This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is getting involved in races early this year, and she’s not just sticking to New York City. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi can count on the Democratic socialist darling’s support in her upcoming primary against Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the Hudson Valley as AOC decided to turn on her congressional colleague. That she’d prefer Biaggi to Maloney is itself not a surprise, but Ocasio-Cortez’s involvement is perhaps moreso. But if Biaggi was looking to solidify her status as a progressive champion and not just a carpetbagger, this endorsement is sure to do it.

The Queens District Attorney’s office on Monday dropped murder charges against Churaman amid an 8-year battle. Churaman was 15 years old when he was arrested for the killing of 21-year-old Taquane Clark in 2014 and spent six years behind bars. An appeals court reversed his 2018 conviction in 2020. It was slated for a retrial in the coming weeks when prosecutors finally gave up the case. Churaman, 22, now plans to sue the city.

Cryptocurrency mining is officially on its way to being banned in New York – only for two years, if it’s proof-of-work mining, exclusively at fossil fuel power plants, and just for new licenses. And the biggest caveat? Gov. Kathy Hochul still has to sign the legislation passed at the 11th hour at the end of the state legislative session, and she’s been conspicuously noncommittal on the issue. Still, Kelles and Parker, sponsors of the moratorium bill, won the first part of a likely long fight with well-funded adversaries.

It came close, but Assembly Member Bobby Carroll couldn’t get the Build Public Renewables Act over the finish line in his chamber. It passed in the state Senate and advocates rallied to get enough votes to get the Assembly version passed, claiming that they had whipped more than enough “yes” votes – which apparently came as a surprise to Carroll himself. Perhaps if he had been paying closer attention rather than declaring the bill dead, he could have convinced leadership to bring it to a vote. 

The Western New York Congress member went out on a limb – and fell out of the tree. Jacobs was practically run out of the Republican Party after breaking from the party line to back an assault weapons ban, after the racist mass shooting in Buffalo. Seems that stricter regulations on guns are a line that the modern Republican Party won’t cross. Unlike, say, spreading “false flag” conspiracy theories about mass shootings, or seeming to praise Adolf Hitler, both done by Jacobs’ could-be successor Carl Paladino. 

New York Republicans have been caught in a frenzy spreading misinformation about voter fraud. But they’d have better luck rooting actual ballot fraud if they took a look within their own party, particularly in Rensselaer County. Amid a federal grand jury investigation into voter fraud in the region, Republican Troy City Council member Kim McPherson admitted to fraudulently submitting absentee ballots while running for re-election last year. Now, McPherson has lost her post and faces up to a year in jail.