believe politicians are self-serving, that political talk rarely leads to real action and that the public has little influence over what politicians actually do.

Nearly half of British adults — 45 percent — scored high on Public First’s cynicism scale; so did 37 percent of U.S. adults.

The findings underscore the challenge facing Starmer. New results from The POLITICO Poll conducted last weekend show nearly two-thirds of U.K. adults — 64 percent — said they don’t think Starmer will remain as prime minister until the next general election.

The center-left U.K. leader has suffered the most dramatic plunge in popularity of any prime minister in British history. Since winning a landslide victory just under two years ago, Starmer has seen his Labour Party fall to historic lows in opinion polls, while the nationalist right-wing Reform U.K. of Nigel Farage has stormed into the lead in polls and local elections, mirroring the success of insurgent populists across Europe.

Three-quarters of highly cynical voters in the U.K. hold an unfavorable view of Starmer, the Public First analysis of a May POLITICO Poll found — far higher than the national average.

The Makerfield by-election on June 18 will determine whether Burnham, Starmer’s chief internal rival, is elected as Labour’s representative, giving him the chance to challenge Starmer for the party leadership and potentially replace him as prime minister. Burnham’s main rival in the by-election is the Reform U.K. candidate — whose victory would likely end Burnham’s leadership ambitions, plunge Labour into unprecedented turmoil and send the national government into fresh disarray.

But Makerfield looks likely to be terrible for Starmer, whoever wins. Either it will be Burnham, who will then go to London to try to oust the prime minister, or it will be Reform U.K. — fuelling claims that Starmer has toxified his own party beyond repair.

Why Trump should be watching closely

It’s a cautionary tale for Trump, the Public First research found.

As Starmer confronts dropping favorability ratings, Trump’s own numbers have also plummeted — and the segment of cynical Americans may be as dangerous for the president as their British cohort is for the prime minister.

Among this group, 57 percent hold an unfavorable view of Trump and his agenda, compared with 48 percent nationally.

That could pose a challenge for Republicans heading into the midterms. Elections in the U.S. historically punish the party in power, and many Republicans are bracing for an even more difficult than anticipated midterm landscape, fueled by the mounting economic concerns and an unpopular war in Iran.

“The biggest mood shift is taking place among voters in the big middle,” Madden said. “These are the same voters that migrated toward Trump and the GOP in 2024 because they were nostalgic for a Trump economy and they rallied around a message focused on tackling inflation.”.

Sizable shares of cynical Americans hold negative views about the economy. Among these respondents, 52 percent say their financial situation has worsened since Trump took office in 2025 and 59 percent say Trump has spent too much time focused on international affairs rather than domestic issues.

Trump, who rode to power in 2024 in large part over voter dissatisfaction to the economy during the Biden administration, is now confronting a similar challenge. Recent polling finds voters increasingly blaming Trump for their financial pressures, even as he continues to cast blame to his predecessor.

Part of the problem for incumbents is that many people blame politicians — not the broader system — for their dissatisfaction, underscoring the challenge for the leaders as voters begin to turn on them. Nearly half of British adults, 45 percent, say the country keeps changing prime ministers “because none of them are any good,” while just 26 percent blame “big problems that not even a good PM could solve.”

As soon as leaders are elected by a frustrated, dissatisfied electorate to turn things around — as both Starmer and Trump were in 2024 — the clock begins to tick.

“Elections are so often now about which candidate can channel the frustrations of a cynical electorate,” said Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First, POLITICO’s polling partner.

“Republicans and Democratic candidates alike should pay attention to what is happening in the U.K.,” he said. “It is far harder to win over an antipolitical voter base when you represent the ‘politics,’ and given how fast Britain is working through Prime Ministers cynical voters seem to be getting more common and less patient.”

​Politics

Democrats aren’t done debating Graham Platner.

Platner’s decisive victory in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary quelled for now any serious discussion that he could be replaced as the party’s nominee in the wake of a recent bout of scandals. The party’s campaign arms were quick to indicate support for him after the race was called Tuesday night. Progressives took a victory lap while arguing their colleagues need to coalesce around the Maine nominee.

But a small yet notable faction of Capitol Hill Democrats still has qualms about the oysterman’s tumultuous past that has rattled some Maine voters — and what it could mean for their chances of defeating Sen. Susan Collins and taking back the upper chamber in November.

