<\/p>\n
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is facing his first serious reelection challenge since taking office in 2007.<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Warshaw\u2019s ad was produced by the same firm that made ads for Zohran Mamdani, the assemblyman who was unexpectedly chosen by Democrats as their nominee in the race for New York City mayor in June.<\/p>\n
Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/p>\n
ALBANY\u00a0\u2014 If a resident of New York is asked what the state comptroller does, there\u2019s a good chance they won\u2019t have anything to say about the powerful but obscure officeholder.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s one of only four statewide elected positions, the others being governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. But the duties of the office often do not draw scrutiny of everyday New Yorkers.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Two Democrats running in next year\u2019s election for state comptroller want to change that perception for the public. One of them plans to make his first big introduction to voters Wednesday night in a race that often receives little attention.<\/p>\n
Drew Warshaw, most recently an executive at the largest affordable housing nonprofit in the U.S., will introduce himself Wednesday night to voters tuning in for the final debate in the race for New York City mayor on Spectrum News\u2019 NY1.<\/p>\n
His campaign will air its first television ad<\/a> in the commercial break right before the debate begins. It will focus on the state\u2019s high cost of housing, Warshaw said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of promises being made about addressing the affordability crisis and we\u2019re going to hear some of those on the debate stage,\u201d Warshaw said. \u201cI thought it was important to come forward with an actual concrete way to address this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It was produced by the same agency behind the ads aired by Zohran Mamdani, the self-proclaimed socialist who Democrats chose as their nominee for New York City mayor in June. Mamdani still leads that race, polls have shown.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an unusual move to air an ad more than eight months before the scheduled primary in June, Warshaw admits. But he wants to bring more attention to the race\u00a0\u2014 and his platform.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll also highlight a signature proposal of his campaign: He wants to take $10 billion from the state\u2019s $283 billion pension fund for public workers and make it available to finance affordable housing projects.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be relentless,\u201d Warshaw said. \u201cWe need to be urgent and we need to be unconventional about tackling the high costs that are crushing New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of a handful of ideas Warshaw has proposed as part of his campaign to unseat incumbent state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who\u2019s facing his first serious challenge for the position since taking office 18 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Drew Warshaw will air the first ad of the race Wednesday night, just before the debate for New York City mayor airs on Spectrum News NY1.<\/p>\n Drew Warshaw Campaign<\/p>\n Amid several disruptions in state government\u00a0\u2014 the resignations of two governors, one attorney general and one lieutenant governor\u00a0\u2014 DiNapoli has been a stable presence at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n Doug Forand, a campaign spokesman for DiNapoli, said that\u2019s one reason why he\u2019s confident Democrats will choose him as their nominee for a fifth time over other candidates with \u201cunrealistic promises.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s attacks on New York and the overall chaos in Washington are bringing unprecedented challenges to New York,\u201d Forand said. \u201cWhile many politicians offer political slogans, unrealistic promises and gimmicks, voters know that Tom DiNapoli\u2019s proven leadership and steady hand are the key to protecting New York\u2019s taxpayers, small businesses and retirees.\u201d<\/p>\n DiNapoli has rarely been the target of criticism from elected officials in either party and has largely cruised to reelection<\/a> since he first became comptroller in 2007. This is the\u00a0first time since then that he\u2019s facing a serious challenge within his own party.<\/p>\n He\u2019s well-liked in the state Democratic Party and has rarely caused friction between himself and other elected officials, preferring to perform the statutory work of his office without fanfare or an attempt to grab headlines.<\/p>\n The duties of the state comptroller include management of the state\u2019s public pension fund, oversight of state and local agencies through regular audits and the disbursement of money on behalf of New York.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n DiNapoli\u2019s office regularly releases findings of misspent funds in major programs like Medicaid, but has also published audits on the state\u2019s administration of agencies<\/a> and operations during times of crisis.<\/a><\/p>\n It was his office, for example, that released a report that confirmed the state had significantly undercounted the number of nursing home residents who died at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n But he hasn\u2019t used those powers effectively to oversee state government and address the real problems facing residents of New York, in Warshaw\u2019s view. He\u2019s not the only Democrat who holds that opinion.<\/p>\n Raj Goyle, the other Democrat vying for the comptroller\u2019s position, said in an interview that he\u2019s running for the same reason.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt absolutely makes my blood boil that we have an office like the state comptroller that has huge power to help New Yorkers live better lives and it\u2019s being squandered right now,\u201d Goyle said.<\/p>\n Raj Goyle launched his campaign for state comptroller in September but is confident he can built a strong coalition.<\/p>\n Raj Goyle Campaign<\/p>\n He launched his campaign in late September with a platform not unlike the one proposed by\u00a0Warshaw. Both candidates want to more aggressively use the office\u2019s auditing power.<\/p>\n While DiNapoli\u2019s office regularly audits programs administered by state and local agencies, Warshaw wants to go a step further and inspect those agencies themselves to see if they could do more to lower costs for consumers.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe affordability crisis is ultimately a choice,\u201d Warshaw said. \u201cWe have the money. We have the power. We don\u2019t have the leaders to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Warshaw has raised a lot of campaign funds. Since announcing his campaign earlier this year, he\u2019s built a war chest of about $900,000, according to the most recent campaign filings. DiNapoli had about $618,000.<\/p>\n Goyle\u2019s initial fundraising won\u2019t be public until the next filing period in January. He\u2019s confident, he said, that he can build a strong coalition to compete in the race.<\/p>\n The message he\u2019s trying to send to voters in the meantime is that he\u2019s the candidate best-positioned to use the office as a bulwark against actions from Republicans at the federal level, including President Donald J. Trump.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Goyle\u2019s strategy toward that end is to work with the comptroller\u2019s equivalents in other states controlled by Democrats to pool the power of their public pension funds.<\/p>\n Because those funds are invested in major corporations across the board, the idea would be to leverage their collective positions as shareholders to push back on business practices that don\u2019t align with their values.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel a real calling in my heart and my head to not only make the case to Democratic voters in New York that we can do better but that we can actually fight Donald Trump far more aggressively than we are,\u201d Goyle said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Goyle worked in the tech industry after he moved more than a decade ago to New York City from Kansas, where he was a member of the state Legislature and an unsuccessful candidate for Congress.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll now be one of three Democrats who plan to be on the ballot in next year\u2019s primary for state comptroller. 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