It's that time of year again in the Capitol, when life as we know it stops and the budget process begins.  This year's season is off to a familiar start, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo offering a PowerPoint presentation in a frigid state theater packed...

Before the media fascination with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's , it was his father who stirred up speculation about a White House run. In 1991, 32-year-old Terry Lynam was one of the staffers then-Gov. Mario Cuomo dispatched to New Hampshire to lay the...

Long before the world would meet New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott through the , then-Gov. Mario Cuomo was looking for the first person to fill the newly created post. The original state inspector general was FBI special agent...

At 25-years-old, Jim Skoufis was elected to the state Assembly. With six years of Capitol experience under his belt, he is making the leap next year to the state Senate, where he joins a new Democratic majority. Skoufis joined the podcast to talk...

The political career of Andrea Stewart-Cousins began as a volunteer on a city council race in Yonkers, and nearly three decades later she will take on the role of majority leader in the state Senate. This evolution and much more about the Democratic...

New York's lawmakers are poised to get $30,500 raise in January, and an additional $10,000 in the following two years. New York Law Journal reporter Dan Clark joined the podcast to explain the process that led to the first salary increases in two...

Compared to serving in combat overseas, Democrat Aaron Gladd's campaign for state Senate was a walk in the park. His underdog campaign to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Kathy Marchione was waged without any muscle from Senate Democrats and in a deep red...

The highly anticipated "Blue Wave" delivered on Election Day in New York, where Democrats won an overwhelming majority in the state Senate and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo cruised to a third term in office. joined the podcast to explain the results and what...

The state Senate has never been more exciting! Control of the narrowly divided 63-seat chamber is up for grabs on Election Day, and a handful of races are toss ups and more are well positioned for an upset. To breakdown the most important races the...

Election Day is less than two weeks away and the fate of New York's most competitive congressional races is still a bit hazy. To help bring some clarity to the campaigns, joined the podcast to explain his election forecasting model and explore the...

David Carlucci, an original member of the state Senate's Independent Democratic Conference and one of two to survive the primary night purges, joined the podcast for a look back and forward. The conversation examined the breakaway conference's...

If 1992 was the "Year of the Woman," then 2018 is the "Year of Women." Across the country a record number of women are pursuing elected office and , with more than 100 women running for state legislative races this year. Two of those candidates,...

There is widespread support for victims of child sexual abuse, but a comprehensive bill to make it easier to hold offenders accountable in criminal and civil court has failed to become law in New York. Gary Greenberg, a child sex abuse survivor,...

Going into primary night this summer, Gareth Rhodes was coming on the strong in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 19th Congressional District. He had picked up an endorsement from the New York Times and was rolling out support from major...

Twenty years ago, Chuck Schumer was facing an uphill battle to get into the U.S. Senate. Then a New York City congressman, he joined a crowded field pursuing the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent Republican Sen. Al D'Amato. Schumer handily...

It wouldn't be New York if there wasn't a recurring controversy surrounding political contributions. The current gubernatorial campaign has been marred by the federal probe into Crystal Run Healthcare, a politically influential Orange County firm that...

Suing the president, investigating police related homicides and leading multi-state actions against the federal government. Today's state attorney general job is unrecognizable from the position four decades ago, with new powers and a broader scope of...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon sparred over corruption, their tax disclosures and a handful of progressive issues on Wednesday. The hour-long, one-on-one matchup at Hofstra University on Long Island was a contentious affair that often...

The delivery of health care in New York has been in flux for more than a decade, but the current landscape was largely shaped by the Berger Commission. Created in 2005 under Gov. George Pataki, the commission was tasked with overhauling the delivery...

Cynthia Nixon and two-term incumbent Andrew Cuomo will meet once in a head-to-head primary debate before the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The matchup shares similarities with the 1982 primary debates that launched Mario Cuomo into the governor's...

The state's chief elections enforcement officer either had this week or reasonable oversight authority was finally put in place. Your opinion of the could depend on how you view the work of Risa Sugarman, New York's election law watchdog for the...

The state's regulator of public utilities brought the hammer down on your cable company, assuming you haven't cut the cord and live in upstate New York. The controversy has been brewing for years and it came to head at a special meeting of the Public...

In the most meta episode yet, Times Union Editor Rex Smith discusses the evolution of Capitol Confidential from a print product to a blog and now as a podcast. The interview explores the changing media landscape and what that means for the Capitol...

Dutchess County Executive , the , joined host David Lombardo on a park bench outside the Capitol for this episode of the Capitol Confidential podcast. The interview touched on Molinaro's political ideology, reality television, a , dialing for dollars,...

The next round of redistricting is still four years away, but every election is shaped by the last time the legislative boundaries were drawn. For four rounds of redistricting, was a player in New York's redistricting process. He got to experience...