In New York’s Hudson Valley, progressive state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi is being attacked in her primary against Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney by a mysterious new super PAC that is sending mailers to voters criticizing her past statements on law enforcement.
In the past week, a group called Our Hudson PAC has reported spending nearly $94,000 on direct mail pieces opposing Biaggi, marking an increase in outside spending targeting the challenger.
One side of an incendiary Our Hudson PAC mailer that Sludge viewed decries what it calls Biaggi’s “divisive politics,” calling her “irresponsible” for tweets she posted in 2020 during the protests against the killing of George Floyd that are critical of police. One tweet screenshotted on the mailer omits where Biaggi said, “#VOTE #VoteBidenHarris2020.” In a February interview with the Washington Post, Biaggi addressed the tweets and said that she supports increasing funding for things like mental health services and social welfare programs, and that police should be focused on solving violent crimes, not responding to mental health crises.
Our Hudson PAC, incorporated on July 6, does not offer any information on its website about its founders. In an FEC report released on Aug. 11, the PAC disclosed that it received a contribution of $300,000 from the National Association of Realtors on July 25 and $50,000 from Sucro Sourcing, a sugar refiner and distributor headquartered in Florida, on Aug 1. The group’s cash on hand stands at nearly $297,000.
Our Hudson PAC did not respond to a request for comment on the people behind the pop-up group or its plans to disclose its funders. The mailing address of Our Hudson PAC is a UPS store in Midtown Manhattan, outside of the district.
Maloney recently declined calls by members of his own party to condemn super PAC spending like that from Our Hudson PAC. Last month, national Democrats from the Progressive Caucus sent a letter to DCCC Chair Maloney and other Democratic leaders calling on them to publicly condemn the flood of super PAC spending in primaries. The letter was led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Mark Pocan (Wisc.), and Jamie Raskin (Md.).
Local groups in New York’s 17th Congressional District including Rockland United, Peekskill Progressives, and Progressive Women of New York also sent Maloney a letter in July endorsing the Progressive Caucus members’ letter and asking him to join the call, but Maloney declined to issue any sort of condemnation of super PAC spending.
The Maloney campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the spending by Our Hudson PAC.
For the direct mail pieces, the newly-formed super PAC used an unknown vendor named Winning Edge Strategies. Records with the New York Department of State show that Winning Edge Strategies was registered on Sept. 30, 2021 and has an address listed as the offices of Manhattan law firm Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis. The company’s service of process contact is an attorney in the law firm’s corporate & securities practice. Winning Edge Strategies has not had any other clients in federal elections, according to FEC records, and no other political group had tapped the company for work in New York, according to the state Board of Elections.
