New York politics delivered a week of surprises, and on this episode of From the Lobby, host Joanna Pasceri sits down with Jack O’Donnell, Managing Partner of O’Donnell & Associates, to unpack the fallout. Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado abruptly ended his primary challenge to Governor Kathy Hochul after failing to secure a ballot line at either the Democratic Convention or the Working Families Party. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris announced they won’t seek reelection, signaling deeper frustration in Albany. Mayors descended on the state Capitol for Tin Cup Day, with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani pressing for higher taxes on the wealthy to close a $7 billion gap and Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan making the case for upstate cities staring down deficits of their own. Meanwhile, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman launched his GOP gubernatorial bid with a stumble over his running mate, and the U.S. House passed the SAVE Act, a voting bill O’Donnell says is going nowhere in the Senate.
Joanna Pasceri
A lot of big news dropping in New York politics this week. A few curveballs, a notable exit and big demands from cash strapped New York cities. Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for joining us. From the Lobby with Jack O’Donnell, where we get to the bottom of the top headlines in politics and government with Jack, managing partner of O’Donnell & Associates. He’s plugged into what’s happening from Albany to city halls. Let’s bring him in. Jack, welcome back to the lobby.
Jack O’Donnell
Hi, Joanna. Another action packed week.
Joanna Pasceri
I know. Don’t blink. You might miss it. Hochul’s Lieutenant Governor ends his campaign for governor. It was a long shot, but what do you think was the final straw here?
Jack O’Donnell
I don’t know if it was a long shot. I think he missed. Right. I think he didn’t do some of the things that he had to be doing over the last year and a half since he announced his differences with Hochul and started to split. There’s been a real movement we’ve seen highlighted by Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City, but a lot of energy on the Democratic left. And it’s something that I think Delgado talked about, but I don’t know if he did enough to activate it. I guess I would also just say, I think we sort of covered this in depth in our memo last week. Hochul really flexed last week. She flexed her incumbency, her political power, her fundraising, her strengths. And it worked — not getting on the ballot either at the Democratic Convention nor at the Working Families Party. It meant Delgado would have to use all his resources just to try to get on the ballot. And if you’re spending all your money doing that, you’re not spending any money communicating with voters.
Joanna Pasceri
Well, over the past several days, there’s been other announcements, a number of them, that longtime powerful state lawmakers are not running for reelection. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate Mike Gianaris. So what is going on here in reality?
Jack O’Donnell
Legislators, politicians, most of them at least, they have the same frustration that the rest of us do with government and politics and what it’s come to. So I think the more fractured, the more nasty, the harder it gets to actually get things done, the more these guys get frustrated. Will Barclay is a really good guy, a friend of ours and someone who I respect, someone who’s done, I think, a really good job working both to support his members and their point of view, but also finding a way to partner at times, or at least be collegial with the Democratic majority, which is really tough in these times. Mike Gianaris has been an even longer time friend of this firm. We were friends when he first came to the Assembly. He and I once spent a New York City blackout in a hotel lobby together for several hours. I just have an enormous amount of respect for Mike Gianaris, who really has helped engineer the Democratic takeover of the state Senate, the expansion of that majority. Mike was sort of the technician and worked with the candidates and the consultants on the message and their polling and all those sorts of things. He’s taken them pretty far. Mike’s in a little different situation where he’s got a young family at home and I think wants to spend a little more time there. Both gentlemen will really be missed in Albany and certainly by me.
Joanna Pasceri
Well, legislative budget hearings continue in Albany, and recently mayors across the state converged on the state Capitol for what is called Tin Cup Day, looking for financial support from the state to help their struggling cities. Let’s start with New York City Mayor Mamdani, who asked for taxes to be raised on the wealthiest New Yorkers. He says it’s the only way to close his city’s big budget gap, which he now estimates will be about $7 billion over two years. That’s down from the projected $12 billion. Will he get what he wants?
Jack O’Donnell
I think he’ll have support in the legislature for that. We’ve seen support from the legislature over the last several years to raise taxes to pay for essential and other services. So I think he’ll get some support from that. Governor Hochul has been very clear that that is not something that she wants to or intends to do. I don’t think the personal income taxes is really going to get raised. I stand by Governor Hochul’s firm position on that. Are there other ways around? Is there some wiggle room about corporate tax rates? I don’t know. We’ll see as that gets negotiated. He also got into the weeds on a lot of things, talking about property tax reform in the city of New York and how you can change some of that. I was there for most of his testimony and some of the other mayors. It was mostly collegial, especially Mamdani’s — at times got so heated that it actually got shut down. But this is lively, and you could just see how good he is on his feet. It was worth watching.
Joanna Pasceri
What about other struggling upstate cities that you talked about, such as here in Buffalo, facing a growing $47 million deficit. How can the state respond in these desperate times?
Jack O’Donnell
There were a number of new mayors there. Mayor Sean Ryan, a former member of the legislature, was there. He was certainly greeted very cordially by some of his colleagues. And he also did well getting into the weeds about literally about sewers and discharge and consent decrees and clean water. I think he did a good job. There does seem to be a growing appetite in the legislature to increase AIM funding — aid and incentive to municipalities funds — and those would be very helpful to the upstate cities. The state and broadly the federal government have disinvested in cities over the last generation, some would say over the last two generations. So I do think there will be some efforts to redress that. But one of the things that I found a little disheartening is, you heard folks from these different cities say, well, that city got this last year and this city got the other thing. I do think they need to do a little better job working together and say, we all need this, we all need that. There was definitely some of that, but it’s just starting and I think that needs to build for them to be more successful.
Joanna Pasceri
Meantime, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman receiving the GOP endorsement for New York governor, but not before a misstep in naming a number two. His first choice, publicly released, turned down the job. Then Blakeman pivoted to Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood. Is this damaging at all to the campaign?
Jack O’Donnell
Well, let’s just say it doesn’t help. If you’re the Republican candidate for governor and you’re having trouble getting upstate sheriffs enthused about your candidacy, then you’re certainly going to face a broader enthusiasm gap when it comes to November. So I don’t think it’s long term damaging. We’ve also seen Governor Hochul has been on several choices here for LG over time, but it sure doesn’t help.
Joanna Pasceri
Got it. Well, let’s turn to Washington before we let you go. The House has passed the SAVE America Act, which would impose strict new voting requirements — requiring proof of citizenship before you can register to vote and significantly limiting mail-in voting. What is going on with this bill? Can it get passed in the Senate?
Jack O’Donnell
No. At least not right now. Look, could it serve as a basis for some negotiations around stronger rules, but also some trade for some Democratic votes for Homeland Security funding, possibly in the future. But so much of this comes out of President Trump’s oft-stated concerns about elections, comes out of some of his incorrect statements about fraud, statements that have been totally debunked by Democrats and Republicans as well as news organizations. So I don’t see this really moving forward. Polling says people like pieces of this and all of that may be true. But I do think the unpublicly stated goal here is to tamp down Democratic votes. And so for that reason alone, I think Democrats are going to stop it. And Republicans need Democratic votes to move forward with anything in the Senate.
Joanna Pasceri
Well, Jack, we look forward to reading more in your Monday Morning Memo.
Jack O’Donnell
Sounds great. Thanks, Joanna.
Joanna Pasceri
A lot is changing in politics this year, and it’s happening quickly. Stay ahead of it with us. Check out our 2026 legislative preview and executive budget overview on our website, odonnellsolutions.com, for a clear look at what’s coming and what it may mean for you. And don’t miss Jack’s Monday Morning Memo, a sharp no-paywall take on the biggest political and policy moves each week. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll be back soon from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
