Democrats could be set to lose their decades-long hold on New York
For more than 20 years Democrats could rely on New York, a bastion of liberal support in their war with Republicans.
The state has not elected a Republican senator or governor for two decades.
But as the US midterms loom next week, their dominance is threatened.
As a sign they are in trouble, Democrats are drafting in the big guns this weekend
In the closing days of these elections the vice president, president and both Clintons are among the party’s stars campaigning here.
Polling numbers are moving against them.
Their candidate for governor Kathy Hochul could be in trouble.
She is neck and neck with her Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.
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But their problems go deeper.
New York is a bellwether state.
If a red wave of Republican support happens here, it is likely to be repeated nationally.
Upstate out in the suburbs there is a hankering for change.
Kathy Hochul
On the banks of the Hudson River the prosperous, sleepy town of Nyack is not a Republican stronghold, but people are not content with the last two years of Democrat government.
“I haven’t really seen the left really do anything,” waiter Maddux Cale told Sky News.
“I haven’t seen them step up when they said they were going to step up, and I haven’t seen them do anything that has actually been effective to help people.”
“Look at the inflation look at the price of fuel,” said Mike Rail, sitting outside a bar on Main St.
“I mean, it’s out of control so how do we not try something else for two years? Just two years.”
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Inflation, the cost of living and rising crime are motivating voters.
On the subway heading downtown, New Yorkers told Sky News they are deeply worried about their safety.
“Crime is definitely an issue – on the trains and in the suburbs as well,” one commuter said, declining to give his name.
“I have been in New York for over 40 years and this is the first time I have been afraid to come into Manhattan,” a female passenger said.
“But it’s not just Manhattan.
“I live on Long Island, which used to be safe that is not safe.
“I’m just scared.”
Lee Zeldin
She said she would still vote Democrat because she did not believe Republicans could do any better.
But enough voters are thinking of supporting Republicans to have Democrats alarmed.
You would expect a solidly liberal crowd at a drag bingo night.
But among the players in the Wolf and Warrior Brewery in White Plains New York, one former Democrat told Sky News he would be swinging his vote to Republicans.
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US braces for midterm elections
“I actually voted for Bill Clinton, so I liked Bill Clinton.
“I thought he was good for the economy and good for the markets, and then, after the last couple of years when you see what’s happening with everything now, I think you gotta go in a different direction.”
New York may be shifting politically and that spells trouble nationally.
If Republicans can do well here, they will across America too, with all that means for Joe Biden’s administration and party.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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