Kathy Hochul wins election for governor of New York

 

 

 NY Daily News

Kathy Hochul became the first woman elected governor of New York on Tuesday after overcoming a tighter-than-expected race and defeating Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

The Democratic incumbent, buoyed by high voter turnout in New York City, declared victory shortly after 11 p.m. and will now serve a full four-year term in office.

“Tonight you made your voices heard loud and clear and you made me the first woman to ever be elected the governor of the state of New York,” Hochul said to a chorus of cheers at Capitale, a Lower Manhattan event space with Greek-style architecture and a glass ceiling. “But I’m not here to make history, I’m here to make a difference.

“I will lead with strength and compassion not with fear and anger,” she added.

At the time, Hochul was up on Zeldin by 55% to 43%, with just more than half of all votes counted across the state, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. Technical issues prevented results from being tabulated from Suffolk County, Zeldin’s home turf. NBC and ABC called the race before midnight.

Hochul’s win was far from certain even in deep blue New York as she faced off against Zeldin, a Donald Trump-endorsed Long Island congressman whose focus on crime boosted his bid to become the first Republican elected statewide in over two decades.

Hochul relies on repetition and evasion in debate with Zeldin

 

 CBS New York

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul went head-to-head Tuesday night with Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin in their first and only debate before Election Day.

CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer says if you ask her, the tale of the debate on Spectrum News NY1 was summed in one single round when each candidate got to ask the other a question. The gloves were off, each going for what they thought was the other's Achilles' heel.

Hochul said hers was a simple yes or no answer.

"Is Donald Trump a great president?" Hochul asked.

"I worked closely with him on a number of important policies," Zeldin said.

"Yes or no, yes or no," Hochul said.

"And I believe that from our work to combat MS-13 on Long Island, our work to secure a $2 billion electron ion collider for Brookhaven National Lab," Zeldin said.

The Long Island congressmen then embarked on a long list of what he called Trump accomplishments, from moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem to ending the Iran nuclear accords.

"I'll take that as a resounding yes, and the voters of New York do not agree with you," Hochul said.

Zeldin's question to Hochul was also a pointed gotcha, referring to campaign donations from companies doing business with the state, including one who supplied COVID test kits.

"What specific measures are you pledging to deal with the pay-to-play corruption that is plaguing you and your administration?" Zeldin asked.

"I don't accept the premise. There is no pay-to-play corruption," hochul said. "There has never been a quid pro quo, a policy change or decision made because of a contribution ... If you're going to talk about unseemly circumstances, how does one person get away with giving you $10.5 million in your election?"

For the most part, the one and only debate between Hochul and Zeldin revolved around the themes they have sounded on the campaign trail:  Zeldin's, the focus on public safety, bail reform, firing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and ending congestion pricing, and Hochul pointing out that Zeldin does not support abortion rights and is, in her words, an "election denier."

"There is no crime-fighting plan if it doesn't include guns, illegal guns, and you refuse to talk about how we can do so much more. You didn't even show up for votes in Washington when a bipartisan group of enlightened legislators voted for an assault weapon ban," Hochul said.  

"It's amazing that we're going to be able to go through the entire crime conversation of this debate and we're still waiting for Kathy Hochul to talk about actually locking up criminals," Zeldin said. "Kathy Hochul believes that the only crimes that are being committed are these crimes with guns, and you got people who are afraid of being pushed in front of oncoming subway cars. They're being stabbed, beaten to death on the street with hammers ... We need to be talking about all of these other crimes, but instead, Kathy Hochul is too busy patting herself on the back, job well done."

Believe it or not, the two actually agreed on one thing:  both think the cap on charter schools should be lifted.

Early voting starts Saturday. Election Day is Nov. 8.

 

It's Kathy Clown vs. Lee Ze in November

NY Daily News

Gov. Hochul sailed to victory Tuesday as she easily defeated a pair of Democratic primary opponents and took a step closer to becoming the first woman elected governor of New York.

The incumbent Democrat beat out Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Jumaane Williams, the city public advocate, in an early summer contest that saw exceptionally low voter turnout across the state.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:25 p.m.

“I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling,” Hochul said Tuesday night, dressed in white in a nod to suffragists as she addressed supporters at a Manhattan celebration. “To the women of New York, this one’s for you.”

