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Dems who ran on affordability now face backlash as costs climb in NY, Virginia
“The water bill went up. The light bill went up. Now property taxes — what exactly are we doing here?”
This was one of many cries of worry and frustration voiced by New York City residents at a recent public meeting, where they said Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies since taking office have made life more expensive. The backlash is significant as Mamdani, like many Democrats who swept into office in November, campaigned explicitly on making life more affordable for constituents.
It’s not just in New York. Like Mamdani, Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger campaigned as a vocal critic of Republican economic policies. Now, she is facing voter outrage as costs in the Old Dominion continue to rise, and an economic climate that is increasingly seen as hostile to businesses drives away some of the biggest contributors to the tax base.
The trend underscores mounting political risk for Democrats, who will now need to demonstrate that they’re keeping their promises ahead of the midterms.
In New York City — the world’s financial capital and home to nearly 9 million — rising costs have national consequences.
Residents say Mamdani is backtracking on campaign promises to lower housing costs, pointing to a proposed property tax hike, rising water bills and higher electricity costs as signs that life is only getting more expensive.
With the city’s housing market already under strain, where demand far exceeds available supply, critics say Mamdani’s proposed rent freeze could discourage new construction, tighten inventory and push prices higher over time.
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“Economists — whether they are on the right or on the left — essentially are in universal agreement that when the government implements price controls in the rental market, you end up with housing shortages,” said E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation.
Antoni argued the city’s affordability challenges are largely policy-driven. “If we look at the ways in which New York City is more expensive than other places around the country, it is chiefly due to bad public policy that has imposed those costs,” he said, adding that “doubling down on those government failures will only make it worse.”
Edward Pinto, a senior fellow and co-director of the AEI Housing Center at the American Enterprise Institute, said Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents and increase property taxes in New York would be a “one-two wealth destruction punch.”
MAMDANI’S ESTATE TAX PLAN COULD DRIVE WEALTH OUT OF STATE, CRITICS WARN
“The rent freeze would drive multifamily property values down and the increase in property taxes would drive both multifamily and single-family values down. At the same time, the construction of new supply would contract and property upkeep would diminish as repairs are deferred and improvements are not made,” Pinto said.
For tenants and homeowners, those shifts could translate into fewer housing options and higher long-term costs.
When asked about Mamdani’s latest proposal — an estate tax plan that could pull middle-class families into a levy long aimed at the wealthy — Pinto warned it would deal a new blow to the city.
“This proposal would destroy NYC’s wealth in a different manner,” Pinto said. “This estate tax proposal will mistreat capital and result in the voluntary exodus of NYC residents and their wealth to places like Florida and Tennessee,” he added.
Despite the fact that Spanberger campaigned on affordability in Virginia, lawmakers from her party in Richmond are advancing a sweeping set of tax proposals that will raise costs for residents and businesses.
They propose more than 50 taxes targeting income, investment and everyday economic activity, from joining a gym to bringing pets to the groomers.
“This is part of a broader picture we’re seeing across blue states,” said Jack Salmon, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University focusing on tax and fiscal policy. “These states seem particularly determined to raise the tax burden on their highest-earning taxpayers.”
At the center are changes to Virginia’s tax structure. One bill would raise top income tax rates to as high as 10%, while another would impose a 3.8% tax on investment income.
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For some high earners, those levies could stack — pushing rates to 13.8% and moving Virginia closer to high-tax states.
Lawmakers are also considering a range of new taxes and fees across the economy, from higher sales taxes and levies on deliveries and rideshare services to taxes on everyday services like repairs, gym memberships, dry cleaning and dog grooming, along with new taxes on large employers.
Adding to the strain are rising energy costs. A Dominion Energy rate hike that took effect Jan. 1 reflects, in part, the costs of transitioning to offshore wind under the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) — a policy that could result in higher utility bills for customers.
Spanberger has also moved to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon pricing program her predecessor, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, exited — a move critics warn will increase the burden on household energy bills.
The mounting costs are already drawing concern from business leaders. Aerospace giant Boeing plans to move its headquarters from Virginia to Missouri, a shift expected to hit the state’s tax base and business climate.
Even if the immediate fiscal impact is limited, the loss of high-paying headquarters jobs and the spending they support is expected to erode tax revenues and create ripple effects across the local economy, from reduced consumer spending to weaker demand for services.
