Northeast

Balance of power: Senate Dems mount swing state offense on 'carpetbagger' claims

Published

2 years ago

June 10, 2024

Press Room

Balance of power: Senate Dems mount swing state offense on 'carpetbagger' claims

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Democrats are hinging their hopes of retaining the Senate majority on voters’ disdain for so-called “carpetbaggers.”

As Senate Democrats fight to keep several vulnerable incumbents from losing tough races in swing states across the country, their campaign arm and state parties are homing in on Republican candidates’ traits and biographies over policies.

“It’s a time-honored direction for campaigns to go, but it isn’t always effective,” said Republican strategist Doug Heye. “Given the overwhelming concerns about rising prices, the border and the general direction of the country, it may be tough for this to break through.”

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Democrats are hoping claims of carpetbagging against Republican candidates can save their vulnerable incumbents in swing states, like Sens. Jon Tester, left, and Bob Casey, right. (Getty Images)

Historically, carpetbaggers were northerners who traveled to the South during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War with the goal of profiting off of the weakened region. In modern politics, it refers to politicians that move to a new area in order to run for office.

Five Democratic incumbent senators are embroiled in highly competitive reelection battles in Ohio, Montana, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, as the party faces a uniquely disadvantageous Senate election map.

“Senate Republicans’ roster of recruits is full of carpetbaggers who don’t know the first thing about the states they’re running in and candidates who bring enough financial scandals and baggage to fill a bank vault,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) spokesperson Tommy Garcia said in a statement earlier this year.

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Sens. Jon Tester, Jacky Rosen, Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey (Getty Images: Anna Moneymaker, Drew Angerer, Ethan Miller, Sarah Silbiger)

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, explained, “After Democrats used this attack, successfully in my view, against Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania last cycle, I think it’s just become kind of an ‘in vogue’ kind of attack, although it’s also by no mean a new strategy.”

Both national and state level Democratic Party entities have parroted the argument, particularly in reference to the Republican Senate candidate in Montana, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, as well as Pennsylvania Republican nominee Dave McCormick.

“Democrats can’t run on their steadfast support for Joe Biden’s agenda of reckless spending, open borders, and chaos around the globe, so they are lying about our candidates and refusing to discuss the pressing issues facing the American people,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRCS) spokesperson Mike Berg said in a statement.

Montana is expected to see one of the closest Senate races of the cycle between Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sheehy, and the former’s campaign has fully adopted the term “carpetbagger” to describe his opponent. The attack has similarly been picked up by the state’s Democratic Party.

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Following the state’s primaries last week, Tester’s campaign amplified his insinuation during a TV interview that Sheehy was “trying to buy Montana,” while emphasizing his own roots.

“I think it’s a very potent argument in Montana,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.

Sheehy is originally from Minnesota and moved to Montana in 2014 before starting his company there.

“Let’s face it, Tester’s trying to reach a conservative audience,” Bannon said, noting that references to his generational roots are “conservative” by nature.

Sen. Jon Tester, left, and Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, right. (Kevin Dietsch/Louise Johns)

“Montana has an insider vs. outsider dynamic in politics, in part because of a lot of new transplants from other places,” Kondik said.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Sheehy’s campaign said, “After Tim left the Navy and Carmen left the Marines, they chose to make Montana home to raise their family and build their businesses because it was a place consistent with their values and the way they wanted to live.”

“Tim is proud to have founded Bridger Aerospace in his barn with all his savings, an all-veteran team, and created over 200 Montana jobs. Tim is proud to have founded Little Belt Cattle Company, where they raise, finish, and process premium beef 100% in Montana,” the statement continued.

“Tim and his wife, Carmen, and their four kids are proud Montanans, and it’s truly a shame that Jon Tester and the Democrats would call a combat veteran a carpetbagger when he was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq fighting for our freedoms all while Tester was becoming a multimillionaire and getting six times richer as a career politician in Washington D.C. While we know Tester will never understand what it’s like to put on a uniform and serve our great nation, the veterans in Montana sure do and will vote Tester out this November,” the spokesperson concluded.

McCormick, who is running for Senate as a Republican again after seeking the GOP nod in 2022, was notably born and raised in Pennsylvania, also starting his business in the state. Carpetbagger claims were initiated when it was reported that he owned a Connecticut home, in addition to his Pittsburgh property.

“I also think it’s effective in Pennsylvania, because the Casey name is as synonymous with Pennsylvania as cheesesteaks are to Philadelphia,” claimed Bannon, referencing Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey’s family and its long history in the state’s politics.

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Kondik remarked, “In the Industrial North, the percentage of residents born in state is higher than it is in the Sun Belt. So maybe these attacks have more resonance — or at least Democrats hope they have more resonance — because of some local specifics, too.”

