New York Attorney General Election Winner

President Donald Trump made his first visit to Syracuse as a sitting president, headlining a rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman ahead of New York's November elections. About 2,500 supporters packed the Oncenter while a roughly equal number of protesters gathered at Clinton Square before marching toward the venue; no arrests or violence were reported. Trump repeated familiar campaign themes, criticizing immigration policy, downplaying climate change, and claiming credit for the Micron Technology project despite the deal predating his second term. He urged supporters to vote as though he were on the ballot.

Notably, many local Republicans skipped the event, including Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, reflecting lingering friction after the GOP's historic losses in Central New York last year. Trump's approval rating in New York sits at 34%, and Blakeman trails Gov. Kathy Hochul in every poll. The visit underscored the high stakes of the governor's race and down-ballot congressional contests, as both parties battle for control of Upstate districts and Congress.

President Donald Trump campaigned in Syracuse Friday night for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman, drawing about 2,500 supporters to the Oncenter while roughly 4,000 protesters gathered nearby. The rally came a day after an ICE agent shot and wounded Oscar Belgal, 28, in Manhattan's Marble Hill neighborhood while he was driving with his 5-year-old son; federal authorities alleged Belgal had gang ties.

In a speech lasting more than 80 minutes, Trump attacked Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James over immigration, energy and tax policy, repeated disputed claims about election fraud and the Interstate 81 teardown, and promised Blakeman would sharply cut electric bills and taxes. Blakeman pledged to end New York's sanctuary-state status by executive order on his first day in office if elected. Hochul's campaign has branded Blakeman "Trump's puppet" and defended her record, including the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act limiting local cooperation with ICE, which some upstate sheriffs are suing to overturn. Immigration enforcement and affordability remain central issues as the governor's race enters its final weeks.

The Rockland County Republican Committee received a $138,000 contribution from businessman Jack Goldenberg this year, the largest single donation in the committee's records over two decades, according to state campaign finance filings. The donation lands in a pivotal election cycle, as Rockland County anchors one of the nation's most closely watched House races between Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who also chairs the county GOP, and Democratic challenger Cait Conley.

Goldenberg has limited political giving history but previously donated six figures to national Republican committees. His business dealings have drawn legal scrutiny, including a 2020 wrongful-termination ruling against his company and a Portuguese investigation into alleged market manipulation tied to his pharmaceutical firm, Chartwell Pharmaceuticals. A local Democratic candidate has also tied Goldenberg to a contested warehouse development, which he denies involvement in.

The flap underscores escalating money battles in the Lawler-Conley contest, where Conley reported raising $5 million last quarter and outside groups have already spent more than $20 million on advertising, with Republicans currently holding the spending edge.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman met in their only televised debate ahead of New York's gubernatorial election, hosted by NY1. Polling shows Hochul leading by a wide margin, putting pressure on Blakeman to produce a breakout moment while Hochul aims to project gubernatorial competence, particularly on affordability issues like utility bills and cost of living. Blakeman's campaign has leaned into an alliance with President Trump, including a recent joint rally in Syracuse, while Hochul has worked to tie her opponent to the unpopular president. Trump's standing in deep-blue New York remains a central dynamic of the race, amplified by fallout from a recent ICE shooting in Manhattan that has strained relations between the administration and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The debate followed a separate state attorney general matchup last week between Democratic incumbent Letitia James and GOP challenger Saritha Komatireddy, whose strong performance generated viral attention. Both races are being closely watched as bellwethers heading into the broader midterm cycle.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta reached a settlement allowing the $111 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger to proceed, ending a 12-state antitrust challenge, but the deal has drawn criticism from within the Democratic coalition itself. Sources say Gov. Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass and gubernatorial front-runner Xavier Becerra pressured Bonta to settle, while attorneys general in New York and Connecticut wanted stronger concessions before ultimately signing on. Paramount agreed to production commitments, spending on U.S. film production, preserving its California lots, and an oversight board meant to protect editorial independence at CNN and CBS News, both folded into the merger under CEO David Ellison.

Critics, including Sen. Cory Booker and the Writers Guild of America, argue the deal is too weak and that Ellison's threat to relocate Paramount out of California influenced the outcome. Some attorneys general called it only a partial win, while Bonta defended it as enforceable, with divestment penalties if Paramount fails to comply.