On Wednesday, several senators stopped short of outright endorsing Platner when asked by POLITICO.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a potential 2028 contender who has kept his distance from Platner so far, said he thought Platner can defeat Collins and that “the path for us winning back control of the Senate runs through Maine.” But he still declined to endorse Platner, saying that he’d yet to meet or speak with the nominee. Asked whether Platner had done enough to address his scandals, Kelly said the oysterman has “got things to explain.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who had previously endorsed Gov. Janet Mills in the Maine Senate race, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) also declined to endorse Platner on Wednesday. Cortez Masto rattled off other top Democratic targets in Iowa, North Carolina and Alaska, while Duckworth said she’s “focused on the Midwest.”

And Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), a frequent critic of his own party who has repeatedly raised concerns about Platner, said Maine Democrats have made their choice but “I would never [endorse Platner]. I’ll be a Democrat to refuse to carry water for that.”

Even Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who said Wednesday he would support all Democratic Senate nominees, suggested the oysterman still has “work to do” to address his scandals.

“The challenge that Platner has is the challenge that any candidate has, and it’s to address in a direct way both personal and political issues that are legitimate questions for the voters. He’s got to do that,” said Welch, who had also met with Platner last week to privately urge him to address voters’ questions head on. “Until the election is over, he’s got work to do, every day in every way.”

Not every senator traditionally endorses in every race. But Democrats’ chances of taking back the Senate hinge squarely on being able to defeat Collins, the only Republican senator seeking reelection this year in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024. The party has hoped to knock off Collins many times before only to come up short — and it’s now putting its hopes on Platner, whose campaign has electrified Maine and generated unprecedented grassroots support, but also faced a litany of controversies.

Continued Democratic division could be a boon for Republicans who are already launching into general-election attacks on Platner. Collins has repeatedly won reelection with a coalition that includes a substantial share of independents and Democratic voters, especially moderate women.

Platner’s rise came without the backing of the Democratic establishment: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recruited Mills, who suspended her campaign in April after poor polling and fundraising numbers.

The political newcomer’s ability to challenge the establishment was part of his appeal to Maine voters, as he argued the Democratic Party had lost its way and needed to return to its working-class roots.

Some well-timed endorsements helped Platner in key moments in his primary campaign. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) early backing helped put him on the map. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) gave his campaign a boost earlier this year as he faced renewed questions about a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. And Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) even helped him fundraise in the aftermath of the most recent allegations.

The New York Times last week reported that several of Platner’s ex-girlfriends alleged toxic patterns of behavior, including one who said he grabbed her in ways that left marks. Before that, his campaign acknowledged he had exchanged sexual messages with other women while married. Last fall, his uncovered Reddit history included numerous offensive comments. And Platner owned up to having a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, although he said he was unaware of its meaning.

Platner has denied being violent with women and has argued that his past poor behavior reflects a difficult time in his life, as he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the military.

“I’ve made mistakes in my life, mistakes that I regret, that I lived with, that I continue to learn from,” he said in a Tuesday night victory speech. “I’m still far from perfect, but every day I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before.”

Following his Tuesday primary victory, Platner’s Senate supporters urged their colleagues to rally behind him.

“They need to coalesce, they need to coalesce around Platner,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters on Wednesday, arguing Platner has “taken responsibility” for his past actions.

Sanders told reporters on Capitol Hill he was confident that Democrats would come around.

“Platner won a landslide victory last night, and I am quite confident that Democrats who want to regain the Senate will be supporting him as the Democratic nominee,” he said.

At least one lawmaker who had not previously endorsed Platner was ready to support him.

“Here’s a man who said ‘I made mistakes, I apologize for them, I am going to earn the trust of my constituents,’” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “That says a lot in contrast to the president, who never admits doing anything that is untoward, and who just blames everybody else, and who prosecutes people. I think Maine voters have expressed themselves and they’re willing to give him a chance.”

Other Democrats who had been skeptical of Platner’s viability in the general election — and had considered pressuring him to drop out — now appear resigned to him staying in the race.

“It was obviously a strong result for him which I think should quiet some of the immediate anxiety, but that will return if more revelations come out,” said one senior Democratic Senate aide, granted anonymity to discuss the race candidly. “Seems like even his supporters are not really defending the conduct, so [it’s] kind of incumbent on him to try to address more fully and move on.”