 NY Daily News

Rep. Lee Zeldin clinched victory in New York’s Republican gubernatorial primary late Tuesday, coming out on top after an acrimonious campaign against a field of challengers that included former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s son.

Zeldin, a Long Island Republican and one of former President Donald Trump’s earliest supporters in Congress, was declared the winner by the Associated Press around 10:30 p.m. as early state Board of Elections returns showed him leading runner-up candidate Andrew Giuliani by a wide margin.

 

The dope from Park Slope decides not to run for governor of New York

 

NY Daily News 

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that he won’t run for governor of New York state.

The two-term mayor gave scant details about his decision to skip a Democratic primary challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who last year replaced disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“I am not going to be running for Governor of New York State, but I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fighting inequality in the state of New York,” de Blasio said in a video announcement. “We’ve got a lot of work to do together.”

 

Tish calls it quits

 

 Queens Crap

New York Attorney General Letitia James has suspended her campaign for governor and is running for re-election.

The news was broke via Twitter with Capitol reporters getting the news that her campaign was being ‘suspended’.

.@ZackFinkNews with the scoop that @TishJames is no longer running for Governor. In the last Siena Poll Tish got 18% and Hochul got 36%. @GloriaPazmino reporting Tish will run for re-election.

— Susan Arbetter (@sarbetter) December 9, 2021

James shed some light on the decision, which took most of New York’s political scene by surprise on Thursday.

“I Have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general. There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job. I am running for re-election to complete the work New Yorkers elected me to do,” the statement from her gubernatorial campaign said.

The decision appears to have come after some internal reflection by the Democratic Party, which sees a challenging year on the horizon if there are hotly contested primaries.

 

NEW: @TishJames is suspending her campaign for Governor.

— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) December 9, 2021

*Jay Jacobs is also calling on New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Tom Suozzi to drop their primary challenges to Gov. Hochul as well.

— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) December 9, 2021

Letitia James is running for governor, so is that fool public advocate

 

NY Post

 State Attorney General Letitia James — whose bombshell sexual harassment report led to the resignation of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — will announce that she’s challenging incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in the 2022 Democratic primary, The Post has learned.

James called a union leader Wednesday notifying the official she plans to announce her campaign “shortly,” according to a source.

Kimberly Peeler-Allen, senior advisor for James’ campaign put out a statement Wednesday that said: “Attorney General Letitia James has made a decision regarding the governor’s race. She will be announcing it in the coming days.”

“I hear she’s making calls. She made a call to me for money last week,” a second source familiar with James’ thinking told The Post. 

“She did not want to say that she’s running for governor — even though we understood each other,” said the source, noting James wryly added: “You know what I’m up to.”

Hamodia 

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams has filed the necessary paperwork with the New York Board of Elections in order to run for governor, the Times Union reported.

Williams, a progressive Democrat, is the second to file for governor, after Governor Kathy Hochul. The Democrat primary is scheduled for June 2022. Other potential candidates include Attorney General Letitia James.

Williams had previously indicated he would run for governor in September, when he began an exploratory committee. He formed a campaign committee on October 18.

Here she is, the new governor

 

 NY Daily News 

 Kathy Hochul, the first woman to serve as governor of New York, was sworn in Tuesday during a private midnight ceremony.

The 62-year-old Democrat is taking over the Empire State following the resignation of disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations.

Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals Janet DiFiore presided over the early morning transition of power at the State Capitol.

“While it was not expected, it is a day for which I am prepared,” Hochul said a day after Cuomo announced his resignation earlier this month.

 The newly christened leader has already vowed to help New York turn the page from the tumultuous final six months of Cuomo’s tenure which were shadowed by the misconduct claims, an impeachment probe and questions about his administration’s handling of the COVID crisis.

In case you missed it: The gubernatorial debate

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon square off at Hofstra University on Aug. 29, 2018, in their only debate before the primary election. The pair have several fiery exchanges and accusations on who can best lead the state.

Something the governor should do right now

From the Huffington Post:

Even after a reportedly mentally ill ex-prisoner, Ismaaiyl Brinkley shot New York City Police Department officers, Liu Wenjin and Raphael Ramos, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is refusing to sign a bill (S7818) that passed both houses and is on his desk right now.

