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Just last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul and her lieutenant governor overwhelmed their opposition and easily won the Democratic primary for governor and lieutenant governor in New York. Hochul won 68 percent of the vote and Antonio Delgado, her most recent election as lieutenant governor, won 61 percent, finishing well ahead of rivals on the left and right. While the most conservative Democrats trailed the furthest, it was an anemic performance for the progressive ticket, which once again failed to win a statewide election.
Jumaane Williams, the public prosecutor of New York City, competed in the governor’s race last year to a great deal of fanfare after missing a chance to run for mayor. Williams is one of the rising stars of New York politics, a black progressive who has built multiracial coalitions and developed close ties with leftists and moderates alike. Impressive enough to have won the mayoral race had he faced Eric Adams, Williams instead opted to run statewide a second time, hoping to build on a surprisingly strong showing in 2018 when he ran for lieutenant governor and came within 10 points of defeating Hochul, who was then Andrew Cuomo’s little-known running mate.
The Working Families Party quickly backed Williams, as they did four years ago, and waited a while before recruiting a running mate, prominent activist Ana María Archila. Archila began campaigning in March and briefly appeared in good standing after Hochul Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin was accused of corruption. To throw Benjamin out of the ballot, Hochul urged the state legislature to change the electoral law. Albany’s Democrats caved in to Hochul, and she got a much better replacement: Delgado, a battle-hardened congressman from the Hudson Valley. When Delgado joined Hochul’s ticket, Archila’s chances of winning dropped. The Working Families Party, which oversaw Williams and Archila’s campaigns, had no counterattack.
The biggest challenge for any national left campaign in New York is money. Local campaign finance laws are shockingly lax, allowing wealthy donors, corporations and big unions to dominate elections. Individual donors can give tens of thousands of dollars to a single candidate. Cuomo repeatedly won this way, wiping out rivals by spending tenfold or more. Hochul did the same, raising more than $30 million from the real estate industry, Wall Street, gambling interests and everyone else who had done business before New York State. She was constantly on TV. Williams and Archila have been largely absent from the airwaves.
In the age of digital fundraising, some progressives have gotten better at raising cash. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who supported Archila but not Williams, is an amazing fundraiser. Bernie Sanders has surpassed Joe Biden in 2020. However, fundraising in small dollars has yet to spur the less glamorous, far-reaching nationwide campaigns. The Working Families Party never seemed to have a plan to make Williams competitive with Hochul. No challenger can muster $20-$30 million, but $5 million would have been enough to consistently run TV and digital ads. Williams, who struggled with personal challenges throughout the campaign, was not active on the trail and never seemed to prioritize fundraising. Weeks before the campaign, he had less than $200,000 to spare, a paltry sum for any candidate in a high-profile contest. At this point, defeat was a foregone conclusion.
What is so disheartening for the left is Williams’ poor performance. He ended with just 19 percent of the vote — far less than the previous two progressive national campaigns against Cuomo could achieve. In 2014, Attorney Zephyr Teachout captured more than 30 percent and won a large number of upstate counties, including Albany. In 2018, actress Cynthia Nixon failed to expand Teachout’s coalition, but at least managed to repeat her performance and top 30 percent. Both women did well in the liberal Hudson Valley and Albany-area counties.
Hochul, who is less polarized than Cuomo, won all 62 counties against Williams. She beat him everywhere: council housing on the outskirts, affluent suburbs, and rural farmlands were all Hochul territory. Delgado similarly dominated Archila. There was no corner of the state where the progressive ticket was viable. Few boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens offered Williams overall wins.