New York political leaders are calling on the federal government to act quickly on artificial intelligence oversight, following warnings from AI lab CEOs about potential risks from unchecked development. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called recent AI warnings "incredibly alarming" and said the city would explore protective measures, while Gov. Kathy Hochul urged Washington to set national standards prioritizing public safety over the race to build more powerful AI systems. President Trump has dismissed such concerns as a "hoax" and opposes new regulation, citing competition with China.

New York City and State have already taken steps, including the RAISE Act, a one-year data center moratorium, and a ban on AI chatbots for young students, but a state comptroller audit and a city public advocate report both found more oversight is needed. The debate has also become a flashpoint in competitive congressional races, with data center policy emerging as an attack line, and Assemblymember Alex Bores launching a multimillion-dollar push to unify Democrats around AI regulation.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Rensselaer County and Sheriff Kyle Bourgault after they became the sole holdouts defying the state's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bans local law enforcement agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit, filed in state Supreme Court, seeks a court order voiding Rensselaer's 287(g) agreement. It came a day after Bourgault and 14 other New York sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit arguing the state law is an unconstitutional overreach; a federal judge has set a September 9 deadline for the state to respond to their request for a restraining order. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin vowed to fight the suit in court.

Nassau County, along with Broome and Cattaraugus, previously terminated its ICE partnership after subpoenas from James's office, with Nassau Executive Bruce Blakeman calling the law "bad and dangerous" but agreeing to comply. Governor Kathy Hochul has defended the law while saying the state still cooperates with ICE on deporting convicted criminals.

Democratic attorneys general in California and New York filed separate lawsuits against the Trump administration over deals to buy back offshore wind leases, part of a broader push to curb wind energy development in favor of fossil fuels. California's suit, led by Attorney General Rob Bonta, challenges the cancellation of an Invenergy project off the state's coast. New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a seven-state coalition — including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont — against the same Invenergy deal and a separate agreement ending Bluepoint Wind's project off New York and New Jersey.

The disputed deals would pay energy companies roughly $1.4 billion in taxpayer funds to cancel projects, part of nearly $4 billion pledged nationwide since the Interior Department began buybacks in March after courts blocked Trump's earlier executive actions against offshore wind. In exchange, companies are redirecting investment toward fossil fuel and geothermal projects, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum framed as a shift toward "dependable" energy. James called the arrangements illegal and warned they would raise electricity costs by limiting states' ability to expand power supply; Bonta echoed the concern at a Climate Week event, calling the legal fights "avoidable" distractions from climate action. The lawsuits add to a growing string of legal battles between Democratic-led states and the administration over energy and climate policy.

Brooklyn Democratic Party district leaders voted Tuesday night to approve contested bylaw changes that critics say will help chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn retain control of the county organization. The changes, passed with support from 21 leaders including eight who lost primary challenges in June, add dozens of new seats to the executive committee just as a reform slate backing Julio Peña had gained enough votes to elect a new chair for the first time in nearly two decades.

The vote proceeded despite public calls to halt it from Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Attorney General Letitia James. The closed-door meeting, held at a Mill Basin Democratic club, barred press entry, and Bichotte Hermelyn left without commenting, later calling the process "open, fair and democratic." Reformers, who argue the rule changes dilute their newly won majority and violate election law, plan to refile a lawsuit after a judge previously declined to intervene before the vote. The fight over party control is expected to continue ahead of the chair election.

New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, King County and 22 states and the District of Columbia — including Illinois, California, Colorado, Washington and others, plus Pennsylvania's governor — have sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over a Department of Homeland Security rule change to the "public charge" standard set to take effect Friday, Sept. 18. The rule lets immigration officials deny green cards or visas to applicants deemed likely to use any means-tested public benefit, including SNAP, Medicaid, housing vouchers or school lunch programs, reversing a narrower 2022 rule limited to cash assistance. It applies to family- and employment-based visa applicants; refugees, asylum recipients, TPS holders and certain trafficking or domestic violence victims are exempt. A similar policy from Trump's first term was blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020.

Plaintiffs, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and joined by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and Illinois Deputy Attorney General Cara Hendrickson, call the rule unlawful, "arbitrary and capricious," and lacking clear standards for how benefit use counts against applicants. They warn it could push eligible immigrant and mixed-status families, including U.S. citizen children, away from benefits out of fear, straining local health, housing and school systems and costing states billions. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Colorado AG Phil Weiser led public criticism. DHS and USCIS defend the rule as protecting taxpayers from subsidizing dependent immigrants and dismiss the suits as politically motivated.