McCormick campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Pennsylvanians from across the commonwealth are joining Dave’s movement to send a 7th-generation Pennsylvanian, combat veteran, West Point graduate, and PA job creator to the Senate to deliver new leadership and fresh ideas.”

McCormick previously ran for the GOP nomination in 2022. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

“Career politician and habitual liar Bob Casey votes for Joe Biden’s failing agenda 98% of the time, fueling a border crisis that has killed over 4,000 Pennsylvanians from fentanyl, violent crime, record inflation and regulations that are killing the commonwealth’s energy sector. On November 5, Pennsylvania will retire empty suit Bob Casey and send Dave McCormick to the Senate,” she added.

Per Republican strategist Erin Perrine, “Democrats know they are struggling to connect with voters on policy positions, as polling shows they are underwater on top voter concerns like immigration and the economy.” This forces the party to “make an emotional appeal to voters, arguing that they can represent them because they are one of them,” she said.

Bannon claimed that Democrats’ focus on these carpetbagging accusations is motivated by the independent voters they are going after. “The independents who are two up for grabs, they’re more likely to focus on personal traits in the last stage of the election than the voters who’ve made up their mind already,” he explained.

The strategy additionally “plays into a larger, familiar narrative in which Democrats attack Republicans as being wealthy and out-of-touch. It’s one part of a larger argument,” Kondik emphasized.

But according to Perrine, “A homegrown emotional appeal usually isn’t a winning strategy in a general election, when voters show up on Election Day about what matters most to them every day, not where someone is from.”

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New York

History of Domestic Abuse Can be Considered in Sentencing, Court Rules

Published

4 hours ago

April 24, 2026

Press Room

History of Domestic Abuse Can be Considered in Sentencing, Court Rules

In 2019, New York’s legislature passed a law that allowed judges to consider a defendant’s documented history of surviving domestic abuse when determining what sentence to impose. If the judges found that the history played a role in the crime, they were able to reduce the sentences.

Since the law was enacted, prosecutors across the state, though, have at times requested that defendants waive that right in order to receive a plea deal and to avoid a trial.

But in an opinion on Thursday, New York’s highest court said prosecutors could not make defendants give up that right. In the 4-to-3 decision, written by Judge Jenny Rivera, the majority found that forcing a defendant to waive the right deprived them of the benefits of the 2019 law.

The practice “threatens to essentially eviscerate the statute by excluding the overwhelming majority of defendants who have suffered domestic violence,” Judge Rivera wrote.

Thursday’s decision also highlighted how an overwhelming majority of cases in the legal system end in plea agreements, rather than being decided at a trial. As of 2019, 96 percent of felonies and 99 percent of misdemeanors ended in a plea, according to state data.

The decision is one of the rare times that the state’s highest court has acknowledged a defendant’s rights cannot be set aside as part of a plea agreement, said Paris C. DeYoung, an attorney with Legal Aid who argued before the judges on behalf of the petitioner in the case.

“It’s very hard in our system to get the court to protect certain rights from waiver,” she said. “We’re excited that this sort of opens the door for folks to continue to pursue things that they are entitled to without having to deal with just another waiver on their plates.”

The case at the heart of the appeal was that of Nicole Hudson, who was charged with second-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault for running over her sister’s girlfriend with a car while fleeing her abusive ex-boyfriend. She took a plea deal and waived her right to have the abuse she had dealt with considered in her sentencing.

In a statement on Thursday, Ms. Hudson said the decision “has given me my life back.” Waiving away her ability to have the hearing before she was sentenced was “an injustice not just for me, but also for my child and for my family,” she said.

Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Ms. Hudson’s case, said the office was concerned the decision “will make it harder to resolve appropriate cases early.”

“Crime victims and surviving relatives deserve finality, clarity and a process that does not unnecessarily prolong painful experiences,” he said.

The law the decision aims to protect, the Domestic Violence Survivor’s Justice Act, was passed in 2019, when progressive Democrats had taken control of New York’s Legislature.

It allowed some defendants to have their history of domestic violence to be considered during sentencing if they showed that they were largely influenced by their abuse at the time of the crime. The judge could sentence the defendants to receive less prison time than what the law called for or alternative incarceration programs. It also gave people already in prison the opportunity to apply for resentencing.

The law came as crime in New York hit historic lows, and the Legislature overhauled parts of the state’s bail law and compelled prosecutors to hand over reams of case material to defense lawyers in a timely manner. However, as crime inched up after the pandemic, and after a public shift in sentiment on crime, lawmakers began to make changes to the policies. Both laws have been amended.

