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Nancy Solomon: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Nancy Solomon from the WNYC newsroom. I also host a podcast called Dead End. Today, I'm filling in for Brian Lehrer, who's off today. On today's show, we're going to talk about what's happening at Elon Musk's Twitter, and tech more broadly. So far at Twitter, there have been layoffs, changes to the blue check marks, lots of pretty, if I can say that, Elon Musk impersonators.

Earlier this week, major layoffs at Meta, Facebook's parent company. Plus, for our climate story of the week, we'll compare and contrast two ballot measures on the coasts, the multi-billion dollar environmental bond act that passed here in New York, and an electric vehicle proposition in California that failed. Later in the show, we're going to talk about the 'SUV-ification' of vehicles, electric or otherwise, and how this may be contributing to pedestrian and traffic deaths, which are at record highs.

First, with a full day now between us and the 2022 midterm elections, with the ballots largely tallied and most races called in the state of New York, we're beginning to get a clearer picture of the political landscape that lawmakers in Albany will be navigating over the course of the next legislative session. Democrats have held onto their supermajority, holding majorities in both the state, Senate, and Assembly, as well as Democrat Kathy Hochul holding onto the governor's seat.

Those majorities in the State House will be smaller than they have been. In the words of city and state reporter Jeff Colton, the GOP is set to gain seats in the state, Senate, and assembly, even in New York City, and Governor Kathy Hochul underperformed for a statewide Democrat. A headline in POLITICO, New York yesterday put it more starkly, New York Democrats know who to blame, themselves. Joining us now to unpack where progressive politics stand in New York State today, we've got Sochie Nnaemeka, the state Director of the New York Working Families Party joining us.

The WFP are usually aligned with Democrats in terms of endorsing candidates, but they almost always endorse Dems. Make no mistake, working families is not shy about being brutally honest with their allies when they think they've erred. Sochie, thanks for joining us today.

Sochie Nnaemeka: Good morning, Nancy. It's so great to be on.

Nancy Solomon: Listeners, we want to hear from you, now that the election is over, if you were struck in any way by the manner in which the political machine on any side of the partisan divide tried to get your support and your vote, give us a call at 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Mailers, political ads, lawn signs, phone banking, door-to-door canvassing. How did you notice the parties working to get your vote? What worked and what didn't? 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Maybe you were swayed by the working family parties organizing to vote on their line instead of the Democratic party line for the first time.

If you are a left-leaning voter, how do you decide which party line to vote on? Democrat or working families? Call in and tell us about it. Here we go with the numbers again, 212-433-9692, or you can tweet us @BrianLehrer. Sochie, as you and your Working Families Party colleagues see it, what's the headline from Tuesday's election? What have the results suggested to you about the campaigns?

Sochie Nnaemeka: Thank you, Nancy. What's clear we know is that this election should never have been this close. Redistricting chaos earlier this year forced many candidates to run in unfamiliar districts. We saw several Democratic incumbents in Congress retire or run for others offices. In terms of messaging the moods of voters that we saw, Mayor Adams spent the past year really fearmongering about crime, and in many ways, becoming Lee Zeldin's best surrogate, especially with suburban voters.

I think what really struck us organization was the Democratic party, the state party looked MIA. We were shocked to see that the Brooklyn Democratic Party spent $0 in vote-rich Brooklyn to turn out Democratic voters. We knew and we felt that given the extremism of the Lee Zeldin agenda, and knowing the popularity of progressive ideas actually in New York state, that we could not sit on the sidelines.

With our partners in labor and with elected allies and candidates up and down the state, we really scaled up our field of operations to beat back that scary prospect of a Lee Zeldin administration. What we know for sure is that this situation that we're in cannot happen again, and that our democratic leaders must buckle down and put forward an agenda to deliver for working people.

Nancy Solomon: Yesterday you tweeted, "New York Dems tacitly embrace dark money in primaries and indulge in the complacency that takes people of color and young voters for granted. True, multiracial democracy requires a different path." Where do you see that complacency in this past campaign season? What does it look like in actual practice?

