Hochul and Jay Jacobs look to boost congressional campaigns

With about 100 days left before the November elections, the state Democratic Party is ramping up a coordinated campaign to help congressional members around New York. It marks a shift for a party apparatus that has historically acted as little more than part of the incumbent governor’s campaign machinery, and politicians in the state see it as a welcome change.

The coordinated campaign has already hired 65 staffers, with plans to hire at least 80 total by mid-August, according to a new planning memo that the state party released on Monday. Of those, 50 will be field organizers specifically. Additionally, the party will open 35 campaign offices in the seven battleground congressional districts Democrats are hoping to protect or flip. 

The over $5 million effort is headed up by Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, along with state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs. Hochul, who has raised over $5.5 million for the state party since the start of 2023, is providing the bulk of the cash – over $3 million – for the new coordinated campaign. This is on top of a $45 million effort from the Jeffries-allied House Majority PAC to boost candidates in swing races in New York.

The state party usually doesn’t get directly involved in non-gubernatorial elections, and its involvement in the coordinated campaign represents a change in strategy. “(I) had not felt like we really had much of a state party before this cycle,” said former Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is running against Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the Hudson Valley’s 17th Congressional District. Jones said the effort has been “remarkably helpful” so far in his own campaign, and he praised Hochul for her part in leading it. “It shows the governor’s responsive to political realities,” he said, adding that Hochul will “get to take credit” for helping to flip seats if the campaign is successful. 

Hochul found herself in Democrats’ political crosshairs in the wake of 2022, when she and the state party were blamed for disastrous election results in New York that played a large part in Democrats losing the House. The coordinated campaign is a high-profile attempt to avoid getting caught flat-footed again and followers overtures from other top Democrats to bulk up the state party apparatus. “This is not rocket science, this is something that is long overdue,” said Rep. Grace Meng, a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Many other states, or state parties, have efforts like this… so I’m just thrilled it’s finally happening.”

In many ways, the statewide campaign builds on the efforts that helped propel Rep. Tom Suozzi to victory in a special election earlier this year. His campaign united a broad coalition of supporters and attracted a ton of money, resulting in a solid victory for Democrats in the first congressional race of the year. Suozzi is now one of the incumbents the party is hoping to protect. 

Meng said that the coordinated campaign began with local races in 2023. The planning memo states that Democrats made “extraordinary gains” in the off-year elections and that the state party has “deployed staff and volunteers” in key areas since the summer of 2023. That year, the state Democratic Party spent half a million dollars on mail and voter outreach efforts and hired campaign staff in different parts of the state. 

The party had mixed success in 2023. At the time, Hochul declared the cycle a victory for Democrats, with a memo from her campaign saying that the “investments paid dividends.” She cited successes like flipping the Columbia and Dutchess Counties district attorney seats, flipping the Monroe County Legislature and gaining a supermajority in the Rockland County Legislature. Several of those victories were in communities that make up the congressional districts now in play. But it was hardly a clean sweep for Democrats. Republicans once again dominated on Long Island, knocking out the last bastions of Democratic power in the region that is home to four congressional seats.

Still, Suozzi’s early success has given Democrats reason for hope on Long Island, and the party is now moving aggressively with the coordinated campaign. Meng said she hopes that it will lead to lasting changes to how the state party operates. “I want to see longevity here,” she said, adding that Hochul has been integral to getting that ball rolling. “I think she understands the need to expand the reach of the state party, and she’s been very helpful.”

According to the planning memo, the coordinated campaign has already attracted over 3,000 volunteers so far with the help of organized labor and other allies. Those volunteers have knocked on more than 25,000 doors this month alone, and organizers plan to reach about one million voters before the election.