Another Senate Democratic aide, also granted anonymity to speak candidly about the race, agreed: “He weathered the storm, but is he out of it? Primary night didn’t answer that question. The next several weeks will determine whether this campaign is a referendum on his personal conduct or Susan Collins aligning with an unpopular GOP agenda that is hurting Mainers.”

Republicans have indicated they will try to make Platner’s controversies central to the race, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a pro-Collins super PAC launching ads that highlight some of the Democrat’s past Reddit comments. Platner, meanwhile, in his first general election ad on Wednesday, went after the “Epstein class” but did not mention Collins.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said her thinking on the race had not changed from a few weeks ago, saying she plans to “work with whoever the Mainers elect, period.”

“The way that this president has completely railroaded my Republican colleagues in this body, they don’t deserve to run a separate branch of government,” she said. “And if we want any chance of putting a check and balance on him that involves electing Platner.”

Asked whether Platner needs to do more to address his past scandals, Slotkin simply replied: “I just hope I’m not caught again live on TV answering the same questions about bad behavior.”

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

​Politics

MAJOR SHIFT: Last week’s conclusion of Albany’s legislative session left Democratic state lawmakers poised for the biggest shakeup in their ranks since they assumed one-party control in 2019.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes is retiring at the end of the year, opening up the No. 2 job for only the second time since Carl Heastie became speaker 11 years ago.

State Sen. Mike Gianaris is on his way out too. His departure will leave open the role of Democratic Senate Campaign Committee chair, which he’s held since he was a senator-elect in 2010. It will also pave the way for a new floor leader and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ deputy.

On top of that, Senate Democrats are about to become the first conference in state history to bump up against term limits.

Rules enacted in 2009 imposed eight-year caps on the majority leader and committee chairs. No party has remained in power long enough to be impacted since then, but the rules will soon apply to Stewart-Cousins and up to a dozen of her members.

“I’d probably have to,” state Sen. Liz Krueger said when asked if she’d vote to scrap the term limits. “Because it would mean Andrea couldn’t remain leader. And I do not actually accept the concept where Andrea doesn’t remain leader.”

Krueger is one of seven impacted chairs surveyed in recent months who unanimously said they want Stewart-Cousins to remain. But Democrats haven’t yet settled on what should happen to other top jobs.

“It’s really a question of ‘do you change all the term limits for everybody while you’re changing them for leadership, or do you allow for some new opportunities at the committee level?’” Investigations and Government Operations Committee Chair James Skoufis said. “I don’t know where I land on that.”

“The level of expertise I’ve developed, it’s not because I’m better or smarter than anyone else, I’ve just been in it longer,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera said of the “deep and dark and mysterious” realm of policy he oversees as Health Committee Chair. “I would be hard pressed to find somebody in the Senate who would be able to do the job on day one.”

Gianaris’ departure might lead to widespread shuffling, regardless. And while Krueger is running again, she missed the conclusion of this year’s session after an April stroke. It remains to be seen whether she’ll return to the grueling job of being the top Democrat on the Finance Committee as she’s been since 2011 — possibly leading to more musical chairs at the top.

Stewart-Cousins said she’s looking for a deputy “who can bring the same types of talents and skills that Sen. Gianaris has brought.” Names that came up in surveys of legislators and lobbyists include state Sens. Jamaal Bailey, Andrew Gounardes and Shelley Mayer. Still, there isn’t a widespread consensus.

There’s more agreement over who might replace Peoples-Stokes. Upstaters have held the job since 1979, providing some balance to speakers from New York City over the years. The pick will need to be somebody who can work well with Heastie, and conventional wisdom holds they should have a good amount of tenure. Over a dozen insiders mentioned the same three names as fitting each of those criteria: Syracuse’s Pamela Hunter, Rochester’s Harry Bronson and Albany’s John McDonald.

Heastie, however, isn’t making a firm commitment to tradition.

