Home is where the heart patient is
And back to a bit of news
Welcome to a Wednesday edition of Progress Report.
After just over two weeks at the Cleveland Clinic, where I underwent my sixth major open-heart surgery, my wife and I flew back to New York on Monday evening, a few days later than anticipated due to both medical caution and hospital scheduling. My body feels as if I’ve been hit by a bus or mid-sized sedan, depending on how long it’s been since I’ve taken medicine, and after two years of declining stamina, I’m now starting from rock bottom.
That being said, I’m in better shape than I was this time last week, so while recovery isn’t linear, I’m grateful for very slow progress. More broadly, after two years of uncertainty and plunging physical and mental health, this is where I hoped to be at this point. It’s clear that I went to the only surgeon who could perform the operation that was best for me, and now I have to do everything in my power to make sure it sticks, including prayer.
All of this is probably TMI, but people have been so supportive that silence would feel self-indulgent. Plus, paid subscribers deserve to have some sort of timeline for my return. Right now, I’ve got the stamina of an asthmatic baby running in a smog cloud, but I can still read and think, so now, I’m going to send emails with links to the news I’m watching and stories I’m reading. It’s hard to project a cadence at the moment, as it takes me a long time to do anything, but ideally I’ll be able to do more as we close in on the holidays.
New York: Comptroller officially announced his campaign for New York’s 10th Congressional district, setting up a high-profile with incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman.
Already a favorite of white collar progressives, especially in and around his Park Slope base, Lander became a folk hero to the left this summer when he dropped his own mayoral ambitions and went all-out to help upstart Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani vanquish disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Lander begins this campaign with Mamdani’s support, as well as endorsements from Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Critically, he will avoid the kind of fractured left that threw the district to Goldman in a messy 2022 primary. Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou, who ran that year and nearly beat Goldman anyway, announced that she will bow out, as did NYC council member Alexa Aviles, who explored a run and had secured the DSA endorsement.
The consolidation puts Lander in prime position to beat Goldman, who has angered the liberal district with his steadfast support for Israel throughout the genocide in Gaza and more recently got caught hanging out at a crypto conference in the Bahamas with Donald Trump Jr.
If nothing else, this is going to be a very expensive race, given Goldman’s financial strength. As an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, Goldman is one of the richest members of Congress, and has also benefited from spending by outside groups funded by AIPAC and the crypto industry. Having helped Mamdani’s campaign overcome big donor largesse, Lander will have a similar game plan.
Colorado: The progressive tea party has arrived in the Rocky Mountains, where state Sen. Julie Gonzales will challenge incumbent US Sen. John Hickenlooper in next year’s election.
Hickenlooper, who served as mayor of Denver and then governor of Colorado before winning his Senate seat, is another ultra-wealthy moderate who has failed to keep up with the outrage and energy coming from the base of the Democratic Party. This is both an ideological and generational challenge, as Hickenlooper would be 80 years old by the end of his next term. Gonzales is 42 and represents the progressive wing of the Colorado Democratic Party, which has grown in recent years even as it’s dueled with another rich centrist, Gov. Jared Polis.
Miami: Democrat Eileen Higgins won the Miami mayoral election runoff on Tuesday, giving the party control of city hall for the first time in 30 years. Higgins defeated the Trump-backed Republican, Emilio González, a major setback for the GOP in a South Florida that has becoming increasingly red since the 2020 election. Miami-Dade County went Republican for the first time in 2024, when Trump lost the city proper by just a point.
Less heralded but just as satisfying: the corrupt Carollo dynasty has crumbled, at least for moment.
Houston: On the other end of the spectrum is the quiet exit of Harris County Judge Lina Hildago, who leaves office eight years after an upset victory that positioned her at the crest of what seemed like a progressive wave that might turn Texas blue.
Missouri: Organizers with People Not Politicians handed in over 300,000 petition signatures in support of blocking the Republicans’ gerrymandered Congressional map. There should be more than enough valid signatures to freeze the new law and qualify a ballot referendum on the new gerrymander, but obviously, democracy isn’t that precious to Missouri Republicans.
Missouri’s Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who has tried every dirty trick in the book to stop the campaign, is now threatening to implement the map anyway. Cue more legal challenges, which have thus far largely gone in favor of People Not Politicians.
It’s been a rough week for Hoskins, who also had his attempts to trick voters into repealing abortion rights in the state smacked down by an appeals court judge. Hoskins worded the amendment to make it appear as if it would grant abortion rights to victims of rape and incest (within 12 weeks!), as well as provide protections during medical emergencies. Those rights are already guaranteed by the amendment passed by voters in 2024.
Idaho: On the subject of abortion rights, activists in Idaho say they’ve already collected at least 50,000 signatures in support of an amendment to end the state’s draconian abortion ban. Idaho law requires at least 71,000 valid signatures, which should not be a problem for Idahoans United for Women and Families, the coalition behind the campaign.
Utah: It’s been a rough few for aspiring gerrymanders in Utah, where the courts, including the state Supreme Court, have consistently blocked new GOP maps based on a 2018 constitutional amendment approved by voters. Republicans are so angry at the (Republican-dominated!) courts that they just passed a resolution condemning them for respecting the will of voters, which sort of tells you all you need to know about where things stand there.
In even better news, the legislature on Wednesday begrudgingly repealed a law passed earlier this year that banned public sector union bargaining. We covered that campaign early on (see above) and it was so successful that Republicans didn’t want want it on the ballot in November.
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Jordan, wishing you full recovery.
Jordan,
Take good care of yourself. There are so many of us who depend on you to help us navigate these trying times. Sending wishes for a complete recovery. Estalyn