Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo swept past insurgent Democrat Cynthia Nixon to win nomination for a third time in his party’s primary on Thursday with 66 percent of the vote. Despite higher turnout, Nixon tallied roughly the same percentage as challenger Zephyr Teachout four years ago.
Cuomo’s endorsed candidate for Attorney General, Letitia James, also won a hotly contested primary against Teachout, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, and lawyer Leecia Eve. James became the first African-American woman to win a major party nomination to a top statewide office. Cuomo’s lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul also won renomination in a closer race against New York City Council member Jumaane Williams.
More surprising — and highly gratifying to progressives — were the results down ballot in State Senate primaries, where six incumbents who belonged to the formerly Republican-aligned Independent Democratic Caucus were defeated. The losers included Jeffrey Klein, the Bronx Democrat who led the caucus and spent up to $2 million on his campaign. He lost to Alessandra Biaggi, granddaughter of former Representative Mario Biaggi. These contests indicate the likelihood that progressive Democrats will control both legislative chambers in Albany next year, where they can hold Cuomo to his often unfulfilled promises of reform.
“It’s like the X Games, only with more brain damage.” Is there a comic other than Lewis Black who would describe an election that way?
The “Miserable Jew” is back (as his branding suggests) with an epic 5-minute rant on the 2018 primaries, which he describes as a group of base-pandering politicians each trying to act like more of a wing-nut than the next. Black points a shaky finger at the GOP for allowing Don Blankenship a chance in West Virginia, while playing a clip of Blankenship’s “Cocaine Mitch” ad. Mitch McConnell might not actually be on cocaine, but we could all use drugs of some sort if an ex-convict is seated next to him in the Senate.
Black turns his ire toward the Democratic primary in New York, where Andrew Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon are in a race to the far-left. The misanthrope heralds a new aromatic era of NYC in which plastic bags are made illegal, and the odor of cat and dog crap overwhelms all of Manhattan. “Hold your nose and vote” could take on a whole new meaning by November.
Press play for election-day giggles.
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