“The requirement that the majority leader comes from upstate, that’s more of a y’all thing,” he told reporters. “I inherited a great majority leader who happened to be upstate in Joe Morelle, one of my closest friends. And then Crystal was somebody I knew even before I was elected, and she’s been amazing. But I don’t know if I feel limited to if it’d have to be somebody from upstate. It could be Long Island, it could be the Hudson Valley — I haven’t even really thought about it.” — Bill Mahoney

From the Capitol

MONSERRATE LEADS PACK: The state’s Public Campaign Finance Board issued $1.96 million in matching funds payments Tuesday, marking the final day such outlays will be issued before the June 23 primary.

The scandal-plagued Hiram Monserrate was the state’s top beneficiary of public funds this week.

He’s running to return to the state Senate against the incumbent state Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas. Monserrate is the only sitting legislator to be removed by his colleagues in the past century, following his 2009 misdemeanor conviction arising from a domestic violence incident. Since then, this is his ninth comeback bid.

Overall, his haul trails the $348,000 in matching funds that Gonzalez-Rojas has received to date. Ramos has taken in $128,000 in recent months.

Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Bill Mahoney here.

FROM CITY HALL

BROKEN PROMISES?: Transit advocates are intensifying their pressure on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to set aside more money to lower bus and subway fares. Groups of straphangers, like Riders Alliance, are now portraying the mayor as a promise breaker if he doesn’t support an expansion of the Fair Fares program, which offers discounts to low-income New Yorkers.

“New Yorkers are hurting, especially low-income commuters whose work we all depend on, and this is the mayor’s last chance to lower costs for transit this year, after emphasizing the importance of affordable public transit for his entire career,” Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein said in a text message.

Free buses was one of Mamdani’s three most prominent campaign pledges — alongside child care for all and a rent freeze — but the one he’s seemed to make the least headway on.

Riders Alliance, along with City Council members Tiffany Caban, Shahana Hanif and others, is holding a rally at noon tomorrow outside City Hall to “demand” the mayor “keep his promise to lower costs” — more pointed language than advocates have used publicly in the past.

While Mamdani’s free bus plan is on hold in large part because Albany isn’t on board, the City Council has backed more money for Fair Fares. The mayor, however, is reluctant to take that path because he generally doesn’t support policies where access is based on how much money people make. — Ry Rivard

WORKING THE REFS: Mamdani has a bone to pick about the officiating at Monday’s NBA finals game, which the Knicks lost to the Spurs.

“Crime is going down in New York City, but what we saw the other night did feel criminal,” Mamdani quipped to reporters today. “You just look at the disparity on fouls that were being called. I think many New Yorkers came away from that game with a very clear reflection of the absence of fair refereeing.”

Despite the mayor’s fandom, Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks, released a statement Tuesday calling Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch “party poopers” for instituting tighter security for a watch party outside the arena tonight.

Asked about it, Mamdani said the level of security planned is “in line with the measures that the NYPD uses for gatherings of this size, whether it be July 4 or New Year’s Eve.”

“This team has brought an extraordinary amount of energy, pride, excitement to every corner of our city,” the mayor said. “We want this to be a memorable night for all the right reasons.”

A watch party scheduled outside MSG for Game 3 on Monday night was moved to Bryant Park thanks to President Trump attending the game.

Asked whether he holds Trump responsible for the Knicks’ loss, Mamdani laughed — but declined to blame the president.

“I’ve made clear my complaints about the refs,” Mamdani said. “I’m hopeful tonight we’re going to see a different game.” — Janaki Chadha

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

WHAT TWEETS?: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Mamdani’s pick to unseat Rep. Adriano Espaillat, has come under plenty of fire for her old social media posts.

Mamdani claims he hasn’t seen them.

The posts in question include tweets where Chevalier wrote “F—k Kamala Harris,” criticized black and Arab men for “fetishizing ugly colonizer women,” and described wiping her hand on the American flag. They’re the subject of an Espaillat ad in which a narrator says, “Meet the real Darializa, the one she tried to delete.”

Asked about her social media imprint, Mamdani told reporters, “No, I have not seen those tweets.”

“What I’ve heard from her, and what I know a lot of others in the district have heard from her, is that her views have evolved, and that the campaign that she’s running on is reflective of what she’s going to be fighting for,” Mamdani said.

The mayor has opted against endorsing in other races, including the one for the Manhattan congressional seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Gracie Mansion is in that district, and while Mamdani said he plans to vote in the Democratic primary, he has not yet decided on who he’ll back. The candidates include Assemblymembers Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg and Trump critic George Conway.

