How a N.Y. Democrat became Biden's latest judicial nominee

And some news from the campaign trail in Campaign Corner.

Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and National Mutt Day.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• A familiar Democrat from New York has been nominated to a federal judgeship but it took a lot to get there, including action from Hochul.

• Campaign Corner: Hochul weighs in on Harris’ pick for vice president and a gun group plans to get out the vote in New York.

☀️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Rain likely, high 60s. New York City: Rain likely, high 70s. (National Weather Service)

---

Anthony Brindisi (Heather Ainsworth/Associated Press)

⚖️ N.Y. Voters didn’t want him as a state judge. Now he’s up for the federal bench.

🧑‍⚖️ A familiar Democrat in New York and Washington, D.C. has now been nominated to an influential judgeship by the Biden administration.

Anthony BRINDISI began his political career more than a decade ago when he was elected to the state Assembly.

• That was in 2011 during a special election.

For the next seven years, Brindisi would stake his place as a moderate Democrat from upstate, where that class is sometimes defined differently in local politics.

• He was even endorsed by the National Rifle Association at one point.

But that’s not where he wanted to stay, so he ran for Congress in 2018 in what was then New York’s 22nd Congressional District — encompassing parts of the Mohawk Valley and Finger Lakes regions.

• Brindisi is a Utica native.

That seat was held at the time by U.S. Rep. Claudia TENNEY, who had also left a seat in the Assembly for higher ambitions.

Brindisi won that race in a razor thin victory: 50.9 percent for him and 49.1 percent for her. That was significant because former President Donald TRUMP had won the district in 2016.

• Democrats did well in New York in 2018, even winning a firm majority in the state Senate for only the second time in the last century.

But after two years on the bench, Tenney wanted back in and challenged Brindisi for the seat. It was a rematch for the ages.

Brindisi wasn’t so lucky this time but the result was stunning — 48.8 percent to 48.8 percent.

Tenney was sworn into Congress and, after a full recount a few months later, Brindisi conceded.

Tenney in 2018 (Heather Ainsworth/Associated Press)

🏃 But that wasn’t the end of Brindisi’s political career.

It didn’t take long for Brindisi to pick himself back up.