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Blue-state Republican aims to evict Dems from 20-year occupation of governor’s mansion
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler’s opinion of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York is crystal clear.
«I think Kathy Hochul is the most feckless, incompetent governor in America,» Lawler said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Lawler, who’s in his second term representing the state’s 17th Congressional District, which covers a large swath of New York City’s northern suburbs, is mulling a 2026 GOP run for governor.
«I’ll make a decision at some point – middle of the year. Obviously, you know if we’re going to do it, you got to get out there, and you got to campaign hard,» Lawler said.
LAWLER SOUNDS ALARM OVER DEMOCRATS ‘INCITING FAR-LEFT ACTIVISTS’
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. (REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden/File)
He added, «I haven’t made a decision yet. I think, obviously, there’s a number of factors in play, but you know, we’re working through that right now.»
Lawler is one of three Republicans mulling a gubernatorial run. So are Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman and longtime Bethany town supervisor Carl Hyde Jr.
It’s been 23 years since a Republican won a gubernatorial election in heavily blue New York. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. George Pataki’s second re-election victory in 2002.
KATHY HOCHUL’S POLLING PROBLEMS?
But Hochul’s approval ratings and favorable ratings remain underwater, giving Republicans hope the losing streak will come to an end next year. The governor also faces potential, longshot, primary challenges from her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, as well as Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York City.
«There’s a reason New York leads the nation in out-migration. It has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the high cost of living and the declining quality of life from the migrant crisis to the crime epidemic in New York to the overall cost of living,» Lawler said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
And the former political strategist and adviser-turned-politician said «people can’t afford to live in New York. They want balance and common sense, and I think that’s where there is an opportunity, if you articulate the vision to New Yorkers. They’re pragmatic, they’re commonsense, and they understand the need for change.»
Democrats disagree.
«Whether it’s working to lower costs for families or protecting fundamental rights, Governor Hochul is a fighter for all New Yorkers with a record of getting results,» Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe told Fox News.
And Donohoe argued that «while Governor Hochul is laser focused on delivering on the priorities that matter to her state, New York Republicans every day are supporting Donald Trump’s agenda that is hurting the Empire State. By spending their time currying favor with Trump, Republicans are setting themselves up for a messy and chaotic primary that will leave whoever emerges as the nominee badly damaged.»
In 2022, then-Rep. Lee Zeldin had the best performance by a GOP gubernatorial candidate in New York since Pataki’s 2002 victory. Zeldin, who now steers the Environmental Protection Agency in President Donald Trump’s second administration, lost to Hochul by less than six and a half points.
And Trump lost the state to then-Vice President Kamala Harris by 13 points in last November’s presidential election, but that was a 10-point improvement from his loss margin to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS ELECTION BATTLE PLAN
While Republicans have been more competitive statewide in New York the last two cycles, Lawler said next year’s elections will «be determined by a few things.»
«No. 1, does the economy take off?» he said. «And with the tax bill, with energy production increases, you know, if the economy takes off, then I think people are going to be very willing and open to change in New York.»
«Obviously, what we’re doing at the border matters,» Lawler said. «New York has borne the brunt of some of the disastrous decisions of the Biden administration and Kathy Hochul, spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money on free housing, clothing, food, education and health care for illegals.»
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York is interviewed by Fox News Digital on April 7, 2025, in Washington. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)
And Lawler pointed to his push to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction, known by its acronym SALT, which is a pressing issue for many New Yorkers.
«Do I deliver on things like SALT and lifting the cap on SALT? And so, if we get these things done, and you know, things are looking up, I think New Yorkers can be very open to a change,» he said.
Lawler grabbed attention in 2022 by narrowly defeating incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney, the then-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
But he’s currently one of only three House Republicans who represent districts carried by Harris in November.
Asked if he needs to keep his distance from the president if he seeks statewide office in New York, Lawler told Fox News, «Look, he’s the president of the United States, and [I] certainly would welcome his support.»
MAJORITY IN NEW YORK WANT CHALLENGER TO DEMOCRATIC GOV KATHY HOCHUL: POLL
President Donald Trump (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File)
But he also said «New Yorkers will make a determination, though, based on the choice before them» rather than on Trump.