“I’m one of those classic yet-to-make-a-decision voters that frustrate campaigns so dearly,” the mayor said. — Janaki Chadha

IN OTHER NEWS

— THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM: Brad Lander says he is not endorsing fellow congressional challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier, despite putting out a joint “Mamdani’s team” ad with her. (Jewish Insider)

— DIY BALLOT LINE: Shut out of major third party endorsements, candidates for NY-21 Republican Anthony Constantino and Democrat Blake Gendebien are battling in court over the validity of their made up ballot line names. (Times Union)

— NO EASY EXIT: Uber is suing New York City to block a new driver protection law, arguing it would force the company to keep dangerous drivers on the road. (Reuters)

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

​Politics

David Flippo, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who earned President Donald Trump’s support, won the GOP primary to replace retiring Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei.

The race in Nevada’s 2nd District was a proxy war between Trump and prominent state Republicans, many of whom backed former state Sen. James Settelmeyer, including Amodei and GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo. Flippo ended up emerging victorious on Wednesday from a crowded, 13-person Republican field.

The victory continues Trump’s 2026 hot streak in GOP primary endorsements, marred only by a hiccup in last week’s Iowa gubernatorial primary. Trump backed Flippo in a Truth Social post in late May, less than two weeks before Election Day.

Flippo campaigned as a hardliner on immigration and transgender issues, and he slammed Settelmeyer as a “woke liberal” in ads. But Settelmeyer’s opponents took issue with Flippo, a longtime Las Vegas resident who only recently purchased property in Reno, attempting to run the state’s lone safely Republican district.

Amodei went as far as saying Trump “made a mistake” in a post on X.

But Flippo prevailed, riding support from Trump and Turning Point Action. He will enter November’s election as the heavy favorite in a district Trump won by 14 points in 2024.

​Politics

Graham Platner was far from establishment Democrats’ first choice to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins. But they’re lining up behind him now — even if some are doing so begrudgingly.

With votes still being counted in Maine on early Wednesday morning, Platner looked to be winning just shy of three-quarters of the Democratic primary ballots. The strong showing marks a stunning political journey for the oysterman despite his many scandals — and it’s likely to quell murmurs from national Democrats that he could be pushed to withdraw from the race and replaced by another candidate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had recruited Gov. Janet Mills for the must-win Senate race — only to watch her drop out in April after trailing Platner in polls and fundraising — expressed confidence in the oysterman’s candidacy Tuesday.

Still, he wasn’t exactly effusive and focused most of his attention on defeating Collins.

“Susan Collins has never been more vulnerable after she voted with Trump 96 percent of the time, confirmed his far-right judicial nominees, and took millions from special interests while voting to rip health care away from Mainers,” Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement. “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.”

Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with Democratic leadership, similarly sought to draw contrast between Platner and Collins.

“The difference between the two couldn’t be plainer: Platner’s agenda supports working people and families, while Collins upholds Washington’s status quo,” spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement.

Even avowedly centrist Democrats focused on the importance of defeating Collins and winning back Senate control — though they continued to hint their concerns that Platner could blow it for them.

“This is a must-win seat,” said Lanae Erickson, senior vice president at Third Way. “Susan Collins has done nothing more than carry water for Trump. If we fail to beat her this year, that’s an own goal.”

Platner’s resounding win might quiet some of his Democratic dissenters, but he’ll still have to hold together a broad coalition to defeat Collins and shore up Democratic and independent voters — a group the Republican senator has long overperformed with — who may remain skeptical of his candidacy in light of his many controversies. And the same Democrats who have been worried about his candidacy remain concerned that more hits might be coming about his past.

Republicans didn’t waste time unloading on Platner and his long list of scandals in a preview of what’s to come for the next five months.

“Platner is easily the most toxic candidate of the cycle and the fact that Democrats have embraced him in service of a radical socialist agenda has placed the final nail in the coffin of their chances to win Maine in November,” Republican National Chair Joe Gruters said in a statement.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a new digital ad contrasting Collins and Platner that highlights his tattoo and profile on the messaging app Kik, while the Senate Leadership Fund launched a website running through much of the opposition research about him.

Republican groups, led by the SLF and the pro-Collins Pine Tree Results PAC, have already booked nearly $70 million in TV ad time in Maine from now through the general election, according to data from AdImpact, which tracks political advertising. Democrat groups have $26 million booked so far.

