Why isn’t the NY State Senate blue?

Arena Talks

Zellnor Myrie is running for New York State Senate in District 20. If you caught our last pod with Alessandra Biaggi, you’re already familiar with New York’s strange State Senate. For seven years, a group of turncoat politicians have run as Democrats, been elected as Democrats, and immediately caucused with Republicans in the New York State Senate. They formed a conference, called the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) to vote as a bloc, ceding control of the chamber and preventing progressive policies from being sent to Governor Cuomo’s desk. Everything from codifying Roe v. Wade at the state-level, to passing Universal Health Care, or the DREAM Act, and even to more local issues like Affordable Housing, Speed Cameras, and the funding of Public Schools, has been blocked as a result of the IDC. Enter Zellnor Myrie. State Senator Jesse Hamilton, the incumbent in Zellnor Myrie’s district, is one of the IDC Members, and Zellnor has had enough. He thinks the time is now to knock him out. With the typical machinery at-hand, politicians are turning on each other trying to either oust the incumbent, or keep him in power. Zellnor is finding himself right in the middle of it all, and he’s staying focused on the mission at hand and rolling with the punches. On today’s pod with Nathan Rubin of Millennial Politics, we talk with Zellnor about his race for the State Senate against incumbent Jesse Hamilton and the IDC.