“Lawmakers in an Atlanta suburb removed the city’s young mayor, accusing him of misusing a municipal credit card and engaging in inappropriate, sexually explicit communications with a teenager,” NBC News reports.
“The City Council of Stockbridge, Georgia, voted 3-0 to remove Jayden Williams, 23, from office about 10 months after he was elected.”
“Brandon Johnson will seek a second term as Democratic mayor of Chicago, likely facing an uphill battle to stay in office as his opponents have raised millions ahead of next year’s race,” Bloomberg reports.
“Ending months of speculation, Johnson announced the bid via a video on social media and will make it official at a rally Sunday afternoon on the city’s South Side.”
New York Magazine: “News cameras captured the moment as Mamdani and Giuliani shared a brief handshake and a few words, inaudible in the recording. On social media, several people concluded that Giuliani likely said, ‘I’ll pray for you. It’s a really hard job.'”
“Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer warned Vice President JD Vance that he’ll live to regret it if he is photographed shaking the hand of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) at an upcoming 9/11 ceremony,” Mediaite reports.
“Democrats are at war in Brooklyn over a maneuver some inside the party have called ‘corrupt,’ a ‘power-grab’ and even ‘fascist.’ And they’re not talking about Republicans,” Politico reports.
”With weeks to go before the midterm elections, an intraparty feud is on full display among Democrats jockeying for control of the party apparatus in one of the bluest, most populous counties in the country. And some in the party worry the quarrel is exposing the limits of the party’s two most powerful politicians: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklynites.”
“Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor who shepherded New York City through the Sept. 11 attacks, said on Sunday that he did not think Mayor Zohran Mamdani should attend memorial ceremonies this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks,” the New York Times reports.
Said Giuliani: “It offends me.”
New York Times: “Mr. Mamdani is a master of new media, and his rise to power has been driven largely by his ease in front of a camera and his ability to harness the seeming informality of social media to connect with broad constituencies.”
“But as mayor, he has also been able to use taxpayer funds to create a sprawling network of hundreds of friendly influencers to boost his priorities, provide positive depictions of his administration and enhance his popularity.”
“The administration regularly sends the influencers memos on the mayor’s priorities and encourages them to trumpet his accomplishments, all outside of public scrutiny. The missives are delivered in group chats on Signal, an encrypted messaging app designed to shield posts from public review.”
“Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday he was going to keep a piece of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom as a paperweight ‘after we all blow it up,'” Fox News reports.
Said Krasner: “In about 10 to 15 years, we are all going to be sitting here with smiles on our faces. And I’m going to have a paperweight sitting on my desk. And do you know what that paper weight’s going to be? It’s going to be a piece of the ballroom after we blow it up.”
Wall Street Journal: “Since taking office, Mamdani has made a number of moves directed at the retail-and-cloud-computing giant. Earlier this month, he backed the Delivery Protection Act, which would force warehouse operators such as Amazon to obtain licenses from the city by adhering to new safety, training and employment requirements. It would also require Amazon to directly hire couriers who are currently employed by smaller firms that deliver its packages. Amazon has said it would consider relocating its warehouses if it passes.”
“Mamdani announced the collection of more than $9 million in idling fines from Amazon delivery vehicles. At the time, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia called Amazon ‘among the top worst idling offenders in the city.’ And the mayor sent cease-and-desist orders to online retailers, including Amazon, that the city said were selling illegal e-bikes.”
“Four officials in Avenal, Calif. who refused to step down after being recalled earlier this year are ‘not lawfully’ in office, a judge ruled on Monday,” the New York Times reports.
“The officials — including the longtime mayor, who is part of the City Council, and three other council members — have remained in office since the April recall, arguing that it was unauthorized. The standoff has become one of the messiest recall battles in modern California history and a highly unusual case of election denialism.”
“A local business group sued New York City and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday over the mayor’s plan to open five government-owned grocery stores around the city,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Multicultural Business Coalition, a nonprofit that represents supermarkets, grocery stores and bodegas, filed the lawsuit in the New York County Supreme Court, arguing that the plan would introduce unfair competition to a struggling local industry already dealing with slim profit margins. The coalition says that the plan will particularly harm immigrant- and minority-owned businesses.”
“More than 100,000 racing fans are expected to descend on the nation’s capital this weekend to watch as the streets around the National Mall become an IndyCar course. But not everyone is cheering,” NOTUS reports.
“Preservationists from across the country are worried about the side effects of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, particularly the vibrations from race cars thundering at speeds in excess of 185 miles per hour past landmarks including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building. They say these vibrations could damage the precious treasures housed inside.”
NPR: D.C.’s IndyCar race will zoom past museums. Some worry it could harm the art inside.
“The New York City Council is investigating four prediction markets for alleged deceptive marketing practices and targeting minors, opening a new front in the bitter, state-by-state legal war over prediction-market regulation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Zohran Mamdani was riding high as the mayor of New York City earlier this summer, after fulfilling a campaign pledge to put a new tax on the wealthy, flexing his political might with successful endorsements of three progressive congressional candidates and handing the victorious New York Knicks the keys to the city,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now, after a streak of good fortune, Mamdani is facing growing discontent from New Yorkers upset with his anti-Israel rhetoric and slights against the business community. Efforts to fulfill some of his marquee campaign pledges have stumbled, including the messy launch of the pied-à-terre tax. His relationship with the City Council is fraying.”
“President Donald Trump said he would examine whether the federal government can stop New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax, which was temporarily blocked by a state court,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump in a social media post on Tuesday argued that the policy was costing the city by driving away wealthy people who would otherwise pay taxes there. It’s unclear if the administration has the power to intervene in a state tax matter.”
Said Trump: “I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn.”
“New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax hit a wall on Monday after a New York judge ordered an emergency pause on the implementation of the new surcharge,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It’s been 12 months since President Donald Trump announced a crime emergency in Washington, pledging to make the city ‘safe and beautiful’ and deploying the National Guard,” the Associated Press reports.
“But a mission that seemed temporary has been extended through January 2029. Residents and a new cadre of local officials see in it an unacceptable attempt by the federal government to restrict the heavily Democratic city’s autonomy and, a year in, still question why having troops on the streets of the nation’s capital is necessary.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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