Platner, in a victory speech in Blue Hill, Maine, on Tuesday night, argued that the focus on his past had proven to be the wrong strategy.

“The national pundits, the political establishment, they keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by,” he told a crowd of cheering supporters. “But in trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us.”

Progressives bet big on Platner, arguing establishment candidates were part of Democrats’ failed strategy against Collins in previous elections and that Platner’s insurgent candidacy was worth the risk. His campaign drew unprecedented grassroots attention in Maine, with large crowds attending his events across the state.

Progressives who had long backed Platner’s candidacy were taking a victory lap Tuesday night.

“Tonight should be a wake-up call for a Democratic establishment that has spent too long underestimating the appeal of economic populism and outsider politics,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which was an early endorser of Platner. “Platner’s November victory will set the Democratic Party on a bolder economic-populist course.”

Platner’s Tuesday primary win followed a tumultuous week for his candidacy. He enters the general election for one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races still shaking off the latest scandal: a New York Times report featuring accounts from several of his ex-girlfriends alleging disturbing past behavior. One woman also claimed Platner had known one of his tattoos resembled a Nazi symbol when he got it.

Platner denied ever being physically violent but admitted to being a “bad boyfriend” in past relationships. He has also denied knowing the tattoo, which had covered up last fall, was related to the Nazis.

The story, which came on the heels of reporting that Platner had exchanged sexual messages with women while married, ignited another firestorm surrounding his candidacy just days before the primary. Some Democrats immediately came to his defense — including fellow progressive California Rep. Ro Khanna, who appeared alongside Platner at a campaign event in Maine in the days following the allegations.

“We reject, unequivocally, misogyny. But you know who else rejects it? Graham Platner,” Khanna said at the rally. “He understood that those years that he came back were not the best years of his life.”

Khanna also told NBC News that Platner should apologize to the women.

Platner drew some more big-name support in the immediate lead up to the primary: Sen. Brian Schatz, likely to be the next Democratic Whip, held a virtual fundraiser for Platner over the weekend, his first public indication of support. Left-leaning Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota gave Platner a major boost on Monday amid the controversy, writing in a post that he would win “because he has connected with Mainers on what they really care about” and “because he’s not part of the Washington establishment.”

Still, others like Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, deflected on answering questions about the allegations and expressed deep frustration: “I look forward to the day where I am not answering every single week a question about bad behavior by another dude,” she told MS NOW this past weekend.

Not every Democrat was quick to line up behind Platner on Tuesday night. Mills, in a lengthy statement, did not mention the oysterman. Despite having suspended her campaign, she had reminded voters up until Election Day that she remained on the ballot.

“I am grateful to Maine people and incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together. I will continue to fight with everything I have to improve the lives and livelihoods of Maine people,” the two-term governor said.

Liz Crampton contributed to this report.

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Former Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson won the Democratic primary for the state’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, giving the party a serious candidate in its attempt to flip the red seat.

The northern Nevada district is currently represented by GOP Rep. Mark Amodei, whose retirement prompted crowded primaries on both sides. It encompasses Reno as well as numerous rural “cow counties” and was won by President Donald Trump by 14 points and 11 points the last two elections. The district has never been represented by a Democrat.

But Democrats are hopeful that this is the kind of seat that could become competitive in a large enough blue wave, as Nevada struggles under the weight of Trump’s economic agenda.

Beneitez-Thompson beat out seven Democrats in the primary, who mostly cast themselves as antagonists to Republicans in Washington and vowed to work to decrease high costs of living that have hit Nevadans particularly hard.

She served a decade in the state Assembly, finishing as majority leader. After she was term-limited in 2024, she worked as chief of state for Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running to challenge GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo. Before entering politics, Benitez-Thompson worked as a social worker and funded her college education with beauty pageant scholarships.

During the primary, she earned the influential endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for her vow to repeal right-to-work laws. She has also spoken out against federal funding cuts under the Trump administration that she says have harmed rural communities, like the U.S. Forest Service scaling back its presence in Nevada.

​Politics

MONEY TALKS: Sherif Soliman, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s budget chief, privately briefed members of the Democratic Socialists of America on the state of New York City’s finances last week — a move that could raise ethical concerns, according to a person at the meeting and a prominent government watchdog.

