New York Attorney General Letitia James appeared alongside outgoing Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Sunday, during one of her last days of midterms campaigning. James is running in the November 3 election to keep New Yorkers safe from crime and malfeasance, but her remarks leaned heavily on her record of fighting the Trump administration rather than local policy specifics.
James Touts Lawsuits, Vows to Keep Fighting
James told the crowd that Congress had been neutered and was not positioned to rein in the administration's excesses, arguing that Democratic attorneys general had instead stepped up to do that work, according to the New York Post. She touted the number of times she had sued the Trump administration and vowed to continue challenging what she called Trump's illegal and unconstitutional activity, saying she would use the law to defend democracy and the rule of law. James also pointed to her office's record of removing more than 10,000 illegal guns from the streets.
James's office previously detailed some of that legal fight in an April 2025 statement marking the first 100 days of the Trump administration, saying it had filed or joined 15 lawsuits and 22 amicus briefs alongside Democratic state attorneys general since January 20, efforts the office said had successfully blocked some administration actions, according to the New York State Attorney General's office.
Crockett Urges Black Voters to See Election as Personal
Crockett, who is leaving Congress on January 3 after losing her reelection primary to fellow Democrat James Talarico, used the Brooklyn stage to make an explicit appeal to Black voters to oppose the Trump administration. She said she appears in Congress unapologetically Black every day and asked the crowd whether they were ready to fight for their liberation, per the Post's account. Crockett added that neighbors had been attacked because of their skin color or accent, telling attendees that voting must be personal. The speeches by James and Crockett were paired with performances of Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Governor Hochul Also Makes Closing Push in Harlem
James's Brooklyn appearance came as New York Governor Kathy Hochul made her own final push, campaigning at Harlem subway stations on Monday before appearing later on the Upper West Side, according to ABC7 New York. Hochul has characterized her opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, as a Trump supporter throughout the campaign. Blakeman, for his part, launched a statewide tour from a diner in Bethpage on Monday with planned stops in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton, and said his own campaign's polling showed the governor's race was neck and neck.
Hochul was scheduled to close out her campaign at a “New York Fights Back” Election Eve rally in Williamsburg alongside House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, James, lieutenant governor nominee Adrienne Adams and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Statewide, more than 1.7 million New Yorkers had already cast ballots during the early voting period, including more than 690,000 in New York City, the same ABC7 report noted.
Polling Shows Wide Leads for Both Democrats
Independent polling released before the rallies suggested comfortable positions for both Democratic candidates. A Siena poll of likely New York voters conducted October 19-22 found James leading Republican nominee Saritha Komatireddy, 54% to 39%, according to the Siena Research Institute. That edge was slightly larger than the 52% to 39% lead James held in September. James also posted a 51% favorable, 39% unfavorable rating, with support from 87% of Democrats and a 50% to 40% edge among independents. The poll surveyed 807 likely New York voters.
The same Siena survey found Hochul leading Blakeman 54% to 40%, up from a 50% to 41% advantage in September. Komatireddy, James's Republican challenger, is a former federal prosecutor, as noted by FOX 5 New York, which also detailed James's gun buyback record dating back to 2019. No Republican has won statewide office in New York since former Governor George Pataki in 2002.
Democrats Eye Ground Lost With Minority Voters in 2024
The Brooklyn rally's focus on Black voters comes as Democrats nationally look to regain ground with minority voters after setbacks in the 2024 presidential election, when Kamala Harris's total-vote advantage over Trump was 22% smaller than Joe Biden's advantage over Trump in 2020, with Latino voters cited as part of that falloff. A Pew Research Center analysis found that while 83% of Black voters backed Harris in 2024, Trump's support among that group rose to 15%, up from 8% in 2020. Among Hispanic voters, the share backing the Democratic candidate fell from 61% in 2020 to 51% in 2024, while Trump's support rose from 36% to 48% over the same period.