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«If you present a viable alternative vision to New Yorkers and explain how you’re going to deal with housing, how you’re going to deal with infrastructure, how you’re going to deal with crime, how you’re going to deal with the fact that Wall Street is leaving New York in droves, these are significant issues that we have to tackle,» Lawler said. «And it requires leadership. It requires a plan. And I think if that is presented to New Yorkers, they’ll make a determination based on that.»
New York,Governors,Politics,Kathy Hochul,Elections,Republicans,Donald Trump,Midterm Elections
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INTERNACIONAL
Hundreds of millions in tax money goes to contracts for DEI groups, watchdog finds: ‘Total racket’
EXCLUSIVE: Over the last several years, a few dozen diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant groups have racked up over a hundred million dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts from K-12 schools across the country, a new report by Defending Education found.
The report, shared with Fox News Digital, details how 41 DEI consultant groups garnered millions in taxpayer-funded contracts from 303 school districts and public education entities from 2021 until now.
In total, the groups collected over $123 million from public schools in 40 states. The report found public school DEI contracts in both red and blue states, from Florida and Alabama to California and Washington.
Erika Sanzi, a spokesperson for Defending Education, described the schools-consultants partnership as a «total racket that makes schools worse» and often takes no consideration of age-appropriateness in curricula.
THE ‘GRADING FOR EQUITY’ PROPOSAL IS ABOUT LOWERING STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS, EXPERT SAYS
Over the last several years, a few dozen consultant groups have racked up over a hundred million dollars in tax-dollar contracts from K-12 schools across the country, a new report found. (Getty)
According to the report, the biggest winner in the scheme was Amplify, a firm that provides professional development and curricula to school districts, which scored a total of over $70,500,000.
The report states that in a now-scrubbed statement on its website, Amplify said its mission is to «make education, and thereby the world, more equitable and accessible» and to «help teachers support their students in constructing, questioning, expanding, and strengthening knowledge of where they come from and who they are becoming.»
In response, a representative for Amplify told Fox News Digital that the group «publishes textbooks and other instructional materials that help students learn reading, math and science» and that «there is no place anywhere in Amplify’s products, or in the training programs about how to use them, for ideologies or political agendas.»
The representative said «our programs help students learn how to think, not what to think.»
The report highlights another consultant group, Adjusted Equity Solutions, which it says is associated with the Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute, that claims to help schools challenge «whiteness and hegemonic epistemologies in school,» use «equity audits to measure student inclusiveness, policy, and practice» and serve as «advocate and social activist for community-based causes in both the school and neighborhood community.»
MAHA REPORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CHILDHOOD CHRONIC DISEASE
Students arrive at Benson High School for the first day of hybrid instruction for middle and high schools on April 19, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. (Carlos Delgado/AP Images for Portland Public Schools)
This group took in over a million dollars from public schools during the study period.
«Tinkering in the minds of other people’s children is big business and countless K-12 schools across the country are active participants,» Sanzi said. «They pay big bucks to enter into contracts with ideologues and activists who, in turn, gain access, directly or indirectly, to a captive audience of young minds.»
Speaking with Fox News Digital via Zoom, Sanzi said that «rather than this being a focus on sort of academic interventions, it’s a lot of jargon that so far has not proven itself to be measurable. And there’s really not much evidence, if any, that any of this is helping students or helping schools or helping staff.»
EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON PUSHES BACK ON CLAIMS THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ‘DOESN’T CARE ANYTHING ABOUT THE LAW’
Sanzi said that though these DEI groups couch their activities in agreeable terms like «belonging» and «empathy,» they often end up being a «wolf in sheep’s clothing.»
«At first, you’re thinking lesson on empathy, like that’s good,» she said. «Who wouldn’t want their child to be empathetic? We want that. Until you realize that the lesson on empathy is going to be about something like a little girl in her bathroom at school, a staff member who’s trans, so biologically male, but identifies as female, comes into the restroom with her. She naturally feels uncomfortable because that’s a very natural feeling in a circumstance like that. But she’s told that she needs to have ‘empathy’ for this grownup who identifies as female, right? And that her discomfort is the problem… That feeling discomfort in that situation is wrong or makes her un-empathetic.»
Morning sun lights the front of the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
The Trump Department of Education has warned state education departments in all 50 states that they must remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies or risk losing federal funding.
Despite this, Sanzi said many of these consultant groups have adjusted by scrubbing references to DEI on their websites and using other words to describe the same thing.