Sochie Nnaemeka: The fact that we're hearing that many people received no mail or no phone calls from several candidates, that shows that we're not chasing and running for people's votes. We saw the Republican party animating their base with rabid, relentless engagement. Democratic voters deserve that plus more. They deserve bold policy proposals, they deserve to feel as though government is beating down at their door to get their vote, to get their support, and to show them what it looks like for us to have a thriving democracy.

Young voters, voters of color are the future of the states and of this party, and they should not be left and taken for granted and expected to self-mobilize to the polls. We in particular focus on talking to working voters about what matters to most of them, to talking to young voters and getting them clear and excited about what the promise of multiracial democracy is, what it looks like if we take bold action on climate change, and we insist on student debt relief. Those are the proposals that get Democrats excited and riled up, and the Democratic Party must embrace that and welcome people with full arms into this process that we're in.

Nancy Solomon: One question on the multiracial democracy that you mentioned in the tweet, in the midterms, we saw the continuing trend of Asian-American voters increasingly voting for Republicans, including in Manhattan's Chinatown. Here's a quote from the website, FiveThirtyEight. "While Asian Americans still largely align with Democrats, the demographic support for the party is often at best, misunderstood, at worst, it's taken for granted.

Sochie, we hear from activists and from Republicans election after election, this idea that Democrats take certain voters for granted, and you just mentioned it. Tell us more about this from the Working Family Party perspective. What is the right way to make voters feel that they are not taken for granted?

Sochie Nnaemeka: Absolutely. The first thing we really want to lean into is the popularity of many progressive proposals out there on the table. We saw recent polling from Topos research firm that affirms that a majority of New Yorkers believe that the wealthy and corporations should be taxed to pay for the public good. A majority of New Yorkers believe that their neighbors deserve healthcare no matter their documentation status, no matter their employment status. A majority of New Yorkers want universal childcare and massive increase in affordable housing.

We have to first lean on the big ideas that have people feel like government has their back, and that has people not struggling to make basic ends meet. Inflationary pressures are causing working people to feel strapped and unclear about a path forward. Government has to step in and put forward a bold plan. That's a universalist approach. Then also, we can't take communities as monoliths. Communities of color are not a monolith, and we have to figure out how to message and meet voters where they're at. Often it happens with really culturally competent community messengers.

You think a candidate like Iwen Chu, who's winning right now for South Brooklyn race for state Senate, a WP endorse and Democratic endorsed state senate candidate, who has been doing the work in her community for years and who knows voters in our communities and has been putting forward an affirmative vision for her neighbors. I think the backdrop too, as you mentioned, is that working voters, do want to and deserve to feel safe. Voters also know that real investments that keep people safe are the investments that also go towards the root causes of crime. What left Democrats vulnerable, I do believe, was a mayor who penned the last year fear-mongering on the issue of crime without really proposing a strategy or solution to that. We can't tap into people's fear in that way without putting forward a path to get them out of the situation that they're in. I think many voters were tapping into that visceral sense of fear. Democrats have to put forward an affirmative plan, and a hopeful vision to move people to believe in government again.

Nancy Solomon: I was listening on our air, of course, to an interview yesterday, where the person interviewed made the point that Democrats talked about inflation during the campaign season, but that was about gas prices, food prices when affordable housing is such a crucial issue. Nobody ever talked about, made the connection that that's an inflationary pressure that doesn't bounce back, and go down. It just always goes up, and no one was talking to voters about that.

Sochie Nnaemeka: I think that's absolutely right. I think that people are looking to find some relief We talked about relief for the pumps, we talked about relief in terms of childcare costs. The state set actually did expand child access this year. We need to run on things like that. We need to run on addressing housing costs. Some New Yorkers felt their rent dramatically skyrocketed this past year.

That is not putting people on secure footing. We need to talk about investment, especially when New Yorkers are seeing outsized wealth inequality, are seeing many New Yorkers doing quite well, are fearful of New York City being a return to a playground of the ultra-wealthy. We have to talk about investing in working people, and investing in the common good.