Ms. Hudson’s case began in 2019. She was at an outdoor party by her home when her abusive ex-boyfriend arrived. After an altercation broke out, during which her former boyfriend was injured, Ms. Hudson fled to her car and tried to escape. As she began driving away, she ran over her sister’s girlfriend, striking her three times and dragging her body down the street under the car. The woman was left permanently paralyzed and Ms. Hudson was charged with second-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault.

While her case was pending, Ms. Hudson, 34, asked that her history be reviewed by the court to see if she would be eligible to be sentenced under the domestic violence law. Her lawyers requested that the court sentence her to six months of incarceration and five years of probation.

Ms. Hudson’s lawyers included supporting information in her application, including a psychological report that said Ms. Hudson had experienced “repeated psychological and physical abuse” at the hands of her former boyfriend, who is also the father of her child. The first instance of physical abuse occurred when she was 20 years old and five months pregnant, the report found. His physical and verbal abuse escalated after.

While her application was pending before the court, Ms. Hudson was offered a plea deal through the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, offering her five years in prison and five years of probation. Their agreement, according to the opinion, was on the condition that she waive her right to the hearing to determine if she could get a reduced sentence.

Her lawyers objected to the provision, and the judge overseeing the trial also “expressed concern as to whether a defendant may waive,” the opinion said. However, the judge ultimately concluded that Ms. Hudson could waive her right and the court accepted her plea in 2021.

After she was sentenced, Ms. Hudson appealed, but the state’s Appellate Division found that the right could be waived. But the four judges on the state’s highest court on Thursday said that they agreed with a decision in another case that found some rights were “too valuable, both to the [defendant] and to the community, to be sacrificed in plea bargaining.”

Ms. Hudson said she was now “excited to finally have the chance to tell my story. I know that I caused great harm, and I take full accountability for that.”

“I also know that my actions came from my years of abuse,” she said.

But, in a dissent on Thursday, Judge Anthony Cannataro argued that a remedy should come from legislators and not from the judiciary.

Ms. Hudson’s case is an example of the sentencing law working, Judge Cannataro said, because she was offered the very lowest end of the ordinary sentencing range, “despite the serious and lifelong injuries that defendant inflicted.” Now, as a result of the decision, and the likelihood that prosecutors will withdraw the agreement, Ms. Hudson “may find herself subject to a far longer sentence than she agreed to,” he said.

There may still be survivors who will choose to plead guilty instead of going through the process to see if their case could be determined using the sentencing law, said Kate Mogulescu, a professor at Brooklyn Law School and part of the Surviors Justice Project.

“But what is not allowed now is for prosecutors to foreclose that,” she said. “That is an important distinction.”

Boston, MA

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins Boston Mayor Wu, Ayanna Pressley to slam Trump’s childcare funding cuts

Published

5 hours ago

April 24, 2026

Press Room

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins Boston Mayor Wu, Ayanna Pressley to slam Trump’s childcare funding cuts

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined progressive allies and squad members U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to call for more federal funding for childcare amid cutbacks by the Trump administration.

Ocasio-Cortez, a New York congresswoman who traveled to Massachusetts this week, appeared Friday alongside Pressley and Wu at Horizons for Homeless Children in Roxbury for a story time classroom visit, roundtable discussion, and media availability, where they questioned the Trump administration’s priorities.

“We know that families are experiencing greater financial hardship and economic anxiety and vulnerabilities each and every day because of the hostilities of this administration that are not focused on the things that matter most, and that is affordability,” Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at the daycare center. “Increasingly, everything is through the roof and that includes the cost of childcare.

“We have an occupant in the Oval Office that says we have to fund a war that we don’t even know why we’re there, but we cannot afford to pay for childcare when that is our most important infrastructure,” Pressley added. “All the data bears out that investment is the greatest return on investment.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in January froze access to certain federal childcare and family assistance funds for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York “following serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in state-administered programs,” the federal agency said in a press release at the time.

Locally, the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s executive director, Michelle Haimowitz, issued a statement earlier this month in response to Trump’s federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 that she said was “making it more difficult for our Head Start programs in Massachusetts by flat-funding Head Start nationally.”

“The federal government’s failure to provide our programs with much-needed funding has led to workforce shortages and difficulties in providing education and services to our students,” Haimowitz said at the time.

Ocasio-Cortez said Friday, “Over the last year, between the president’s efforts on DOGE, cutting services across health care, childcare, education, we see the Department of Education itself under threat by this administration.

“I don’t think that the president’s administration right now is friendly to Head Start, which is why it is incumbent upon us, and why we are stepping up in this moment to make sure that we are defending the state of Massachusetts, and frankly, the United States of America, the state of New York in those investments because investing in our children now is also an investment in those families.

“There are some things that should just not be on the table and Head Start is one of them,’ Ocasio-Cortez added.

Wu, who gave birth to her third child in January, spoke of her administration’s efforts to expand pre-school education in Boston and how that availability can help relieve the challenges of being a parent.

