This week's biggest Winners & Losers

There’s a new sheriff in town, whether Republicans like it or not. Monroe County Clerk Adam Bello hasn’t even taken office as county executive yet, and he’s already fended off a power grab from the county’s majority Republican legislature. After Bello, a Democrat, was elected to replace Cheryl Dinolfo as county executive earlier this month, local lawmakers introduced a measure to limit the power of the executive, but promptly withdrew the act after facing significant pushback – a promising start for Bello.

Tedra Cobb transformed from a zero to a Democratic hero overnight – all thanks to her rival. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s role as the GOP's latest anti-impeachment star drove a cool $1 million to Cobb's upstate congressional campaign in just one weekend. Cobb’s unsuccessful bid last year, for comparison, brought in just over $1.5 million. Even "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill and celeb Chrissy Teigen chipped in support for the candidate who has new hope for her otherwise uphill campaign.

It’s time for pre-K teachers employed by community-based organizations across the New York City to celebrate after Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced pay parity for early childhood education teachers on Monday. The measure, long advocated for by employees union DC37 and its executive director Henry Garrido, will close the wage gap between the city’s pre-K teachers working at CBOs and those employed by the Department of Education, raising standard salaries of CBO employees by over $10,000 during the next two years. 

Who run the world? Well, not Rep. Carolyn Maloney, but she does now run the House Oversight Committee, the first woman to do so. And that’s not too shabby. Maloney took up the chairmanship following Rep. Elijah Cummings’ death in October in an interim fashion, achieving permanent status after a Democratic caucus vote. Her new position makes her one of the key leaders in the impeachment inquiry, teeing her up to be the latest New Yorker to be in the impeachment spotlight. For her sake, let’s hope her performance doesn’t lead to a surge of donations those looking to unseat her (see Tedra Cobb).

After some serious grillingduring a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was able to get Ambassador to the European Union Gordon D. Sondland to admit that a Ukranian investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden would benefit President Donal Trump . Sure, the congressman lost a race to become the state’s top prosecutor, but he did get a nice round of applause and national recognition for getting Sondland to succumb to his persistent questioning. 

The two lawmakers were flying high until Gov. Andrew Cuomo fowled up their plans to establish a Bird-Friendly Building Council that would develop strategies for saving birds from the scourges of glass buildings. Cuomo fancies himself as a budget hawk of sorts, and a gubernatorial veto shows who is who in the legislative pecking order. However, Cuomo might be singing a different tune next year if the lawmakers can summon their legislative flocks to override his veto. 

CoJo has been anti-lulu since before he even took office in 2014. But now that he’s New York City Council speaker, the practice of giving stipends to certain favored members has continued. Sure, fewer members get money than before, but that just makes the ones that get it stand out. And it makes you wonder why the City Council’s golden boy is the golden goose for black sheep Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. 

Reps. Max Rose, Anthony Brindisi and John Katko and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul are known for their penchants for parochial issues. Now, they have teamed up as part of a (definitely unofficial) all-star team of elected officials coming to bat for the Batavia Muckdogs, Auburn Doubledays and Staten Island Yankees – who are among the roster of minor league teams that Major League Baseball wants to eliminate. MLB commish Rob Manfred better be careful or he might get hauled before a congressional hearing – or disinvited from a future ribbon-cutting.

If your college is trending in the news, and your football team hasn’t done anything major lately, then it’s probably a cause for concern. For Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud, it certainly is. SU made headlines for a series of racist incidents, including an anti-Semitic email, racist graffitti and reports of a white supremecist manifesto sent to students’ phones. That’s a lot for Syverud to deal with. And not well, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who criticized the chancellor’s response to the campus crisis while calling for an independent probe of the incidents. At least that manifesto seems to be a hoax.

According to New York City’s ride-hail companies, new ride-hailing regulations have put some considerable strain on business. But the only real loser to emerge so far is Dave Waiser, CEO of the ride-hail company Gett, which shut down operations of another company it owns, Juno, citing New York’s “misguided regulations.” It’s just what the doctor ordered for the tech industry: less competition.