Nancy Solomon: Let's go to the phones. We got tons of callers who want to talk with you. We have Rob in New City. You're on the line. Hi, Rob.

Rob: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call. I have two quick comments. One is that I was disturbed that I was asked to sign an iPad instead of into the standard log book that I have for every other election. It really make me feel like if there was a contested election, that could lead to a lack of evidence because it's very hard to sign in the same way on an electronic device that you do on paper.

I was surprised that that had happened without any voter input. The second thing I'd like to say is that it's sad that Democrats only try to drag the opponents through the dirt in the same way the Republicans do to them, and don't do a better job of defending themselves on the merits. For example, we just take it about defund the police when so few people actually said that.

We don't try to nuance in any way what was really meant, or to defend the fact that cash bail is really a way to defend the poor from discrimination, and not a means to let violent offenders out to attack other people. When we stay silent on these things, people assume our guilt. That's all. Thank you very much.

Nancy Solomon: Thanks for your questions. If you're still there, let me ask you, when you made your vote, which line did you vote on? Which party did you go with?

Rob: Oh, I'm a Democrat. A lifelong Democrat.

Nancy Solomon: You've never voted on the Working Families line. Just since that's what we're talking about today, I was just curious.

Rob: I've certainly, considered it, and every time I've looked, it's been the same candidates between the Democrats, and the Working Families Party.

Nancy Solomon: Yes. That's a fusion voting model.

Rob: Right. While I do think that the Working Family Party has a lot of merit, and handle some issues better than the Democrats, ultimately, I'm more interested in voting for somebody I feel can win.

Nancy Solomon: Let's take your two questions, and then, Sochie, if you want to address how fusion voting works, we can do that too. Let's start with the electronic voting poll. The voter polls, and them being on iPads.

Sochie Nnaemeka: No, I really appreciate the questions from our friend in New City. We have actually very good ballot and election security here in New York. I know that there are some shifts that were made. We have not seen any discrepancies. The Senate Dems, in particular, have passed a lot of election security bills, and voter expansion bills to make it easier for voters in New York. I think, to that, I have not seen any issues in terms of accuracy, or anything like that.

I do think that the second voter's question though was so important because I think it brings us back to, what are people voting for? We need to give people an affirmative message. I actually think that Joe Biden did a quite great job about talking about the investments that Democrats are making, what actually is in the Inflation Reduction Act? What it means that marijuana offenses are going to be pardoned, how student debt relief does affect everyday New Yorkers? We can't just run on being the anti-Republican party.

Democrats have to put forward their own vision that moves people into action. When people vote on the Working Families Party line, part of us saying that yes, we must defeat the far-right extremism that seeks to divide our communities, that seeks to erode our democratic rights. Also, we must tell Democrats with a clear convincing mandate that they must do better.

They must address our housing crisis, they must address our climate crisis. Voting on the Working Families Party line allows you to vote your values while ensuring that your votes do not go against the democratic incumbents. In this case, we are not a spoiler party. We're a strategic party that seeks to allow progressive voters to communicate their demands in a two-party system, where you often have to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Nancy Solomon: We're talking with Sochie Nnaemeka of the New York Working Families Party about this year's election, and fusion voting, and voting on their line versus the Democratic line, and all the impacts that that's had. We've got lots of callers waiting for their chance. Let's go to Meg in Rockville Center. You're on the line. Meg?

Meg: Good morning. Thanks for taking my call. In regards to the Working Family, which I know is what you're talking about now, I'm always reluctant to vote on a different line other than the Democrat, or Republican line, because I'm afraid that will take votes away from the candidates that I really want. That's my first thing. My real reason for calling was the initial thing is what did the Democratic Party do in Nassau County, especially, where I live?

There was an abundance, almost a flood of Zeldin signs everywhere you looked. People's lawn, curbs, fences, not one for Kathy Hochul. It was almost as if people would be afraid to put one out because they felt intimidated by this flood. When people tried to find out where do you get those signs, they could never find out where. If you went to an office, they would say, "We can't talk about it at this office because we're already in Congress, or the Senate," or whatever. "We can't do that," but there was no place to get them. My first question is, how does that happen, that there are no Kathy Hochul signs at all?

