National Democratic group spotlights state Senate campaigns

Two state legislative races in New York are gaining national attention as the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee highlights the first two candidates in the state. 

The nationwide group, an official arm of the Democratic Party dedicated to electing Democrats in state houses across the country, announced on Thursday that it will spotlight state Sens. Iwen Chu of Brooklyn and Lea Webb of the Southern Tier. Each are first-term legislators who won in fairly close open races in 2022. Chu’s District 17 in Brooklyn was a new Asian-plurality seat created through redistricting, while Webb won the contest to replace former Republican state Sen. Fred Akshar, who left the state Legislature to become Broome County sheriff. Both incumbents face Republican challengers in November. 

Although the spotlight from the DLCC is not an official endorsement, the designation means the group will fundraise for Chu and Webb and introduce their campaigns to a national audience of donors and supporters, as well as provide access to the group’s resources. The two New Yorke additions follow the committee’s “Summer of the States” campaign launch last month to combat Donald Trump and Republican agendas at the state level, as part of a broader $60 million national push. The effort includes many swing states, but also deep-red and blue states like Idaho and New York.

“The progress made by the New York Democratic majorities reminds us of the transformative impact of state legislatures,” DLCC president Heather Williams said in a statement. “New York Democrats have used their majorities to block GOP extremism and pass legislation that protects fundamental freedoms and vulnerable communities.”

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins serves as chair of the DLCC and praised the group’s decision to spotlight two of her members. “Their dedication to meaningful results is evident in the positive changes we’ve seen across New York State,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “Re-electing these champions of progress is crucial for continuing the momentum of our shared vision for a better, more equitable future.”

Webb said she was “thrilled” to receive support from the DLCC. "With so much at stake and so many freedoms under threat, we need strong legislators at the state and local levels who are committed to protecting and strengthening the rights of our constituents,” Webb said in a statement. “I'm proud to be one of those legislators."

Last cycle, the DLCC spotlighted four New York state senators: Rachel May, Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Anna Kaplan and Michelle Hinchey. May and Hinchey won reelection and currently remain in office, while Reichlin-Melnick – then a freshman – and Kaplan both lost their seats in 2022. Reichlin-Melnick is running for his old seat this year.

After decades of nearly uninterrupted control by Republicans, Democrats won a majority in the state Senate in 2018, which was expanded to a supermajority after the 2020 elections. The Assembly, a chamber Democrats have controlled since the 1970s, already had a Democratic supermajority. Democrats have managed to maintain those supermajorities since then.

But Democrats are not the only group targeting New York’s Legislature. In January, the Republican State Leadership Committee announced its legislative targets, which included a plan to “chip away at Democrat majorities” in New York and other states.