Swing Seat Dem Took Campaign Donation From ‘Soft On Crime’ Group That Wants To Abolish Cash Bail

Democratic New York Rep. Josh Riley’s reelection campaign took a check from a left-wing activist group that supports abolishing cash bail, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Riley’s campaign committee accepted a $1,000 donation from Voters of Tomorrow PAC, a youth-driven advocacy organization that promotes a host of so-called criminal justice reform policies, according to his Q1 Federal Election Commission (FEC) report. The freshman lawmaker campaigned as a moderate Democrat and crossed the aisle on several pieces of GOP-backed legislation in the first months of the 119th Congress, but has repeatedly taken donations from left-wing groups that support eliminating cash bail among other far-left policies. (RELATED: ‘Criminal Justice Reform’ Advocate Denied Bail After Being Charged In Murder Case)

Riley represents New York’s 19th congressional district, a swing seat in upstate New York that President Donald Trump came within less than two percentage points of winning in 2024.

The lawmaker narrowly defeated then-incumbent Republican New York Rep. Marc Molinaro by less than 10,000 votes in a November rematch of the district’s 2022 contest in which Riley had lost to Molinaro by less than 5,000 votes.

The New York Democrat’s seat is one of 26 districts in which the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP’s campaign arm, is aiming to flip during the midterms.

The NRCC slammed Riley for accepting a donation from a group that supports cash bail abolition among other “soft on crime” policies.

“Out of touch Democrat Josh Riley is a con man,” NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole told the DCNF. “He’s desperately trying to dupe voters, but his record proves that he has been pushing radical soft on crime policies that are a threat to his district since day one. Josh Riley has no business being in Congress and he cannot be trusted to keep his constituents safe.”

A spokesperson for Riley did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.

New York’s state legislature eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and some low-level felonies in 2019 under former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s leadership. Republicans and certain New York Democrats have sharply criticized the prohibition of bail requirements for failing to crack down on repeat offenders and for contributing to a rise in crime in the state.

Roughly 65% of individuals released without bail under New York’s state law who had a recent prior arrest were rearrested within two years of release, according to a February 2024 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Data Collaborative for Justice.

One New York City man was arrested 46 times for retail theft in less than a year, but was allowed to walk free every time under the state’s bail reform laws, the New York Post reported in October 2021.

Voters of Tomorrow advocates for the elimination of cash bail among other “justice” issues including the decriminalization of prostitution. The left-wing Gen Z group also promotes far-left racial concepts. Its policy page states, “It is not enough to not be racist; we must be actively anti-racist,” and calls for dismantling “all institutions that continue to perpetuate racism against People of Color.” Voters of Tomorrow also argues that the federal government must “end the abusive practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prevent them from further terrorizing human beings.”

“If the ‘justice’ system has policies or laws in place that have a monetary value tied to them, then those policies only apply to low-income people,” the group states on a Gen Z Agenda 2024 document detailing its position on cash bail. “No one should have to remain in prison for the duration of their case just because they do not have the financial means to pay their bail. Cash bail only applies to low-income people and we need equal justice.”

The group endorsed Riley during his run against Molinaro during the 2024 cycle.

The Gen Z-led organization also backed former Vice President Kamala Harris, contributing nearly $30,000 in support of her presidential run, according to OpenSecrets. A campaign memo from Harris’ failed 2020 presidential bid notably called for the abolition of cash bail.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 15: Rep.-elect Josh Riley (D-NY) arrives along with other congressional freshmen of the 119th Congress for a group photograph on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on November 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Riley’s 2022 and 2024 campaigns have also received tens of thousands of dollars from the left-wing New York Working Families Party (NY-WFP). The party’s criminal justice initiative advocates for the abolition of cash bail and has resisted efforts to roll back changes that weakened bail requirements under the 2019 law.

The NY-WFP has also resisted efforts to amend state law, stating “we will not go back” to cash bail.

“We refuse to return to a time when the wealthy could buy their way out of jail while poor New Yorkers sat behind bars,” former NY-WFP state director Sochie Nnaemeka wrote in a statement. “We will not go back.”

In October 2024, the NY-WFP transferred $5,000 to Riley’s campaign, according to FEC disclosures. New York uses fusion voting, meaning that candidates can run on multiple parties’ ballot lines. NY-WFP often endorses candidates that go on to also receive the Democratic nomination, such as Riley.

In 2022, the NY-WFP contributed more than $21,000 to Riley’s first run against Molinaro, per FEC documents. He also received $2,500 from the left-wing party’s national PAC.

The NY-WFP has also disputed linkages between crime and the elimination of cash bail requirements, arguing in May 2023 that toughening the law to give judges more discretion over holding defendants before trial were “right-wing talking points to incarcerate more Black and brown people to appease moderate voters.”

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told the Wall Street Journal in March that the state’s elimination of cash bail for most criminal offenses in addition to other so-called criminal justice reforms have “rendered the criminal justice system in New York City a high-speed revolving door for recidivists.”

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