Live updates from Somos 2025

Every year, win or lose, high or low, the Democratic political class returns to San Juan for the Somos conference. We’re reporting live from all the receptions, pool parties and late night chats. 

Thursday

11:30 a.m. – Catching up with Assembly Member Jordan Wright, son of Manhattan Democratic Party boss Keith Wright

It's Assembly Member Jordan Wright's third Somos, but it's his first as an elected official. He's "here to ensure Harlem is heard."

"It's a one-stop shop," he says. "Everyone I need to see, I can go see ... There's ten people just in eyeshot that I can talk to, move legislation" pic.twitter.com/eVpdlVpmIn

— Sahalie Donaldson (@SahalieD) November 6, 2025

11:15 a.m. – Somos’ most anticipated attendee was just spotted at the airport back in New York City getting on his flight. Fellow passengers said Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani arrived early with a security detail and was among the first to board the flight. He’s expected to arrive in San Juan this afternoon around 3 p.m., before hosting an event with state Attorney General Letitia James at 5 p.m. Meanwhile, El Caribe is abuzz with talk about his coming arrival.  – Sahalie Donaldson

10 a.m. – Conference-goers who were up bright and early to attend the Code Red: Healthcare Breakfast were treated to a celebrity appearance from The Kid Mero. He took the stage after a number of health care professionals like Dr. Oxiris Barbot, president and CEO of the United Hospital Fund, detailed the negative impacts on public health of federal cuts and the spread of disinformation. Mero, of course, isn’t a doctor. But the comedian pulled no punches in ringing the alarm bells. “Donald Trump, you bitch, this is your job to do the things at the federal level I can’t do,” he said. “I am not the president. I am just a mortal comedian here on earth trying to provide for my family – but I can’t do it alone.”

Mero admitted that he had not always been active on this front because he didn’t know what was going on. He met with a variety of health care professionals yesterday in preparation for the breakfast event. “I like to say I know what I know and I know what I don't know,” Mero said.

Threats to health care no longer fall into the latter category. Mero told conference-goers that he was ready to disseminate the troubling information he had learned to anyone who would listen. “I’ll be the crazy guy on the train, except instead of talking about Jesus and how he's coming to rapture, I'm talking about how Medicaid is coming to rapture your nana, if you don't turn this shit around,” he said. “And by you, I mean the government.” – Rebecca C. Lewis

9 a.m. – Mayor Eric Adams is out of office in less than 60 days. Where he’ll go next is still a mystery. (Maybe St. Barts?) But members (and former members) of his administration and inner circle are all over Somos. City Hall Chief of Staff Camille Joseph-Varlack and Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar are here – Almanzar briefly stopped into an education policy breakfast this morning. Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Louis Molina is here, as is New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and campaign attorney Vito Pitta. Also spotted jovially chatting up other attendees in the Caribe lobby on Wednesday night: former First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and former Schools Chancellor David Banks. The two former officials, who happen to be married, were caught up in a string of investigations into the administration and left their posts last year. – Annie McDonough

7 a.m. – Seeking top talent to come work with him at City Hall, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is opening up a public application process for people interested in serving in his future administration.

According to his team, he is hiring for all positions – deputy mayors, commissioners and beyond. Interested parties can apply through a new résumé portal launching Thursday, two days after Mamdani’s historic victory against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“To build a team of top talent, we need to search far and wide – which is why we are calling on New Yorkers across the five boroughs to share their backgrounds with us and join our movement to deliver a city we can afford,” Transition Executive Director Elana Leopold said in a statement. “As we begin the transition to a new era, this resume portal will allow us to roll up our sleeves, hit the ground running and enact the agenda that got Zohran elected.”

The news, shared exclusively with City & State ahead of its release, comes in wake of Mamdani announcing which New Yorkers would be leading his transition team Wednesday morning. While some of the top roles in his future administration are likely already spoken for, Mamdani does have a history of picking candidates out of obscurity. His closest adviser, Elle Bisgaard-Church, cold-applied to be his Assembly chief of staff in 2020.

Read more here. – Sahalie Donaldson

Wednesday

9:30 p.m. – The Democratic primary for New York’s 12th Congressional District is filling up with a handful of well-liked, relatively mainstream elected officials with some experience under their belts and a strong start in fundraising. Among them: Assembly Members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores and New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher.

But in the sticky and crowded Caribe Hilton lobby on Night 1 of Somos, Bores offered one unique (if quite nerdy) pitch he plans to bring to voters: a degree in computer science.