Two, what is the Democratic party doing overall in New York to promote the good that they do? I just don't understand why all we hear is nothing, or maybe a few little bites here, and there, but nothing to really promote the candidates, and what we've done. I voted democratic. I used to vote independent, but I decided that I wanted to vote in a primary, so I changed. I think the Democratic Party is going to lose if they don't become more vocal. The flyers that you stick in the mailbox are useless. People don't even look at them.

I had a discussion with a mailman who complained about them, and he said, "Oh, I get most of my information from social media," and I said I would never do that." Where do you get it from? I said, "From news stations, from reading about the candidates, what they stand for." He went, "Oh, yes. January 6th." I said, "that would be a main motivation to not vote for, say, Lee Zeldin, who would still have not certified the vote." I said, "It's our democracy, it's rights for people, It's everything, but the Democratic Party, in my opinion, doesn't do enough." Thank you for listening.

Nancy Solomon: Thanks so much, Meg, for your call, and some great questions. Sochie, you want to jump in some answers?

Sochie Nnaemeka: Thanks, Meg. No, what Meg put out was really rich, and there was a lot in there. I think in terms of infrastructure, I think we did see a lack of infrastructure for what was a very big race. I think what we saw was progressives in the Working Families Party really try to step up in this moment of this late surge in Zeldin's late surge, and talk to as many voters as we can. We did a gigantic text program to reach young voters, a quarter million calls, Sent rounds of mailers. Even Chuck Schumer, people heard him doing robocalls to vote for Kathy Hochul on the Working Families Party line.

We did not want to take this election for granted because precisely what Meg was talking about, having an insurrectionist as our governor. There is a real question of infrastructure, and the State party really needs to look at just how they're funding and what they're putting their resources towards. There are a lot of wins that Democrats can fully embrace. In New York State, under the leadership of Andrea Stewart-Cousins in the State Senate, and progressive Democrats in both assembly and the state senate. In 2021, New York passed taxes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations to invest in the public good, to keep our neighbors from being evicted.

They built a once-in-historic fund for excluded workers. Those who are at the center of the pandemic keeping us safe to ensure that we had the resources to get through. We had historic investments in housing and in childcare. We have to scale up from there. We need universal childcare. We need universal healthcare in New York State. We need a massive increase in affordable housing, but there has been a foundation of investments in working people, and in fairness and equity to the earlier caller's call about bail reform is actually really being a question of racial and economic equity in our criminal legal system that has had a racialized devastation on our communities.

There's a lot to put out there. There's both about winning the wins and communicating affirmative and exciting messages to voters, and the role of the Working Families Party to push us even further and insist that we do real investments to make sure that working people feel like government has their back.

Nancy Solomon: Let's do, if you can, Sochie, a one-minute primer on fusion voting because I think that from the two calls we've had, you can hear a little bit of confusion about exactly how it works.

Sochie Nnaemeka: We are lucky in New York State. One of the few states in the nation who still have, this is an old legal practice, fusion voting. That means that one candidate can be endorsed by two different parties. Can be seen on multiple ballot lines, and their votes get fused at the end of election day.

That means that their votes go to the same place. What happens though when you vote, for example, Kathy Hochul on the Working Families Party line, you are saying, "Yes, I'm voting against Lee Zeldin. I want to ensure that I'm electing Kathy Hochul and I'm communicating a message about what my vote means. My vote is a vote for universal healthcare and childcare. My vote is a vote for bold action in the climate crisis. My vote is to make sure that government has the backs of working people."

In a two-party system, when you often can't communicate more than your candidate preference, this allows you both to choose a candidate, to ensure that you're not going to spoil against that candidate, but also, to communicate your values and desires for that candidate.

Nancy Solomon: I know it's early days yet since election day, but where would you place the Kathy Hochul win in terms of the pantheon of fusion voting? Obviously, she won and progressives were a big part of that last-minute victory. How does that compare since fusion voting has been enacted?

