This is Google's cache of https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/Carpenters-union-plans-1M-election-spending-17307304.php. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Mar 11, 2024 08:37:20 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more.
Full versionText-only versionView source
Tip: To quickly find your search term on this page, press Ctrl+F or ⌘-F (Mac) and use the find bar.
Carpenters union plans to spend $1M to help Hochul, Democrats
Times Union LogoHearst Newspapers Logo

Carpenters union plans to spend $1M to help Hochul, Democrats

Heavy outside spending to help candidates is a new venture for the union representing carpenters outside New York City

By Updated
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during her primary election night party, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during her primary election night party, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

ALBANY — A labor union representing 15,000 New York carpenters is planning to spend approximately $1 million to try and influence the outcome of November’s general election — with the bulk of that money going to help Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

For the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters — which represents all union carpenters in New York outside New York City — heavy outside spending to help candidates is a new venture, according to the political consultant running the effort. 

While the union has historically been politically active during election season, "given what’s at stake this fall for the working class, they decided on a more robust voter contact and education effort," said Neal Kwatra, a longtime labor strategist and the founder of the New York City-based political consulting firm Metropolitan Public Strategies, which is managing the carpenters' expenditure campaign. "It’s going to be one of the larger independent efforts anywhere in New York state on the Democratic side this cycle."

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Though the bulk of the spending in 2022 will go to assist Hochul, Kwatra said, the union also plans to support Democrats in five or six closely contested state Senate races. Those are likely to include efforts to retain the seats currently held by state Sens. Michelle Hinchey, Jeremy Cooney, James Skoufis and Pete Harckham, all Democrats.

Both in New York and on a national level, the union has a history of bipartisanship, which makes the union’s embrace of Democrats in races for the state Legislature this year more notable. The union had planned to back one incumbent state Senate Republican, Mike Martucci, but he’s not running for reelection. Though the group has endorsed five other state Senate Republicans this year, including Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, it’s unclear whether it will spend to help any of them.

Since the 2018 elections, Democrats have held strong majorities in the Legislature, and the party has not lost a statewide election in New York since 2002. Democrats nationally face headwinds in the November elections, and Republicans typically fare well in elections where a Democrat holds the White House during a presidential mid-term election. Still, Hochul is favored to win a full term of office in November against her Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, and Democrats are favored to keep hold of the Senate and Assembly.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Kwatra said the union’s plan to spend heavily on behalf of Hochul is in part a result of "she and her team’s thoughtful cultivation and early engagement with labor."

"Working with labor on their core priorities from the Hochul folks has been far more sophisticated than you see from a typical Democratic politician," Kwatra said. "There’s been more listening and asking and wanting to understand goals."

Hochul’s climate and energy initiatives have also included provisions, such as project labor agreements and prevailing wage mandates, that favor union contractors.

A union with a somewhat overlapping membership — the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters — spent more than $500,000 on an outside effort helping Democratic state Senate candidates in 2016. Kwatra said that the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters had existed since 2017, and has different political leadership and board members, and that its membership consisted of different states than the 2016 effort.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

The overall landscape for independent expenditures this year is still taking shape. Labor unions generally will likely spend heavily to back Hochul. 

It's unclear if Republicans nationally will decide to invest heavily in the governor's race in New York. So far, at least one group — "A New NY" — has formed to back Zeldin and oppose Hochul. The group’s treasurer works for a firm, Crosby Ottenhoff Group, that has worked in the past for prominent Republicans across the country, as well as major outside conservative spending groups. 

So far, A New NY has collected $145,00 in contributions, the largest being $100,000 from Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the world's leading financial services firms. The group has spent about $117,000 backing Zeldin, who faced a contested four-way primary to win the GOP nomination for governor in late June. 

|Updated

Chris Bragg is a former political and investigative reporter for the Capitol bureau and contributor to Capitol Confidential.

Newsletter
Capitol Confidential with Dan Clark

New: Get an exclusive look inside the day’s developments in New York government and politics. Subscribe here.

Capitol A.M. Roundup: A free roundup of New York government and political news. Sign up now.

Learn more