“We know the uptake in terms of when our families have access to universal pre-K through our Boston pre-K program, the uptake then into kindergarten and into the Boston Public Schools is higher than ever before,” Wu said. “We see this not as a separate issue from public education or from housing or from workforce development. It’s really one and the same.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez play with puppets after reading a book to the children at Horizons for Homeless Children in Roxbury. (staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

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Pittsburg, PA

Enthusiasm continues for 2nd day of NFL Draft in Pittsburgh

Published

6 hours ago

April 24, 2026

Press Room

Enthusiasm continues for 2nd day of NFL Draft in Pittsburgh

Crowds lined both sides of the Allegheny River on the second day of the NFL Draft Experience, as fans poured into Point State Park shortly after gates opened, filling the riverfront with a steady buzz and early arrivals.

While Point State Park grew crowded within the first hour Friday, the Draft Theater area near Acrisure Stadium built more slowly, with groups trickling in and the space still less than a quarter full well into the afternoon.

Attendees kept the energy high as festivities continued across Pittsburgh.

Stephanie Enz, 35, of Huntersville, said her family left the fan area Thursday night after exploring to watch the draft on television. She said Friday’s weather was too nice to skip the second day.

“I’m surprised how many Pittsburgh Steelers fans there are compared to everyone else from other teams,” Enz said. “I feel like watching the last few years, it was more of a mix of other fans.”

Fans cheer in Point State Park’s NFL Draft Experience area in the hope of receiving a free T-shirt on Friday, April 24. (Megan Trotter | TribLive)

Crowds gathered in and around Downtown, with activities in full swing by 10 a.m. Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp. held live blacksmithing demonstrations in Market Square, classic cars were on display, and the city’s tourism company, Visit Pittsburgh, set up a wall for fans to write on.

Mike and Sue Hacke of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County arrived in Pittsburgh Friday morning.

The couple grabbed sandwiches at the Original Oyster House in Market Square and soaked in the updated area while waiting for gates to open for the Draft Experience at noon.

Mike Hacke, 67, grew up in Homestead but said it had been about 40 years since he was last in Pittsburgh. He said he was impressed by the improvements made to the city in preparation for the draft.

“I was in Philly a couple years ago when it was there, and I think that this is much better than what Philly did,” Mike Hacke said.

Just before opening, football fans moved in droves from Market Square to line up at Point State Park, located just outside the Wyndham Grand Hotel.

The area inside the park was expanded from Thursday’s setup. The red carpet that had stretched across the entire space in front of the steps to the Point was split into two sections Friday, opening access to the Point State Park Fountain.

As groups moved through the park, many gravitated toward the newly opened space, eventually sitting to take in the view and posing for photos with the fountain and stadium in the background.

Rick Wilson, 65, and his wife Maureen, 62, took selfies in their Philadelphia Eagles jerseys while standing on the steps leading down to the fountain.

The couple, from Finleyville Borough in Washington County, said Steelers fans were generally friendly.

“I think everybody’s very nice and have been very polite,” Rick Wilson said, noting only a few lighthearted comments here and there.

“We kind of took their pick last night,” he added.

On Thursday night, the Philadelphia Eagles selected USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, who had been on the phone with representatives from the Steelers as Pittsburgh’s first-round pick approached.

Rick Wilson, 65, and his wife, Maureen, 62, take photos in their Philadelphia Eagles jersey at the Point State Park Fountain on Friday, April 24. (Megan Trotter | TribLive)

Part of the red carpet at Point State Park was open to the public, allowing fans to walk it and take photos where draft prospects had strutted the night before.

On their second day at the draft experience, Jessica, 46, and Matthew Light of Hershey took a stroll down the carpet.

“I noticed it from yesterday, and I figured we’d get a photo opportunity and take a memory home with us,” said Matthew Light, 46.

Across the river, about a dozen people had nestled into the concrete with their backs against the draft stage barricade.

Hunter Enders, 30, and Meghan Crosby, 27, arrived at the area around 2 p.m. to be in the first row once the draft begins at 7 p.m.

The two were in the third row the night before and said that, despite record-breaking crowds, the atmosphere remained friendly, with no shoving or safety concerns around them.

While the stage area was far less crowded than the footprint across the way, smaller groups still gathered outside the elevator platform where media and commentators were broadcasting.

Rapper Wiz Khalifa, a Pittsburgh native, joined a sports broadcast, waving to the small crowd gathered below on the asphalt.

Wiz Khalifa was scheduled to perform at 5:15 p.m. Friday, ahead of the second round’s start.

Fans watch as Pat McAfee records his show Friday afternoon live from the NFL Draft Experience area on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. (Ember Duke | TribLive)

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