Sochie Nnaemeka: We've just been seeing more and more voters choose to vote on the Working Families Party line. Just so you know, we're talking to all voters. We encourage them to choose a candidate and the party line. Some may choose the candidate, some may go to the candidate and the party line but we're making sure that we defeat the opponent as well. Governor Cuomo, in 2020 increased the threshold for votes for third parties to qualify. We've seen far fewer third parties in New York State and now four total parties on your ballot.

The Working Families Party went above and beyond the new hightened threshold in 2020, getting somewhere close to 400,000 votes on our line. This year, we're shy of 300,000 year. They're still counting votes around two 50 or so, 250,000 votes on our line. What we're seen is that the movement for multi-party democracy, for progressive politics, for progressive electoral results is growing. Up and down the state we're seeing in Ulster County, we're seeing in Central Brooklyn, in Ridgewood Queens, many, many people choosing to vote for their representative locally on the Working Families Party line, and at the top of the ticket where ultimately is where we qualify by getting 2% of the votes on the gubernatorial line.

Nancy Solomon: We've got to take a short break. When we come back, we'll continue with my guest, Sochie Nnaemeka, who's director of New York Working Families Party, and we'll take your calls. Stay with us.

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Nancy Solomon: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Nancy Solomon from the WNYC Newsroom filling in for Brian Lehrer, who's off today. We're talking with Sochie Nnaemeka, the state director of the New York Working Families Party about the state of progressive politics in New York after the midterms in which Democrats appear to have held onto a supermajority in Albany but it's a smaller supermajority than it's been.

Before we move to Albany, Sochie, let's pick up where our caller, Meg, from Rockville Center, left off about, we did the lawn signs. There's been criticism that the Democrats had a weak ground game. Are lawn signs a good benchmark of knowing whether there is a ground game because it could be that they just decided to do other things. Is that a pretty clear indication that the campaign really wasn't out there working at getting people out to vote?

Sochie Nnaemeka: Absolutely, as an organizer and a former campaign manager, I always have to tell my candidates that lawn signs don't win elections. However, there is a real truth that people, the atmospherics matter. Meg was talking about people's sense of pride or fear about affirming the candidate that they're voting for in moments where you feel the other party is really taking a run at it, then voters might actually shrink in their power and shrink in their participation.

While lawn signs are not the ultimate metric, ultimately, it's about whether voters were reached out to. I want to hear voters were called and were texted and saw their candidates and got mailers because we do need to ensure that in a lethargic moment, electorally when people are being grinded down by high costs, when people are struggling to make ends meet, when the national narrative and polarization is quite hard, people need to feel recruited into the electoral process.

That's what we try to do through text messages and phones and relational organizing, which means hearing from someone that you actually know about why they're voting and how they're voting. We do a lot of post handwritten postcards from neighbors to neighbors, text messages to people in your network, really bringing in a movement and grassroots approach to electoral politics so people feel personally reached out to, and personally compelled about why they need to vote, and to make a plan to vote.

Nancy Solomon: Let's move from the grassroots to the corridors of power in Albany. The Democrats are going to hold onto their supermajority but in terms of politicking and caucusing and coalition building, how different will it be now to do business in Albany in the next legislative session compared to what it's been in the past few years?

Sochie Nnaemeka: I think what's great when there's still to my knowledge at this point, a supermajority in both chambers. The state Senate has a real strong coalition of upstate and downstate progressive democrats, who work together. Samra Brouk, who was reelected in the Rochester area after facing off a right-wing opponent. We have Leo Webb, a Working Families Party pipeline candidate who's now joining Samra as one of two upstate Black women in the state senate who ran on a strong progressive message in the Binghamton and Ithaca area.

We have Kristen Gonzalez in Queens, and Iwen Chu in Southern Brooklyn. There is a coalition of strong leaders on both sides. Sarahana Shrestha in the Hudson Valley on the assembly side, MaryJane Shimsky. There will be, I think, a real Working Families and progressive coalition of leaders who will be pushing forward on real investments. I think the leadership Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl E. Heastie on the assembly side, will also play a really big role in ensuring that that agenda is square at the center of the governor's agenda next year. It'll take movement, it'll take grassroots energy really backing up these progressive candidates up and down the state.

