Dispatches from Planet Albany

The field of Republican candidates for governor in 2026 is starting to take shape, so we wanted to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the big names who are out there and consider what it will take for the GOP to win back the executive mansion in next year.

Our guest is Chapin Fay, a conservative communications and political strategist, who is founder of Lighthouse Public Affairs.

Tusk Strategies partner Shontell Smith brings the fury and wrath of a vengeful god to this episode, as she responds to last week's political draft on the podcast, when her firm was not selected in the "Most Powerful Lobbying Firm" category.

She addresses this omission and other categories from the draft, before discussing state budget negotiations and a potential run for governor by Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Based on the success of our first Dispatches from Planet Albany draft, we're going back to the well and drafting new categories.

We're drafting most powerful interest groups, most effective PR consultants, best LG choice for Governor Hochul in 2026, and much more. Teams are being assembled by Dan Clark, author of the Capitol Confidential newsletter for the Times Union, Raga Justin, a Capitol reporter for the Times Union, and David Lombardo, keeper of the Excel spreadsheet.

After you listen to the podcast, visit The Capitol Pressroom's Twitter account to vote on who drafted the best team.

At this point in the state budget process, a few days into the new fiscal year and high-level negotiations still hammering out major sticking points, there isn't much for rank-and-file state lawmakers to do when they're at the Capitol.

We talked with Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat, now working on her fifth budget, about how she prepares for this period and what she does to occupy her time.

We also check in with Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Smith to recognize her budgetary prediction powers and learn how a final budget comes together.

State Sen. James Skoufis may not have gotten to lead the DNC, but he did get the next best thing: an invite to this podcast.

We talked with the Orange County Democrat about his unsuccessful national leadership bid, his political ambition in New York, the 2026 race for governor, and reforming the Democratic state party.

This week's Dispatches from Planet Albany episode features content that couldn't fit on the radio, but is perfect for political nerds looking for inside baseball conversations.

We peppered state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli about his political ambitions, who he's backing for governor in 2026, the debate over aging elected officials, and how he'll approach oversight of the new CDPAP contract.

And Richard Rifkin, legal director for the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, gets into the weeds on the court ruling that upheld COELIG and shares some reflections as a former ethics watchdog.

Did you know you can legally bet on political outcomes in America? And not just big elections, but obscure political races in New York City or the fate of Gov. Kathy Hochul's rebate check proposal.

In light of host David Lombardo jumping into this world with both feet, we explore the odds behind some of the most hotly discussed elections in Planet Albany and consider what other political events in New York are worth a bet. Our guest is Alex Elmasri, a vice president with The Parkside Group.

And first we'll check in with Shontell Smith, a partner with Tusk Strategies, to discuss the significance of the one-house budgets (very little) and get her take on the prison strike.

We explore what contributed to the wildcat strike by prison guards around New York and whether there is a long-term solution to the underlying tension in the state corrections system. Our guest is Chris Gelardi, a reporter with New York Focus.

For our banter with Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Smith, we discuss the conscious decoupling between Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and Gov. Kathy Hochul. Then we reflect on the governor's underwhelming effort to put so-called guardrails on the powers of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Our deep dive this show is into the 21st Congressional District and whether Democrats should be spending any of their blood, sweat and tears on this GOP-controlled seat when it becomes up for grabs in a special election. We talk about the Democrats' longshot chances to flip this district with SKDK Managing Director Morgan Hook and The Parkside Group Vice President Alex Elmasri.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado formally detached his political future from Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday, announcing he would not be running for re-election in 2026.

In light of this shakeup in the political landscape, we had to do a bonus episode of the podcast and we turned to Rich Azzopardi, a veteran of years of gubernatorial drama and now the founder of Bulldog Strategies.

We discussed the next steps for Delgado, unpacked in real time the response from the Hochul administration, and considered whether this creates openings for other Democrats hoping to be governor.