J.C. Polanco is an attorney, a proud member of the Department of Ethnic and Race Studies, and is celebrating his 23rd year in education. Polanco has taught Latino Studies, History, Economics, and Business Law at the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University. While serving the students here at BMCC, Polanco served as an executive for the NYS legislature for two decades and is a former Bronx Commissioner and President of the NYC Board of Elections. Today, Polanco also serves as President & CEO of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc., the country’s most influential law school pipeline. J.C. is a Bronx kid all the way; not only was he a New York Yankee batboy for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, and he’s dedicated his career to the people of the Bronx. After growing up in the Fordham section of the Bronx and attending Fordham Prep, Polanco left briefly to study politics and history at the University at Albany. J.C. quickly returned to the Bronx and became a Social Studies teacher at Truman High School in Co-op City. While teaching at Truman and Boricua College, J.C. attended Fordham Law School and the Fordham Graduate School of Business as a night student to complete a law degree and MBA. J.C. has served as a policy commentator for MetroFocus on PBS, Tiempo De Debate on Univision 41, and NY1 Inside City Hall, Consultant’s Corner. Polanco has also appeared on NY1 Pura Politica, NPR’s the Brian Lehrer Show, Fox News, CNN, and many other critical media outlets to discuss politics, election law, and administration. In 2017, J.C. became the first American of Dominican descent to run for citywide office in New York City on a major party ticket. J.C. is the proud dad of Savannah and Sebastian Polanco and resides in the Bronx’s Allerton section.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from wor Now the wr Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here's Larry Minti.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good morning and welcome to Saturday Morning. On this week's show,
a shaker in the New York mayoral race, Socialist Zorin
Mam Donnie wins the Democratic primary and is now the
front runner to be the next mayor of New York.
Political analyst J. C. Polanco on where New York goes
from here? You are just taking off. Thanks for fitting
(00:29):
us in. We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Really, I chem miss an opportunity to be with you.
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm doing really good. I know you're busy these days.
Talk give me. I'm not even going to ask a
question to start off, just give me your first thoughts
about this election and what it means.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's a political earthquake heard around the country. It's a
huge win for some of them, Mam Donnie out of Queens,
devastating shock for the former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.
And it's a real new day in New York policy,
where the Democratic Socialists of America have flexed their muscle
in New York City and now have the mantle. They're
(01:06):
in control They've won the primary, and this is their party.
This is not your father's Democratic Party anymore in New
York City, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, how about nationally, And that's where I want to
take this because I know that there has been a
lot of infighting in the Democratic Party about where they're
going to go after they took such a beating in
the last national election, and they're trying to find a
new leader and they're trying to find a new direction
because they know that some of the things in the
past didn't work. But there is a contingent in the
(01:37):
party that's fighting to hold on to the old ways.
And part of the old ways is Zorin Mamdani. I mean,
everybody's talking about him about being something new, but this
socialist element has been there for a long time. It's
just flexing its muscle, maybe at the wrong time. Is
this the future of the Democratic Party nationally?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Larry, there is a civil war in the Democratic Party.
You're right about that, But you know, the socialism fringe
was a fringe. These were guys that were at the
very tail end that would get a couple of votes
here and there. You had one senator out of Vermont
who was a proud socialist, was not even a registered Democrat.
But what has happened now is that socialism, at least
for now, appears to have gone mainstream and started with AOC.
(02:20):
When AOC took out Joe Crowley and Queens to said
a national shockwave in that you have a new Democratic
party that has young people that have no problem calling
themselves socialists, and you know, Bernie Sanders embraced that, and
we started seeing more and more of that around the country.
The problem is that there's a civil war. You have
your mainstream Democrats that recognize that you can never win
(02:41):
the majority without winning swing districts and purple states and
purple districts. You need to be able to bring Republicans
into the fold, independence into the fold in order to
win the majority in Congress, in order to win the
majority in the Senate, and in order to ever win
the majority of the electoral College.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, it's absolutely a shocker, except for the fact that
we have been going that way for the last four years.
I was stunned after covering Joe Biden for most of
my life in Delaware and hearing about him and talking
to him and going to his rallies and hearing all
(03:21):
his speeches. He was never what he was during those
four years. He was never that far to the left.
But I think he was pulled that far to the
left to a growing contingent in the Democratic Party if
he wanted to hold power. So I think for at
least the last maybe ten years, but certainly the last
(03:42):
five years, they have been pulling this way and now
this this is their hero.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Oh yeah, you know, you're right about that. You had
to appease the base. The problem is this that the
country is not reflective of the Democratic Party base, and
if they ever want to win nationally, they have to
recognize that you cannot win with a socialist message in
the United States. The United States is a purple country
made up of purple districts from east to west, and
(04:10):
the only way to win in many of these districts
is by having Democrats that can bring over independents and Republicans.
You know, when you think about when you think about
what we've just seen in New Jersey, for example, with
Mickey Cheryl, you have a Democrat who was a Navy
veteran helicopter pilet who is a centrist, and she's going
to have she had to run towards the middle in
order to win New Jersey. Remember President Trump only lost
(04:32):
New Jersey by about four points. So we're talking about
a country that has moved closer to the middle. And
there's no way that you could win as a socialist nationally.