The meeting, billed as a “debrief” on the DSA’s “Tax the Rich Campaign,” was held on June 1 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Clinton Hill. An invitation to the event obtained by Playbook encouraged people to sign up to become dues-paying DSA members in order to participate in the briefing.

During the gathering, Soliman told DSA members he has “the privilege of working alongside our mayor to lead the Office of Management and Budget,” according to the person who attended the closed-door affair and was granted anonymity to divulge details about it.

“So I have the power of the purse,” the OMB director added, per that person’s retelling.

Soliman, the mayor’s lead negotiator in budget talks with the City Council, then delivered a 10-minute presentation on how Mamdani’s administration has plugged a multibillion-dollar municipal deficit this year using savings initiatives, state funding commitments and new revenue generators, including a new tax on wealthy homeowners, said the person.

Soliman’s participation in the DSA confab is a strong sign of the deep ties between Mamdani and the socialist group, which the mayor has said remains his “political home.”

A former city government official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about an issue he didn’t have direct knowledge of, said the briefing Soliman delivered sounds like the sort of detailed budget breakdowns mayoral administrations usually reserve for Council members as part of financial plan negotiations.

Under city ethics law, a non-elected public servant like Soliman cannot use “any city resources,” such as their “city title” or “city personnel,” for “any non-city purpose,” according to a municipal government handbook.

Richard Briffault, a former chair of the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, said there are scenarios where it’s okay under the law for senior municipal employees to deliver remarks in their official capacity at events hosted by political organizations.

But given that last week’s DSA forum included a membership drive component, Briffault said that Soliman’s participation — and use of his full city title — could raise legal concerns. “This strikes me as maybe on that line of using his title to promote a political organization,” he said.

Briffault said the situation would be even more serious if Soliman used municipal resources, like staffers or city government time, to help prepare for the briefing. If no city resources were used, he said, any violations at play would likely be minor.

“If there was anything wrong, it was likely minimally wrong,” he said.

Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec would not say whether Soliman — who delivered budget testimony before the City Council this morning (more on that below) — used city staff or other resources in preparation for his DSA presentation. She also would not say whether he consulted the Conflicts of Interest Board beforehand.

Pekec, however, did say it’s common for mayoral administration officials to “engage with a wide range of external stakeholders on matters concerning the city.”

Due to confidentiality protocols, the Conflicts of Interest Board doesn’t comment on possible ethical infractions involving individual city government employees.

Speaking in general, Carolyn Miller, the board’s executive director, said it “might” be an ethics law violation for a public servant to use their title in connection with a political club event where participants are encouraged to become dues-paying members.

“However, meetings of political clubs are also gatherings of City residents, and there may be circumstances where a presentation by a City official about a City policy issue (such as a DOHMH official speaking about virus transmission and prevention) would have a City purpose for which the use of City title would be appropriate,” Miller wrote in an email. — Chris Sommerfeldt 

From the Capitol

HOMAN SPEAKS: Trump administration border czar Tom Homan insisted today that the upcoming surge of ICE agents into New York won’t be like Minneapolis.

“You will not see a Minnesota,” he told SiriusXM’s Chris Cuomo in an interview. “I will not let Minnesota happen.”

Concern is high among Democrats that an aggressive enforcement effort in New York will create similar unrest that led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens earlier this year in the North Star State.

Flooding New York with federal immigration enforcement agents would be a different prospect, though — something Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has been bracing for since the start of the year.

Homan maintains that the stepped-up enforcement is needed after Hochul and the Democratic-led Legislature approved a package of measures meant to put legal guardrails around Trump’s deportation campaign.

The New York-focused push will be “well planned,” Homan said.

“It’s gonna be a controlled operation,” he said. “It’s gonna be a targeted enforcement operation. Every day we leave the office and we know exactly who we’re looking for, more likely where we will find them, because we have a targeted operation.”

On X, Hochul said the measures she backed would not provide “sanctuary” for dangerous criminals.

