Is Money Enough?
Dan Goldman is about to find out
In the final weeks of the competitive race for the open 10th Congressional District in New York City, a former prosecutor named Dan Goldman has emerged as a front-runner. Most famous for helping to impeach Trump the first time, Goldman built up a large social media following as an MSNBC analyst. He is plenty telegenic. He looks the part of a congressman. With a bevy of connections in the business, real estate, and political worlds, he has been a strong fundraiser. In addition, because he is an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune with a net worth as high as $253 million, he can self-fund. So far, he has given his campaign $1 million. It’s plausible, as the August 23rd date draws closer, he will unload far more of his own cash on the race. He might have to if he actually wants to win.
The district, taking in downtown Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn, covers some of the most storied and affluent turf in America. There is no incumbent because the seat was newly-created in the redistricting process. Jerry Nadler, who represented some of the neighborhoods in his old district, could have chosen to run there, but opted to stay on the Upper West Side and battle his colleague, Carolyn Maloney. Once Nadler opted out, all kinds of politicians joined the fray. Mondaire Jones, a sitting congressman, moved from Rockland County to Carroll Gardens to take his shot. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio was a contender before dropping out. In addition to Jones and Goldman, who clearly do not like each other, there are four other top contenders: City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman.
Many believe the biggest factor in the race will be who the editorial board of the New York Times decides to endorse. The Times is the totem for the highly educated and well-off, and that describes a good portion of the Democratic voter base there. The district is a mix of left-liberals and leftists, both the people who support defunding the police and the people who, glued to their nightly news, embrace the cause of ending bail reform altogether. Kathryn Garcia, the mayoral candidate who nearly beat Eric Adams, ran as a technocratic, tough-on-crime liberal—she had much overlap with the Michael Bloomberg nostalgists—and carried the 10th in 2021. Maya Wiley, her more progressive opponent, was the runner-up.