NEW YORK (AP) – New Yorkers voted in Tuesday’s gubernatorial race, which for the first time in a decade did not include the name “Cuomo” at the top of the ticket.
Instead, the Democrats’ best-known name is Katie Hochul, who was appointed to the governor’s office last year when former governor Andrew Cuomo resigned on charges of sexual harassment.
Hachul hopes to be the first woman to win New York’s gubernatorial election this fall, but must first meet the challenges Tuesday by New York’s elected public figure, Jumaan Williams, and US representative Tom Swansea, a Long Island moderator.
If he wins, Hochul will run in the big-run general election campaign, running as a high-profile fundraiser in a state that has more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans and has not had a Republican governor since 16 years.
Hochul’s prospects are expected to be even stronger after the US Supreme Court overturned Rowe v. Wade’s decision to establish abortion rights last week. She made strengthening abortion rights a key element of her campaign, while three of the four Republican candidates opposed abortion.
Republican candidates include US Representative Lee Zeldin and Andrew Giuliani, the son of the former mayor of New York.
Tuesday’s election in New York will cover state offices and competitions in the state assembly, but the primary election for seats in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate will be held on August 23. These elections were postponed due to a lawsuit to relocate the area, prompting the court to reject new political cards.
After taking office in August, Hochul tried to get out of Kuomo’s shadow, promising a clean break from his administration. She said she was not close to the former governor, who denied committing any wrongdoing, and was not around to witness the alleged misconduct.
Still, Cuomo’s presence hung over her campaign early when he began appearing in public last spring, criticizing Hochul and the Albany Democrats for their approach to crime and suggesting he could run for his old job. Although he suggested he could run as an independent, the former governor ultimately did not apply.
Suotzi, a centrist who did not shy away from embracing Cuomo, was the only Democrat on the debate scene to say he would accept the former governor’s approval and said he was still “very popular” despite his “baggage.” He also backed Cuomo’s comments, calling on Hochul to tighten state guarantee laws.
Hochul has focused her campaign on the steps she has taken to strengthen abortion rights and is taking steps to tighten state gun laws following a racist mass shooting in Buffalo.
Swatzi and Williams criticized her for approving it a decade ago by the National Arms Association and her plan to spend more than $ 1.1 billion on state and county funds to build and maintain a new stadium for her hometown of Buffalo Bills.
She also faced questions about her election as Vice Governor Brian Benjamin, who was arrested on federal corruption charges in April over campaign funds.
Benjamin pleaded not guilty and denied the wrongdoing. Hochul pointed to the short period of time she had to choose number 2, and said she was confident that all the issues raised earlier about fundraising for Benjamin’s campaign had been resolved.
Suozzi chose to compete against Hochul instead of participating in what was expected to be a tough re-election race for his seat in the House this year. He made an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 2006, but lost the Democratic nomination to Elliott Spitzer.
Williams, the most shamelessly progressive in the race, is often seen wearing a wake-up button on his lapel. He has been arrested several times for civil disobedience during demonstrations against immigration measures and police misconduct.
He served as public ombudsman as an advocate and in 2018 posed a surprisingly strong challenge against Hochul in the run for vice governor, which he lost by 7 percentage points.
If elected, he will be the second black man to serve as governor since Gov. David Patterson took office in 2007.
The leader in the Republican race is Zeldin, who has the support of the Republican and Conservative parties of the state.
Zeldin, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who has represented East Long Island in Congress since 2015, is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
His most famous contender is Andrew Giuliani, the 36-year-old son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who often campaigns for his son.
Although Rudy Giuliani was once hailed as a national hero for leading the city on September 11, he became a deeply divisive figure in New York because of his job of trying to undo the 2020 election results.
The younger Giuliani often repeated his father’s baseless claims that Trump won the 2020 election. Giuliani never ran for public office, but worked as an aide in the Trump White House and then as a commentator on the conservative Newsmax network. .
He first attracted public attention as a child when he stood by his father’s inauguration as mayor of the elderly Giuliani in 1994, imitating his gestures and repeating some of his words. His antics as a 7-year-old were parodied by Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live.
Other Republican candidates include former Westchester County executive Rob Astorino, a conservative former radio show host and radio executive, and businessman Harry Wilson, who was an adviser to the US Treasury Department under former President Barack Obama. Wilson is the most moderate in the GOP and was the only candidate from the four Republicans to say he supports abortion rights.
Add Comment