Assembly incumbents get some financial support from leadership ahead of Democratic primaries

Incumbent Democrats in the Assembly are facing an onslaught of primary challenges from progressives – but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is offering official monetary support to only a select few heading into primary day.

The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee generally focuses on protecting members in the general election rather than the primaries. This year, the campaign arm of the lower chamber’s Democratic conference has spent nearly $25,000 to support Assembly Member Didi Barrett in the Hudson Valley and almost $29,000 to bolster Bill Magnarelli in Syracuse, state campaign finance records show. Both are facing left-wing insurgent challenges – Barrett from attorney Sam Hodge and Magnarelli from democratic socialist Onondaga County Legislator Maurice Brown. Both incumbents also have significantly more cash in the bank than their challengers heading into the home stretch of the primary election by over $100,000 each.

Barrett faced a spirited challenge last cycle from Claire Cousin, a Working Families Party-backed housing organizer, but ultimately won by a comfortable margin. Magnarelli’s primary is his first ever in his nearly 30 years in office. 

While the spending from DACC is a little out of the norm, Heastie’s personal PAC to support Assembly candidates has donated to fewer of his members than in past primaries. The Speaker Heastie PAC contributed $3,000 a piece to Assembly Members Landon Dais, Jo Anne Simon and Jeffrey Dinowitz. It also gave $2,000 to Assembly Member Karines Reyes. Simon is facing a challenge from leftist organizer Lydia Green, while Dinowitz has a WFP-backed challenger in teacher and disability activist Morgan Evers. Reyes faces a primary challenge from CPA Zakir Choudhury, who has already petitioned to appear on an independent line in the general election regardless of Tuesday’s outcome. Dais doesn’t face a primary challenge. 

Heastie’s PAC has historically donated to far more of his members ahead of the primaries compared to this year. In 2024, it gave to 13 Assembly candidates in the primaries. In 2022, it contributed to 20. But through both his PAC and DACC, Heastie is still doing more than the state Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. The DSCC has not even filed pre-primary disclosures, and Stewart-Cousins’ own ASC PAC, formed in 2024 to help state Senate candidates, has not donated to a single one this year. In fact, it has only ever directly contributed to one state Senate candidate since its formation.