With costs rising and frustration mounting, voters will soon decide whether those promises still hold — or whether change is coming in November.
Mamdani and Spanberger’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
This week, the 1st Medical Brigade of the III Armored Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, held a training exercise called “Operation Silver Lightning.”
The exercise, according to the 1st Medical Brigade, “is designed to simulate the challenges of providing advanced medical care in a contested, large-scale combat environment.”
Between March 23 and April 1, the 1st Medical Brigade employed the tactical arm of the Army Health System. Combat medics, optometrists, doctors, veterinarians, and other medical personnel simulated a mass casualty event in combat conditions in underground tunnels on the Fort Hood base.
This week, Fox News got an up-close look at how this training exercise was implemented.
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“So the medics have understood that you cannot set up a multi-tent field hospital that occupies four or five, up to 15 acres and provides that world-class care, above ground anymore,” said Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, director of public affairs for the III Armored Corps.
Sztalkoper said the shift is driven in part by drone warfare observed in the war in Ukraine.
“We have to disperse, number one. And then hide in plain sight, is number two. So dispersing is using multiple different kinds of locations. Hiding in plain sight could be in a building, a warehouse, or here. Using one of our unique training facilities that was designed in the 1940s. Utilized in the 1950s to house nuclear and atomic weapons,” Sztalkoper told Fox News.
The tunnels have since been decommissioned and cleaned out for use as a training facility — in this case, an underground field hospital. Sztalkoper said the several miles of tunnels are used as a “triage emergency room, operating room, vet, optometry [and] clinics,” allowing troops to avoid what he described as the growing drone threat observed in Ukraine.
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During this exercise, about 300 soldiers and role players portraying wounded troops ran through different evacuation and medical drills, with soldiers rushing the wounded from a helicopter to a military medical vehicle and then into the tunnels.
Combat medics are then trained to treat wounded soldiers, or, role players. Each of the wounded imitated the pain and symptoms of an injury that could happen on the battlefield.
“Really the dilemma for them is managing how they deal with all of this with what they have,” said Col. Brad Franklin, deputy commander of the 1st Medical Brigade.
Franklin, who also serves as a chief nurse, said he has experienced similar challenges in real-world operations.
“Knowing you don’t have enough people, you don’t have enough surgeons, you don’t have enough nurses, don’t have enough medics and there’s more patients than you can handle,” Franklin said. “So it’s forcing them to triage, reverse triage and take care of these casualties.”
WORLD WAR II VETERAN SHARES SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
Aside from treatment for soldiers, K-9s and their handlers are also training in this exercise. Further down a dark tunnel, veterinarians work on a simulated wounded K-9, while the handler is being treated for simulated injuries across the room.
Lt. Col. Cynthia Fallness, commander of the 43rd Medical Detachment providing veterinary service support, said the personnel conducting this training are doctoral-level veterinarians.
“In this case, it is a traumatic fracture, a compound fracture of the hind limb. And the dog also has a chest wound and also, is having trouble breathing because there’s a traumatic injury to the mouth,” Fallness said.
“So these are our diesel dogs,” she said of the fake K-9 on the operating table.
Out of the dozens of combat medics training, one medic says his role in the military is more than just a job.
“My grandfather actually served in World War II as a combat medic,” William Rothwell, a combat medic with the 1st Medical Brigade, told Fox News. “He went into Normandy, I believe, after the push on Omaha Beach.”
Rothwell, a Boston native, never met his grandfather, but heard stories from his father.
“Which was just how brutal it was, how rough it was. Medicine back then wasn’t as great. So handling patients was somewhat traumatic.”
In this training, Rothwell is getting that real-world medical combat experience before stepping foot on a battlefield.
“The stories of how much he cared and was willing to go, you know, the mile and above to make sure that he can get his brothers home … really touched me,” Rothwell said. “So that’s kind of how I feel in this situation.”
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Local Dem leader says he was not ‘an aggressor’ after arrest for hitting man with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ rally
The chair of the Hernando County, Florida, Democratic Party who was arrested for allegedly hitting a man in the head with a bullhorn during a “No Kings” protest, said that he did not act as an aggressor and did not escalate the confrontation.
