Mayor Eric Adams insisted Saturday that state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs is doing a great job — joining Gov. Kathy Hochul who previously said she wouldn’t call for the resignation of the embattled leader.
“I think Jay Jacobs brought home the governor’s race here, a very difficult race,” he told reporters during a charity event tied to the SOMOS conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Jay Jacobs has been a real steady hand, and I think Rodneyse Bichotte — talk about W’s,” Adams added, crediting the Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairwoman for helping deliver state Attorney General Letitia James’ victory.
Bichotte has also come under fire for failing to bring out her party’s vote in Kings County.
The mayor’s loyalty contrasts ire from the left wing of the party, which is casting blame not on its own soft-on crime policies and instead blaming party leadership for the losses of left-center Assemblymembers — especially in southern Brooklyn — as well as failure to win congressional districts on Long Island and upstate.
“I called for Jay Jacob’s resignation a year ago and I still hold that position,” socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Wednesday. She was re-elected to her third term representing parts of the Bronx and Queens on Tuesday.
Adams said Democrats — who found themselves relying on the lefty Working Families Party to secure Hochul’s close election win — need to do a better job talking to Asian and Latino voters.
“We’re losing them. We need to speak directly to the needs of blue collar people of this country that has been the bedrock of the Democratic Party, and we need to speak to their needs and not speak at them,” he said.
Republican Lester Chang, the Republican defeated 36-year veteran Assemblyman Peter Abbate in the 49th District Bensonhurst/Borough Park/Sunset Park.
He ran against New York’s bail reforms and championed merit-based education and school choice.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos said Jacobs should be fired, but agreed Democrats need to figure out how to talk about crime.
“Jacobs should’ve been fired yesterday.”
“This was a great election for Democrats around the country, but here in NY, our leadership failed us. People are dealing with crime and a cash crunch. And we’re not listening. We don’t win by running away from issues voters care about. Tuesday was proof of that,” she added.