Nancy Solomon: Let's go back to the phones. We have Josie in Brooklyn on the line. Hi, Josie.

Josie: Hi. How are you?

Nancy Solomon: Good, thanks for [crosstalk]

Josie: I'm one of those people who registers as a Democrat to vote in the primary, but always votes Working Family Party on the ballot. I was very frustrated yesterday because when it came to the judges, the Working Family Party hadn't endorsed and those are the candidates I know the least about. Because they were running unopposed, they were on both the Democratic and the Republican line. I was very confused and I didn't know if I was voting for a Democrat or a Progressive or a right-wing fundamentalist. Can you help?

Nancy Solomon: That's a great question.

Sochie Nnaemeka: That's a great question, Josie. I think the facts about, we've heard that from lots of voters and we're actually really rethinking our program. Judicial conventions and the way that judges are elected are quite arcane and backwards in New York State. Precisely puts forward machine or County candidates that it's very hard for voters to tell who's good and who's not.

We do not currently have a program to engage, to endorse, and elect judicial candidates. Having heard from enough people in this cycle who feel unclear about who's a Democrat and who's actually really a Democrat and what their platform is. I think that we're quite convinced and compelled that that should be our next project.

Nancy Solomon: Thanks for your call, Josie. Now, the Democratic Party in Brooklyn is taking some heat for how well Republicans did in South Brooklyn. What do you have to say about the relationship between state-level party politics and more local chapters and how the structure shapes election outcomes?

Sochie Nnaemeka: What we've seen in the Brooklyn, a Democratic Party in particular in the past couple of years, is a real insurgent and challenger energy. The new King's Democrats were really trying to reshape what Brooklyn politics looks like, were trying to bring new candidates in the mix, were trying to make the process more transparent. Brooklyn is an incredibly vote-rich district and is remarkably diverse.

Back to our question of multiracial democracy. If a party is failing to engage young voters and voters of color up and down the district that does not spell good end results for Democratic wins statewide. I think what we're seeing, in general, is that people want to reclaim, take more hold of their democracy and their democratic infrastructure to build and to grow.

At the Working Families Party, we're a small grassroots party. We have chapters that helps influence the work that we do. That insurgent energy in the Democratic Party is also really critical to ensure that base is actually really engaged, that people feel like the party is responsive to them, and ultimately, that there are massive investments and money and resources put into races. We don't take them for granted.

We're seeing some losses in Brooklyn and a resurgent in Republican Party that didn't have to be that way. I saw state Senator Gounardes tweeted about this yesterday. There are progressive democratic leaders who are really raising the alarm and really calling the question. There's a lot of organize and strategize that needs to happen very quickly.

Nancy Solomon: Let's squeeze in another call. We have another Brooklynite. Mike, you're on the line.

Mike: All right, I won't keep you. A couple of points. One, Miss Nnaemeka, and I'm sorry if I'm doing that wrong. Don't call it the Democrat Party, that's just capitulation, please. You know the name of the party. Two, my feeling is, and I voted Working Families Party, it used to be flipping levers, but I filled in every circle. I was uncomfortable voting for Chuck Schumer. You talk a good game about dealing with working people, but if you're endorsing Chuck Schumer, you lose credibility on that, and you know why. Come on, he never saw an international trade deal, he didn't like ever.

Finally, New Point judges, you don't endorse judges. You called it backwards and arcane, you know because you're in the game, it's corrupt and rotten to the core. You actually know what the cash value of a judgeship is. We need you, please, get out there. You are in danger of becoming what the Liberal Party was, being a rubber stamp for the Democrats. We need a real party out there that cares and matters. Please show us what the difference is, please.

Nancy Solomon: Thanks, Mike, for your call. A little pushback there, Sochie. Should we start with Schumer?

