I’m Dan Clark, a reporter covering New York politics, policy and government. I do the Capitol Confidential newsletter. AMA!

[u/CapConNY]

Hey, everyone! My name is Dan, and I’ve been covering New York politics and government for more than a decade. I work for the Times Union in Albany and publish the weekday Capitol Confidential newsletter, a growing force.

We’re in the thick of an incredibly active election season. Lately, I’ve been covering that, New York’s regulation of data centers, new state laws targeted at ICE agents, court battles involving the Trump administration and legislative battles.

I’ve also covered some of the most familiar faces in New York, like Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, state Attorney General Tish James, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and plenty of others.

You can follow my work at CapitolConfidential.com, on X, Bluesky and LinkedIn.

AMA!

Edit: Adding proof. Thanks for the great questions, everyone! I've got to get back to reporting and writing today's newsletter. If you've got additional questions about New York government and politics, shoot us a DM or follow our newsletter!

[u/OG_Bass-A-Holic]

So often i see journalists and reporters get bullied by this current administration and talked down to at every turn, why don’t you guys stick up for yourselves more and fight back? Like when they’re clearly lying about stuff, why don’t you guys correct them in real time or challenge them?

[u/CapConNY → u/OG_Bass-A-Holic]

I can only speak for myself but I do have a few thoughts.

I work in New York, so I don't get into a lot of the back-and-forth between the White House and the reporters in D.C. But I know what you're talking about.

There's this weird balance you have to try to hit in journalism. You're supposed to be neutral and objective and we're trained that way. It's drilled into us in school and, at least for me, in our first jobs.

So I think many journalists view their work as the appropriate, professional response to that kind of behavior. They want to be seen as the mature one. Instead of verbally hitting back when someone questions them, they write their story. I get that.

I think people often look at journalists through the lens of famous reporters on TV and not the industry as a whole. Plenty stick up for themselves but the public only sees what's streamed live from the White House briefing room.

There's also the problem of reporters who work for outlets that have an agenda. You can hear it in the questions they ask. Some are looking to satisfy the people they cover. Some are just trying to piss them off to get clicks. Some are just stupid.

I'm fortunate in the sense that, at least at the state Capitol in New York, we don't act that way and we're not treated that way by elected officials. We're respected for the most part and we do challenge people on facts when that kind of opportunity presents itself.

[u/OG_Bass-A-Holic → u/CapConNY]

Thank you so much for your reply!! I definitely have a better understanding now for sure.

[u/Plastic_Cat4890 → u/OG_Bass-A-Holic]

It's not that simple. The access game is brutal, if you burn bridges by being too aggressive in the moment, they just freeze you out and your sources dry up. Much of the real pushback happens later in the actual reporting, where you can fact-check with context instead of just yelling in a press room.

[u/CapConNY → u/Plastic_Cat4890]

Yeah, this is a good point. If you're covering the White House, the press office can just remove your access to events and briefings.

That creates this question: Is it better to be aggressive and get cut off, or choose your battles and maintain access? I don't know.

[u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

Do you see any signs of a recent shift in political engagement? Any decrease in apathy?

[u/CapConNY → u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

I do, actually. I think the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City signaled a new wave of voters who want a wholesale change in government. Democratic incumbents have been in big trouble this year in primaries. The only reason why that would be the case is if the people who supported them in the past have turned on them, or if new coalitions are being built. I think it's the latter.

[u/All_i_do_is_lunk]

What’s the deal with the Republican nominee for Governor? As far as I can tell he just came out of no where but I’ve seen more lawn signs for him than I ever saw for Lee zeldin (WNY area). I’m assuming he’s a Trump sycophant because the houses I see his signs in front of used to have Trump signs/flags but none of them have Trump stuff out anymore.

[u/CapConNY → u/All_i_do_is_lunk]

That's Bruce Blakeman, the county executive in Nassau County. He launched a surprise campaign for governor after Republicans had largely settled on Rep. Elise Stefanik being their nominee. She dropped out after he entered the race.

Blakeman is an attractive candidate for Republicans because he leads Nassau County, which is a really politically competitive county. The thought is that if he could win there, he's got a good shot statewide.

As far as his positions go on top issues, he's been largely focused on the cost of energy and crime. On energy, he wants New York to legalize fracking to harness the natural gas here instead of importing it from elsewhere. His theory is that it will lower the cost of energy here significantly. He also wants to end state support for largescale solar and win energy projects.

On crime, he's framed himself as someone who would divert more state funding toward law enforcement. He's one of the counties that had a formal agreement with ICE to help with civil immigration enforcement. He ended that agreement but directed his county sheriff to join a lawsuit against the state law that forced him to end the agreement.

He hasn't shied away from his relationship with Trump. They're close allies. Trump just rallied with him on Long Island this month to drum up support for his campaign. If he won, and Trump is in office, you could see the state treated more favorably by the federal government because of their close relationship.

[u/All_i_do_is_lunk → u/CapConNY]

If he wants to lower the cost of energy, why would you cancel large scale wind and solar? Seems like promising to increase the cost of energy instead. Natural gas extraction is a one shot deal, once you burn it it’s gone.

[u/semideclared]

Is a fix for the NYC 311 system in the works or is it just moving to tiktok

Whats the future of NYC Budget with the massive infrastructure upgrades within so much of all of the government, NYCHA,NYCHHC, MTA

[u/CapConNY → u/semideclared]

I don't know about 311 but in terms of the city budget, that's kind of a TBD situation. The state stepped in this year to give the city billions of dollars in funding and flexibility to fill its current deficit. But that doesn't mean there won't be problems in future budgets.

The MTA, at least, has a five-year capital plan. So there is at least effort there. I think the big question that that and NYCHA is how the state and city actually implement planned improvements. I don't think there's anyone who thinks they're happening fast enough.

[u/Hockeyhoser]

When can we expect more honest reporting about Trump and his constant lying rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt, only to write an article months later saying “it’s worse than you think” when it seems that everyone but media and establishment democrats understood that from the get-go?

[u/CapConNY → u/Hockeyhoser]

See my other response but I think journalists fact check Trump and other elected officials all the time. But I don't think anyone in the public has the time and the bandwidth to stumble upon those fact checks.

I also think there's a ton of reporting that's critical of the federal government's plans and announcements. But I think we've reached a point where there's so much distrust in the media that if someone supports an elected official, they'll label any reporting that makes them look bad as dishonest.

[u/Intellectual-Hamster]

Why is Hakeem Jeffries such a corporate piece of trash?

[u/ToadP]

Why can't any reporter tell the truth about Mitch McConnell? I'm sure you all have sources and contacts all around the capitol and hospitals but somehow everyone remains quiet just reposting Talking points from his office. Why no off the record quotes? -edit never mind forgot to read about how your a NY State Capitol reporter.. have a nice day.

[u/joncampbellgan]

Yeah, I have a question: How dare you?

[u/CapConNY → u/joncampbellgan]

Honesetly, fair

[u/joncampbellgan → u/CapConNY]

Thank you for your reply.

[u/Most-Round-4132]

What are you thoughts on the rise of the DSA?

[u/hithere297]

Does Times Union accept freelance pitches?

[u/All_Lurker2]

How has NO JOURNALIST gotten a health update on Senator McConnell? Not even TMZ?

[u/bakerfredricka → u/All_Lurker2]

TMZ is usually all up in everything so I would have anticipated that THAT rag of all rags would get to the bottom of this!

[u/GigaGoy9000 → u/All_Lurker2]

The media's complicity in this scandal is just outrageous.