And if the Democrats think that this is going to
be the message that's going to win you nationally in Georgia,
in North Carolina and Arizona in Nevada, it's the wrong message.
You're never going to be able to win with the
socialist message nationally. And the Republicans know it. They've already
(04:55):
started attacking Assembly Minimum Donni and New York City Democrats,
making it national issue. Whoever's the mayor of New York
City becomes a national figure by default, and Republicans will
use the fact that he's a socialist Democrat to their
advantage in the midterm elections. I already see it. It's
I see the writing on the wall.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yes, I agree with you, And why wouldn't they? Why
wouldn't they? I think I think Zora Mamdani is I
know you're not going to go this far, but I will.
I think he's an embarrassment in New York. I think
the fact that there were so many people that went
out and voted for him makes us look bad around
the rest of the country because they're just going to
say that we're crazy. But here's my question for you.
(05:35):
Can he win in the general election?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yes, he can win in the general election. The Democrat
who wins the primary for New York City mayor by
default is the favorite because of the overwhelming number of
Democrats in New York City. It's only become more and
more Democrats. This is the issue. Though. The last time
we had an independent mayor like we have now run
in November without a major party, without being a member
(05:59):
of the major party, was Michael Bloomberg. And if you
remember that race, he had hundreds of millions of dollars
at his disposal and he still had to pick up
the Republican line in order to win in November. Currently,
Mayor Adams is running as an independent on the anti
Semitism line without a major party line, but with the
power of incumbency, and in November, Larry, you don't need
(06:21):
a majority of the vote. You could win with a
mere plurality. So you have courtesy with the Republican candidate.
You have incumbent Mayor Eric Adams running hard as the
incumbent who can promise everything from now to November, has
the power of incumbency to his advantage. And then you
have assembled the Mamdani, who runs as the favorite by
default because he's the Democratic nominee. Is going to be
(06:42):
a very interesting November. Larry, anything is possible, but he
is the favorite. Although I could tell you now, with
a plurality of the vote, anything can happen. You can
have a Mayor Adams win reelection. You could see courtesy
will surprise the world. It really depends on turnout. And
remember this. I need your listeners to remember. Only eight
percent of New York City's five point two million registered
(07:04):
voters voted yesterday. It was a close party primary. It's
not over yet. There's still a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yes, you know you left out in that equation. You
left out Andrew Cuomo. You don't think he's going to
run as an independent.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I know he has an independent line, But I was
trying to gauge what he was saying yesterday, and it
seems as if he said he said, I'm going to
do what's best for the party, and I have to
evaluate things well he said that, I started thinking maybe
perhaps he's not going to be in this in November.
He does have a line if he did want to
throw his hat in the race. He still has a
lot of support across the city. He was the number
two yesterday and if he does stay in the race,
(07:39):
it's going to be even easier to win with a
plurality of the vote because you put yet another candidate
that's going to be able to garner a lot of
votes in November from Independence and Republicans. Ja C.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Polanco always great political analyst and University of Mount Saint
Vincent assistant professor and attorney. I'll see you on TV
and then hope to talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Hey, you, Larry, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
This has been a podcast from w o R.
This is a podcast from wor Now the wr Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here's Larry Minti.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good morning and welcome to Saturday Morning. On this week's show,
a shaker in the New York mayoral race, Socialist Zorin
Mam Donnie wins the Democratic primary and is now the
front runner to be the next mayor of New York.
Political analyst J. C. Polanco on where New York goes
from here? You are just taking off. Thanks for fitting
(00:29):
us in. We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Really, I chem miss an opportunity to be with you.
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm doing really good. I know you're busy these days.
Talk give me. I'm not even going to ask a
question to start off, just give me your first thoughts
about this election and what it means.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's a political earthquake heard around the country. It's a
huge win for some of them, Mam Donnie out of Queens,
devastating shock for the former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.
And it's a real new day in New York policy,
where the Democratic Socialists of America have flexed their muscle
in New York City and now have the mantle. They're
(01:06):
in control They've won the primary, and this is their party.
This is not your father's Democratic Party anymore in New
York City, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, how about nationally, And that's where I want to
take this because I know that there has been a
lot of infighting in the Democratic Party about where they're
going to go after they took such a beating in
the last national election, and they're trying to find a
new leader and they're trying to find a new direction
because they know that some of the things in the
past didn't work. But there is a contingent in the
(01:37):
party that's fighting to hold on to the old ways.
And part of the old ways is Zorin Mamdani. I mean,
everybody's talking about him about being something new, but this
socialist element has been there for a long time. It's
just flexing its muscle, maybe at the wrong time. Is
this the future of the Democratic Party nationally?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Larry, there is a civil war in the Democratic Party.
You're right about that, But you know, the socialism fringe
was a fringe. These were guys that were at the
very tail end that would get a couple of votes
here and there. You had one senator out of Vermont
who was a proud socialist, was not even a registered Democrat.
