DEMS VERSUS DEFUND PACs’ $1M push
Two political action committees bankrolled by New York business interests are waging a hard-hitting $1 million counteroffensive to defeat “defund the police” state Assembly candidates running in Tuesday’s Democratic primary races.
The related Super PACs — Common Sense New Yorkers and Voters of New York — have sent out mailers attacking the lefty candidates as soft on crime and are engaging in an 11th-hour “get out the vote” effort through robocalls, text messaging and other canvassing, said Jeff Leb, the treasurer of both groups.
“We are specifically running independent campaigns against socialist candidates who have declared publicly and privately that they want to defund the police,” Leb said.
“We have done multiple polls that confirm that across New York City and New York State, regardless of the neighborhood or the district, public safety is the number one issue of concern to Democratic voters,” he added.
The candidates targeted by the groups are backed by Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-Bronx/Queens), the left-wing Working Families Party and the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
At least three mailers have targeted candidate Jonathan Soto, a former AOC staffer endorsed by the socialist congresswoman and the WFP, who is running against Assemblyman Michael Benedetto in The Bronx.
“Don’t vote for Jonathan Soto. He’s Too Extreme for the Bronx,” said one mailer, which described the “defund” challenger as “dangerous, reckless, socialist.”
The groups have run attack ads against candidate Jessica Altagracia Woolford, who is challenging Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz in the northwest Bronx Assembly District 81 covering Riverdale, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood and Woodlawn; and Samy Nemir Olivares, who is seeking to topple Assemblyman Erik Dilan in Brooklyn’s District 54, covering Bushwick and Cypress Hills.
Moderate approves
Benedetto, who is not connected to the independent groups, on Sunday welcomed their campaign.
“They accurately point out that my opponent wants to defund the police. I’m not for that.
“I happen to be in the same political camp as Joe Biden,” said Benedetto, who received a donation from the New York State Troopers PAC.
“They realize [Soto] is a radical who is out of step with the mainstream. We don’t want that,” he said.
Soto on Sunday sought to turn the tables, saying Benedetto is backed by “Trump Republicans” who are sending attack mailers “distracting voters from what’s actually being defunded, our schools!”
Mayor Adams has endorsed the more moderate Benedetto, and the Adams-affiliated Striving for a Better New York PAC gave his campaign $4,700 earlier this month, city Board of Elections records show.