This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Back in the spring, Brooklyn’s newest City Council member-to-be danced on her opponents’ metaphorical graves after kicking them off the primary ballot. But after quietly winning an uncontested election, the nonprofit housing director was sworn in this week, finally filling the Cypress Hills seat vacated by Rafael Espinal in January. First challenge: meeting the other 50 members over Zoom. Second: running for reelection all over again in six months.

House Democrats have chosen the swing-district New York member of Congress to lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He’ll be working to elect members of a caucus that is fiercely divided over why its House majority shrunk, and he can look forward to guiding incumbents and new candidates alike through a midterm with brand-new, potentially unfavorably drawn House districts. Sounds like a walk in the park.

Nearly a month after the election, New York state Senate races are still being called. Last week, just as legal challenges were set to begin regarding ballot disputes, incumbent Jen Metzger conceded to Republican Mike Martucci in the 42nd District. Then this week, Republican Alexis Weik collected the 3rd District seat as state Sen. Monica Martinez conceded. But it’s not all roses for the Republicans: The Senate Democrats’ supermajority was solidified with a historic victory in Central New York for high school teacher John Mannion, the first Democrat to clinch a victory in the 50th District in more than 50 years. 

The Cuomo Show is back three days a week this holiday season, but even regular appearances don’t mean the governor is going to repeat his springtime success as #PresidentCuomo. Republicans are mocking his public health efforts. He might’ve blown it for fellow governors after the U.S. Supreme Court smacked down his religious gathering restrictions. Then there are those recent episodes featuring alleged hypocrisy by having his mom over for Thanksgiving, ignoring his own state’s hiring freeze and not wearing masks while bragging about being great about masks. Not exactly the makings of another Emmy-winning performance.

Here are two things that don't mix well together: crack cocaine and car chases. This upstate village mayor learned that lesson the hard way. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department working with Homeland Security moved to arrest Massena Mayor Tim Currier after getting a tip about him and drug sales. But Currier tried to flee in a short and slow car chase that lasted only a third of a mile. Before he gave up the escape, he allegedly tossed a gram of crack out the window. And to think, this guy also used to be the village’s police chief. 

Imagine you’re overseeing an election separated by just 12 votes, and you, say, find 55 ballots you never counted after submitting a final vote total to the judge. Where were they, stuck in the couch cushions? Chenango County Election Commissioners Carol Franklin and Mary Lou Monahan couldn’t explain where they’d been in the contentious and confusing race for the 22nd Congressional District. But it’s just the latest in a series of screwups in the race – Oneida County election officials instigated “Stickygate” after sticky notes with crucial ballot information went missing, and Herkimer officials quietly had to fix a tabulation error that could have swung the election.