Brian Stewart, 63, was charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor in Florida, and booked into the Hernando County Sheriff’s Detention Center after the incident in Spring Hill on Saturday. He was released later that day, records show.
Stewart said he is “not a violent person” and that the man he was accused of hitting — a disabled veteran identified as Thomas Michta in police reports — was harassing others at the demonstration “in an attempt to elicit a reaction.”
“This was a peaceful event attended by many members of the community,” Stewart told Fox News Digital.
“Unfortunately, an individual disrupted that environment and was harassing rally attendees in an attempt to elicit a reaction,” he continued. “At no point did I act as an aggressor. I am not a violent person, and I did not seek out or escalate any conflict. I never expected that I’d be accosted or need to defend myself as I did in that moment.”
The incident happened as demonstrators in Hernando County and across the country protested against the Trump administration’s policies.
Deputies responded at around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday to the intersection of Mariner and Cortez boulevards, where Stewart allegedly struck Michta in the head with a bullhorn.
Michta told deputies he was walking through the protest when he and Stewart became involved in an argument. He accused Stewart of striking him during the dispute and reported being in pain, with a visible lump on his head, according to an arrest affidavit, WTSP reported.
According to the affidavit, video footage captured by a witness and reviewed by deputies showed Stewart using a bullhorn to hit the man in the head and push him in the chest.
After reviewing the video, a witness’ statement and Stewart’s own admissions, deputies said they developed probable cause to believe Stewart intentionally hit the man and caused bodily harm, the affidavit says.
Stewart declined to comment further, saying his lawyers advised him not to make additional public statements.
“I have many more thoughts to share, but my lawyers advise that I should defer doing so until after the case has concluded,” Stewart told Fox News Digital. “Out of respect for the legal process and on the advice of counsel, I will not be commenting further on the specifics of the case at this time.”
Stewart is scheduled to appear in court on April 27.
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The Florida Democratic Party and the Hernando County chapter said in separate statements earlier this week that they “condemn violence.”
“We have been made aware that our Chair, Brian Stewart, was arrested after responding to a provocation from a local agitator who threw a drink on him and yelled obscenities at community members during a protest,” the Hernando County Democratic Party said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
The Florida Republican Party called for Stewart to be removed as chair over the incident at the protest.
“Violence and political intimidation have no place in our state, and Floridians deserve better than mere silence from Democrat leadership. Nikki Fried must immediately remove Brian Stewart from his position of leadership in the Florida Democrat Party!” Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power said in a statement to WTSP.
A 7-month-old baby girl was killed by a stray bullet Wednesday afternoon when a gunman on a moped opened fire on a Brooklyn street, police said.
According to the New York City Police Department, two individuals on a moped approached the intersection of Moore Street and Humboldt Street in Brooklyn when the individual in the back fired a weapon multiple times, with a stray bullet striking a young girl on the sidewalk.
The NYPD has identified the 7-month-old girl as Kaori Patterson-Moore of Brooklyn. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The individuals fled the scene on the moped. The NYPD said one person of interest is in custody, while a manhunt is underway for the second suspect as police ask for the public’s help identifying those involved.
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The shooting was believed to be gang-related, and the child was an unintended victim, according to police.
“There are no words that can mend the heartbreak this family is feeling right now,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a news conference. “A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant.”
The shooting took place around 1:20 p.m. on a street corner where several adults and children were gathered. Police said there were no other injuries connected to the shooting.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the moped sped off after the shooting but crashed into an oncoming car two blocks away. Both riders fell off the vehicle, and the impact caused the passenger to lose both his shoes, she added.
One of the men on the moped was injured and taken to the hospital and is in police custody in connection with an unrelated investigation, police said. Investigators believe the man fits the description of the alleged shooter based on his clothing and appearance.
The other man fled and has not been located by police as of Wednesday evening.
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No gun has been recovered from the scene, but two shell casings were found, police said.
“This is a terrible day in our city, a tragedy that truly shocks the conscious,” Tisch said at the news conference. “As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them. It is unspeakable.”
Investigators reviewed neighborhood security cameras and tracked the moped’s movement following the shooting, Tisch said.
Mamdani said Wednesday’s homicide is a reminder that more work needs to be done to reduce gun violence.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips online or on X @NYPDTips.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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