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«We see a lot of renaming,» she said. «So, they might say, ‘Well, we’re getting rid of our DEI office or we’re getting rid of our equity officer.’ [But] the proof will be in the pudding because what we notice often is that you’ll see a switch, like suddenly we hear the word belonging a lot more now. And so the question becomes, ‘Are you getting rid of it? Or are you just rebranding it and shifting it somewhere else and taking it off your website?’»
«What many people don’t understand is that the founders of these consultant companies and the people who run them and the practitioners are activists. They are ideologues,» she went on. «They have every right to believe that what they’re transmitting is the right thing, but in a public-school setting that is required to maintain viewpoint diversity, these really have no place, not only because of the cost, not only cause it’s public money, not only because they’re not very transparent about what they’re doing, but also because they are really trying to push an ideological agenda on other people’s children.»
The Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
DEI,Woke Culture,US Education,Dept of Education,Donald Trump
Poland has elected Karol Nawrocki, a conservative backed by President Donald Trump, in the country’s presidential runoff election, according to a final vote count issued Monday.
Nawrocki won 50.89% of the vote, gaining a narrow victory over liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%, the Associated Press reported.
The first round of voting two weeks ago revealed deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union. Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and final term ends on Aug. 6.
Trzaskowski conceded defeat and congratulated Nawrocki on Monday, thanking all those who voted for him.
POLAND’S SOARING ECONOMY SETS STAGE FOR TIGHT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS US, EU WATCH CLOSELY
Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki as he arrives at his headquarters after the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
«I fought for us to build a strong, safe, honest, and empathetic Poland together,» he wrote on X. «I’m sorry I wasn’t able to convince the majority of citizens of my vision for Poland. I’m sorry we didn’t win together.»
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week stumped for Nawrocki at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Warsaw, where she also slammed «weak» European leaders who she argued have allowed mass migration of having «destroyed their civilizations.» Noem praised Poland’s strict border enforcement, warning that «socialists» like Trzaskowski would take such protections away from the Polish people.
Trump hosted Nawrocki at the White House in early May during the conservative candidate’s campaign.
Under the Polish constitution, the president serves a five-year term and may be re-elected once.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the leaders offering their congratulations to Nawrocki on Monday morning.
«Poland, which preserves the strength of its national spirit and its faith in justice, has been and remains a pillar of regional and European security, and a strong voice defending freedom and dignity for every nation,» Zelenskyy wrote. «By reinforcing one another on our continent, we give greater strength to Europe in global competition and bring the achievement of real and lasting peace closer. I look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with Poland and with President Nawrocki personally.»
Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki greets supporters at his headquarters after the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
The U.S. has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Nawrocki as president. A common refrain from Nawrocki’s supporters is that he will restore «normality,» as they believe Trump has done. U.S. flags often appeared at Nawrocki’s rallies, and his supporters believed that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration.
POLAND ORDERS RUSSIAN CONSULATE IN KRAKOW CLOSED AFTER BLAMING KREMLIN FOR 2024 ARSON
Nawrocki, a 42-year-old amateur boxer and historian, has also echoed some of Trump’s language on Ukraine. He promises to continue Poland’s support for Ukraine but has been critical of Zelenskyy, accusing him of taking advantage of allies. He has accused Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of Polish generosity, vowing to prioritize Poles for social services such as health care and schooling.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who shares Nawrocki’s national conservative worldview, hailed Nawrocki’s «fantastic victory.»
Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian backed by the right-wing Law and Justice party addresses supporters at his headquarters after the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered measured congratulations, emphasizing continued EU-Poland collaboration rooted in shared democratic values: «We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home.»
Nawrocki’s victory is a comeback for the Law and Justice party, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it lost power to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist coalition.
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Duda’s veto power has been one obstacle to the pro-European Union Tusk in fulfilling certain electoral promises, such as loosening restrictions on abortion or passing a civil partnership law for same-sex couples. Some observers in Poland have said the unfulfilled promises could make it more difficult for Tusk to continue his term until the next parliamentary election scheduled for late 2027, particularly if Law and Justice dangles the prospect of future cooperation with conservatives in his coalition.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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DEPORTE2 días agoA qué hora se juega el PSG vs. Inter de Milán por la final de la Champions League
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SOCIEDAD3 días agoLos famosos reaccionaron a los polémicos dichos de Diego Spagnuolo, titular de la Agencia Nacional de Discapacidad
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