But what has happened now is that socialism, at least
for now, appears to have gone mainstream and started with AOC.
(02:20):
When AOC took out Joe Crowley and Queens to said
a national shockwave in that you have a new Democratic
party that has young people that have no problem calling
themselves socialists, and you know, Bernie Sanders embraced that, and
we started seeing more and more of that around the country.
The problem is that there's a civil war. You have
your mainstream Democrats that recognize that you can never win
(02:41):
the majority without winning swing districts and purple states and
purple districts. You need to be able to bring Republicans
into the fold, independence into the fold in order to
win the majority in Congress, in order to win the
majority in the Senate, and in order to ever win
the majority of the electoral College.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, it's absolutely a shocker, except for the fact that
we have been going that way for the last four years.
I was stunned after covering Joe Biden for most of
my life in Delaware and hearing about him and talking
to him and going to his rallies and hearing all
(03:21):
his speeches. He was never what he was during those
four years. He was never that far to the left.
But I think he was pulled that far to the
left to a growing contingent in the Democratic Party if
he wanted to hold power. So I think for at
least the last maybe ten years, but certainly the last
(03:42):
five years, they have been pulling this way and now
this this is their hero.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Oh yeah, you know, you're right about that. You had
to appease the base. The problem is this that the
country is not reflective of the Democratic Party base, and
if they ever want to win nationally, they have to
recognize that you cannot win with a socialist message in
the United States. The United States is a purple country
made up of purple districts from east to west, and
(04:10):
the only way to win in many of these districts
is by having Democrats that can bring over independents and Republicans.
You know, when you think about when you think about
what we've just seen in New Jersey, for example, with
Mickey Cheryl, you have a Democrat who was a Navy
veteran helicopter pilet who is a centrist, and she's going
to have she had to run towards the middle in
order to win New Jersey. Remember President Trump only lost
(04:32):
New Jersey by about four points. So we're talking about
a country that has moved closer to the middle. And
there's no way that you could win as a socialist nationally.
And if the Democrats think that this is going to
be the message that's going to win you nationally in Georgia,
in North Carolina and Arizona in Nevada, it's the wrong message.
You're never going to be able to win with the
socialist message nationally. And the Republicans know it. They've already
(04:55):
started attacking Assembly Minimum Donni and New York City Democrats,
making it national issue. Whoever's the mayor of New York
City becomes a national figure by default, and Republicans will
use the fact that he's a socialist Democrat to their
advantage in the midterm elections. I already see it. It's
I see the writing on the wall.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yes, I agree with you, And why wouldn't they? Why
wouldn't they? I think I think Zora Mamdani is I
know you're not going to go this far, but I will.
I think he's an embarrassment in New York. I think
the fact that there were so many people that went
out and voted for him makes us look bad around
the rest of the country because they're just going to
say that we're crazy. But here's my question for you.
(05:35):
Can he win in the general election?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yes, he can win in the general election. The Democrat
who wins the primary for New York City mayor by
default is the favorite because of the overwhelming number of
Democrats in New York City. It's only become more and
more Democrats. This is the issue. Though. The last time
we had an independent mayor like we have now run
in November without a major party, without being a member
(05:59):
of the major party, was Michael Bloomberg. And if you
remember that race, he had hundreds of millions of dollars
at his disposal and he still had to pick up
the Republican line in order to win in November. Currently,
Mayor Adams is running as an independent on the anti
Semitism line without a major party line, but with the
power of incumbency, and in November, Larry, you don't need
(06:21):
a majority of the vote. You could win with a
mere plurality. So you have courtesy with the Republican candidate.
You have incumbent Mayor Eric Adams running hard as the
incumbent who can promise everything from now to November, has
the power of incumbency to his advantage. And then you
have assembled the Mamdani, who runs as the favorite by
default because he's the Democratic nominee. Is going to be
(06:42):
a very interesting November. Larry, anything is possible, but he
is the favorite. Although I could tell you now, with
a plurality of the vote, anything can happen. You can
have a Mayor Adams win reelection. You could see courtesy
will surprise the world. It really depends on turnout. And
remember this. I need your listeners to remember. Only eight
percent of New York City's five point two million registered
(07:04):
voters voted yesterday. It was a close party primary. It's
not over yet. There's still a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yes, you know you left out in that equation. You
left out Andrew Cuomo. You don't think he's going to
run as an independent.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I know he has an independent line, But I was
trying to gauge what he was saying yesterday, and it
seems as if he said he said, I'm going to
do what's best for the party, and I have to
evaluate things well he said that, I started thinking maybe
perhaps he's not going to be in this in November.
He does have a line if he did want to
throw his hat in the race. He still has a
lot of support across the city. He was the number
two yesterday and if he does stay in the race,
(07:39):
it's going to be even easier to win with a
plurality of the vote because you put yet another candidate
that's going to be able to garner a lot of
votes in November from Independence and Republicans. Ja C.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Polanco always great political analyst and University of Mount Saint
Vincent assistant professor and attorney. I'll see you on TV
and then hope to talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Hey, you, Larry, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
This has been a podcast from w o R.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.