Good afternoon — It’s Monday and Onion Ring Day.
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In today’s CapCon:
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear another challenge to New York’s gun licensing law Monday, leaving it intact.
Early voting is over and the number of people who went to the ballot box was significantly higher than what we saw in 2024. Here’s data from each county.
Here’s what the large-dollar campaign contributions required to be reported to the state over the last two weeks tell us heading into Tuesday’s election.
A major ethics loophole for members of the state Legislature would be closed by a new bill introduced Monday.
Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Omar Johnson, Joe Addabbo, Albert Baldeo, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Drew Warshaw, Thomas P. DiNapoli, Raj Goyle, Natalie Harrison, Jeremy Zellner, Jonathan Rivera, Steven Raga, Aber Kawas, Jessica Ramos
(John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)
⚖️ SCOTUS declines to hear case on New York’s gun licensing laws
New York’s gun licensing scheme won’t be tested by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined on Monday to hear a case decided last year by the state’s highest court.
The case was brought by Omar Johnson, a New York man who was convicted of possessing an unlicensed pistol. After that conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court upended part of how New York grants gun licenses in 2022.
In that case, commonly referred to as Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down how New York decided if someone should be granted a gun license or not.
Johnson had used that decision to challenge New York’s entire gun licensing scheme, essentially arguing that it should invalidate its entirety because the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down part of it. That way, his conviction wouldn’t stand.
The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, disagreed last year.
“The defendant has failed to show that there is no set of circumstances in which the licensing scheme would be constitutionally valid,” the decision said. “To take one example, the statute prohibits gun possession by convicted felons.”
“The defendant makes no argument before us that this provision is unconstitutional,” it said.
That left intact the rest of New York’s gun licensing scheme. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to disturb that decision Monday.
A quick look at news on elections that might interest you.
🗺️ NEW YORK VOTER GUIDES: The Times Union now has voter guides available for every region of the state. If you want to take a look at your region or just browse who’s on the ballot, check all of those out here.
(Will Waldron/Times Union)
💵 What late big-dollar campaign contributions tell us about competitive races
In the final weeks leading up to an election in New York, campaign contributions of more than $1,000 have to be publicly disclosed within 24 hours of being received.
The rule is intended to shine a light on big-dollar donations made in the final days of an election. Those contributions can show us which candidates are worried about their chances and who’s trying to influence those races.
I pulled the contributions this month from the state Board of Elections Monday to see what it could show us about what’s happening behind the scenes of some of tomorrow’s primaries.
1. Assembly Democrats got a big boost from Tier 6 change supporters
The campaign arm of Democrats in the state Assembly received a $155,000 boost from the Transport Workers Union over the last two weeks.
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