Bores is passionate about the havoc technology and AI can wreak on democracy and elections. He also maintains a balanced optimism: “Tech can and should be a force for good. But too often it’s being used to actually tear our democracy apart.” He talks about deep fakes, algorithm-driven social media bubbles, AI hyper-targeting messaging. So what’s the fix, if he’s elected? “I’ve worked in tech for nearly a decade, and I understand both how the technology works and the incentives of the companies that are putting it out there,” he said. Among other policies, there’s a need for a federal standard on AI regulation, he said. (His statewide RAISE Act might serve as an example.)

Tech regulation, however, has long failed to advance in Congress. “Maybe if you elect someone like Alex Bores, it actually does because he knows what he’s talking about,” said political consultant Ryan Adams, who has no horse in the race. In the legislative body that once asked how Facebook makes money, some voters might want to give it a shot. – Annie McDonough

9 p.m. – Gubernatorial primary candidate and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is feeling especially emboldened after Zohran Mamdani’s mandate win in New York City, and he thinks that other results across the state – including Columbia County electing its first Black female sheriff and Dutchess County’s legislature flipping blue – mean the appetite is there for a statewide populist campaign.

“People don’t want the same old thing, so I’m very encouraged by what I’m hearing on the ground and what I’m seeing on the ground,” he said. – Austin C. Jefferson

6:40 p.m. – A day after winning the election, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani isn’t in Puerto Rico just yet. He plans to fly in at some point tomorrow. But while his team declined to say exactly when for security purposes, he’s expected to be ready to go for evening events. His Chief Adviser Elle Bisgaard-Church and press secretary Dora Pekec will be with him – and likely some of the newly-announced transition team members too.

In the meantime, attendees will just have to wait for Mamdani to arrive. He’s bound to be among the if not the very most popular attendee this year once he does. Expect a hungry vortex of people vying for his attention at all times. Now will Mamdani make an exception to his one-Red Bull-per-week indulgence? If ever there was a time to do so, now may be the time. – Sahalie Donaldson

11:30 a.m. – Packed airplanes of sleep-deprived politicos are headed down to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday morning. On the heels of a dizzying mayoral race – and with a breakneck transition period already underway – New York’s political power players have plenty to discuss. Among the pressing topics: Who will be the next speaker of the City Council? Who will join Zohran Mamdani’s administration – and which, if any, of the current Adams administration official might be asked to stay on apart from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch?

Some people on the City & State flight who might have some opinions include City Council speaker candidate Julie Menin, Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Louis Molina, Mayor Eric Adams’ chief of staff Camille Joseph Varlack and Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar. Also spotted: Assembly Members Kalman Yeger and Grace Lee, New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh, Hotel and Gaming Trades Council Political Director Bhav Tibrewal and New York City Council Member-elect Harvey Epstein.

But state Attorney General Letitia James stole the show at the JFK gate, eliciting an impromptu round of applause on arrival. She was in high spirits after Mamdani’s victory last night. “I’m feeling good,” she told City & State. “It’s a brand new day, a new dawning.” James promised to continue standing up to President Donald Trump, who had said he would send the National Guard to New York if Mamdani won. Trump tacitly endorsed Andrew Cuomo as an alternative to keep Mamdani out of office, though that obviously did not pan out.

And on the topic of Cuomo, James had some parting words for her onetime ally and more recent foe: “God bless you. Have a good life.” – Annie McDonough, Rebecca C. Lewis and Sahalie Donaldson

10 a.m. – Drinks will flow unabated and without guilt into the wee hours of the morning at the Fairmont El San Juan hotel bar this week. For a minute, it looked like New York politicos’ favorite late night spot might be taken out of the rotation, thanks to a planned boycott by the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and Unite Here, Local 610 over a contract dispute. Several dozen elected officials signed on, but the situation stood to put politicians with hefty campaign chests and well-heeled lobbyists who had already booked rooms at the swanky hotel in an awkward position. Just a couple weeks before the conference, however, the hotel workers’ unions reached an agreement with the Fairmont that included the wage increases and benefits they were pushing for. We’ll see you at the bar. – Annie McDonough

9 a.m. – Assembly Member Karines Reyes, who is chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, talked with City & State about what she’s looking forward to this year. “I think the overall feeling will be more hopeful than it was last year. We can possibly make history in this mayoral election in New York. There will be moments to celebrate during this conference, and I think that’s a marked difference from last year’s.” Read more here. – Ralph R. Ortega

8 a.m. – Which City Council speaker candidate’s reception will be the most well-attended? Who will be seen angling for a job? Why does Somos still matter? We asked the experts, including Karines Reyes, Joe Borelli, Corey Johnson, Trip Yang, Yvette Buckner and Roberto Perez. Read more here. – Holly Pretsky