Sochie Nnaemeka: I appreciate that, Mike, and that's why we call an organizer ask. Mike getting a call to action and absolutely making a call to action for people also to join the Working Families Party and help us build that party in New York State. Listen, we're in a two-party system in this country and we believe that we should have a thriving multi-party democracy so that people's visions and values are actually met. That working people feel at home and don't have to share a big tent with fossil fuel companies and big donors. We absolutely do deserve to have a progressive, grassroots, multiracial working people's party, and that's what we're seeking to build. I urge Mike to help us build that.

We also have to recognize the power and the effect that legislation has on working people. With Senator Schumer, we pushed to make this happen. To have massive investments around climate investment, pushed to get relief for students who were sacked down by student debt. No push to get marijuana offenses pardoned at the federal level. Those are progressive victories that happened with real partnership with those in power who are willing to embrace the energy, the vision, and the clarity of the left and of young voters, in particular, this moment.

We make youthful alliances and powerful alliances. Do we agree with every single thing that the majority leader has on his agenda? No, because we are in a different party. However, has he been leading in a way that advances the interests of working people? He does, and with that, we partner proudly and urgently to make more wins possible.

Nancy Solomon: You named some of the issues that you've been pushing on. Give us a little preview, what do you think this 2023 will bring in terms of the primary issues you're going to be working on, whether it's in Albany or in Washington?

Sochie Nnaemeka: The biggest thing that we're hearing from all New Yorkers is around the housing crisis and whether it is Eric Adams in New York City or other leaders. Democrats have not put forward a real solution to the housing crisis. That means both cause eviction, ensuring that we can keep rents down and keep people in their homes. That means thinking more long-term about a massive increase in social housing and building affordable housing up and down the state to ensure that people actually have safe and dignified housing.

The climate crisis. We must lead on this front New York State led by passing the CLCPA a couple of years ago, which was the foundation of the Build Back Better and national investments in climate. We now need to implement that. We need to put real money into climate resilience up and down the state. We need to build public renewables, so those are some of the priorities. We need to ensure that the wealthy are paying what they owe in taxes. In New York states, working people are feeling the burden and are paying more than their level of taxes.

We have to redistribute in that way and ensure that wealthy people and wealthy corporations pay what they owe towards the public good. Those are some of the priorities that we'll be making sure to work with state government on come January, and also hope that we could actually pass Build Back Better and address a lot of the issues that we know that Democrats came out to vote for in 2020.

Nancy Solomon: Let's squeeze in one last call. We have Beth in SoHo on the line. Hi, Beth.

Beth: Hi, I'll try to be brief. We didn't do very much in land of counter-arguments, so whenever they bring up crime and that brings up rape, which means abortion. We didn't do it, we didn't touch it. Having been a rape victim and having had to have an illegal abortion, I think that was a very thing not to bring up, ridiculous.

Two, Zeldin, even the day before the election when his house was attacked in Shirley, the first thing he did was put his daughters in front of the camera. The guy is a father, he's supposed to protect his girls. He didn't, he used them. He used his daughters instead of protecting them. Now his daughter's faces are right there. What kind of a father does that?

Nancy Solomon: Thanks for the call, Beth. We got to keep moving here. Sochie, anything on the way messaging worked with abortion this time?

Sochie Nnaemeka: Abortion definitely was a topic to most minds. I think the governor actually did a good job about talking about the need to protect abortion rights in New York and we really need to stand and model that for the rest of the country. Lee Zeldin engaged in many, many cynical and fear-mongering campaign tactics that I think voters thankfully rejected.

This is the man who voted against Medicare expansion, is the man who voted against a $10 minimum wage. His extremism is both in terms of fundamental rights and democracy and also in terms of bread-and-butter issues that matter to working people. We are relieved that he is not at the helm of New York government in this moment.

Nancy Solomon: We'll have to leave it there for now. We've been talking to Sochie Nnaemeka, the state director of the New York Working Family Party. Sochie, thanks for joining us.

Sochie Nnaemeka: Oh, thank you so much, Nancy, and all the callers.

 

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