“We will continue working with federal authorities to target violent offenders,” she said. “But we will not stand by if ICE floods our communities with agents, separates families, and turns our neighborhoods into the backdrop for a campaign of fear.” — Nick Reisman

FROM CITY HALL

RED WHITE AND BLUE: French jets with red, white and blue exhaust plumes flew over the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty this morning as part of the country’s 250th birthday present to America. The Patrouille de France, the French equivalent of the Blue Angels, are touring the region and expected to be back in New York for a multinational armed forces review on July 4 that President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

During a Monday press conference at the French consulate on the Upper East Side, Brigadier General Pierre Gaudillière, head of the Liberté 250 mission, said planning for the flyovers began months ago to celebrate a military alliance that dates back to when the French provided aid to George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

“As Americans observe our 250th anniversary, it is especially meaningful to have one of our oldest allies helping us mark the occasion in our skies,” U.S. Air Force Maj. General Ricky Mills told reporters.

Asked about ongoing rifts over the Iran war, both Mills and Gaudillière emphasized ongoing cooperation.

“In some arenas of the world, we can share the premises where our forces are deployed and sometimes the missions differ for political reasons,” Gaudillièr said. “But there still is a very strong bond between the French and the American air and space forces.” — Ry Rivard

COUNCIL’S WISH LIST: Council Speaker Julie Menin telegraphed some of the body’s budget priorities during a four-hour hearing today.

The marathon session with the Office of Management and Budget nearly finishes the latest round of oversight hearings before lawmakers begin final negotiations with the Mamdani administration. The Council must then approve the final spending plan before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

“The Council and administration can agree to fund many programs for the success, health and safety of all New Yorkers,” Menin said before rattling off some of lawmakers’ top priorities.

She specifically name-checked the Fair Fares program, which provides discounted public transit fares to lower-income New Yorkers. She floated the idea of bringing the budget for the Department of Parks and Recreation in line with historic spending. She wants to expand the New York City Kids RISE program, which helps young New Yorkers start scholarship funds early. And Menin wants to funnel more money to oversight agencies like the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Department of Investigation.

While Mamdani just got through precariously balancing the city’s finances with a major assist from Albany, Menin’s beancounters predict the city will have around $2 billion in even more revenue this fiscal year and next to pay for some of the Council’s asks. — Joe Anuta

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

ZONED OUT: Assemblymember Grace Lee’s sleek white Tesla has accumulated two dozen parking, bus-lane and speed-camera tickets around the city over the past three years — and her car-less political opponent is trying to make it an issue as they compete for an open Lower Manhattan state Senate seat.

Records from howsmydrivingny.nyc show Lee’s vehicle has been fined $1,800 by the city in the last three years. Four of the six school-zone speeding tickets her car has received came at the exact same location — right by P.S. 97 at FDR Drive and East Houston Street, which is located in the senate district she’s running to represent. She also snagged a parking ticket for the “misuse” of her Assembly parking placard, something Niou said indicates her callous attitude toward the law.

“People make mistakes, but abusing her placard and getting six school zone speeding tickets in just the last three years, seems like she doesn’t care about the danger and doesn’t believe that the law applies to her,” former Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, who is challenging Lee for retiring state Sen. Brian Kavanagh’s seat, told Playbook in a statement.

Lee was part of previous pushes to tighten restrictions on drivers in the state and city. She joined city officials in 2024 to applaud the lowering of speed limits in the city, and the same year appeared with Hochul to celebrate a state law expanding red light camera programs.

“In Lower Manhattan, where heavy traffic and busy pedestrian areas meet daily, these expanded and newly established programs will reduce accidents and hold reckless drivers accountable,” Lee said at the time. “Together, we are building safer streets for all New Yorkers by protecting lives and preventing tragedies.”

Lee’s campaign spokesperson Austin Shafran responded to Niou’s attack in a statement.

“This attack reeks of desperation from a flailing candidate who’s been absent from the community and doesn’t have much of a record of public service to run on,” he said. — Jason Beeferman

IN OTHER NEWS

— BLANK SLATE: After pressure from Mamdani and tenant organizers, a landlord agreed to forgive millions of dollars in back rent for 5,100 apartments. (Gothamist)

— MOM AND POP: A Long Island official is pushing a resolution that would require the use of the words “mother” and “father” in town code in response to a state bill on surrogacy that seeks to remove those labels. (New York Post)

— UNEQUAL BURDEN: A new report finds New York City’s property tax system, which Mamdani campaigned on fixing, places the tax burden more on rent-stabilized buildings than high-end homes. (The City Reporter)

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

​Politics