The "Prisoners Mental Health Discharge Planning Bill" would require prison officials to make sure prisoners with mental illness who are being released are

• given a discharge plan,
• an appointment with a community program,
• and enough medications to last until the appointment.
• It also adds parole officials to the list of people who can refer someone with a mental illness to a hospital for evaluation.

Media reports say Ismaaiyl Brinsley who shot officers Liu Wenjin and Raphael Ramos was reported by his mom to be mentally ill, and reported himself to have been previously institutionalized. He was also previously incarcerated. While Brinsley was not a New York resident, this bill would help prevent violence by similarly situated people who do leave a New York prison. Cuomo should sign it today.

The bill was sponsored Senator Catharine Young and Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell. Supporters include Mental Illness Policy Org, the NYS Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of NYS

We also note that Mayor DeBlasio's Task Force on Mentally Ill at Riker's Island Jail failed to include expansion of Kendra's Law in their recommendations. Kendra's Law reduces homelessness, arrest, violence and incarceration by mentally ill ex-prisoners by keeping them in mandated and monitored community treatment.

Candidates for Governor address Bay Terrace Community Alliance

Video of Candidates Forum held August 26, 2014 by Bay Terrace Community Alliance, moderated by Warren Schreiber and Phil Konigsberg. Copyright 2014 LoScalzo Media Design LLC. All rights reserved.

Andrew Cuomo did not attend...

Cuomo challenger releases plan to clean up Albany

The Astorino/Moss Plan to Clean Up Albany

• Term Limits - Limit statewide elected officials to two terms (8 years) and state legislators to four terms (8 years).
  
• Limit Legislative Session - Convene regular session the first week in January and end on April 1, when the budget is due; Special session throughout the year can be called by a petition request from two-thirds vote of both legislative houses or by the Governor as defined in the State Constitution.
  
• Independent State Commission on Public Ethics (I-SCOPE) to replace J-COPE. Five members appointed by judiciary with independent budget to receive and investigate complaints of official misconduct, including sexual harassment and assault.
  
• Strengthen FOIL - Require proactive online posting of records and information required for release under FOIL requests; Information would be posted on single statewide database managed by State Comptroller.
  
• Defined Contribution Plan for Newly Elected - Require all newly elected officials to join SUNY's Defined Contribution Plan instead of the existing pension system.
  
• Pension Strip -Loss of taxpayer-funded pension for any elected official convicted of public corruption.
  
• Prohibit Personal Use of Campaign Money - Establish clear guidelines to limit donations solely to election-related activities.
  
• Ban Conflict of Interest Member Items - No "member items" to any non-profit or business affiliated with a state elected official or an immediate family member.
  
• Replace Per-Diem System and require receipts for travel, lodge and food.
  
• End Taxpayer-funded Vanity - Prohibit any building, facility or capital project that was paid for with taxpayer money to be named for any current elected official.

Sounds good, but will it happen? Polls show Cuomo with a very large lead over Astorino.

Should Dave take some of the blame?

From Capital Tonight:

Mayor Bloomberg has been bearing the brunt of the blame for the lackluster post-blizzard clean-up, but one state lawmaker thinks there’s more than enough of that to go around with a share belonging to outgoing Gov. David Paterson.

Assemblyman Bill Colton, a Brooklyn Democrat, said Paterson should have declared a state of emergency after the storm, following New Jersey’s lead, arguing that would have allowed for the mobilization of resources – from the National Guard, for example – to help the city with its sub-par snow removal effort.

“I think the governor clearly had a responsibility to, at the very minimum, call the mayor and say: Do you need help? Should we call a state of emergency? At the very minimum, the governor should have done that,” Colton told me during a brief telephone interview this afternoon.

“There should at least have been a discussion of whether it was needed.”

When I noted Paterson has one foot out the door (although he has managed to find the time to issue more than a few pardons and a commutation), Colton replied:

“The reality is the snow occurred a week ago and it would seem to be that he’s got to keep his hand on the helm of the ship.”

Do you trust this man to do the right thing?

From Gotham Gazette:

On Nov. 2, voters in California and Florida approved measures on the ballot to take the politics out of drawing legislative district lines.

In New York, the voters do not have the power to go to the ballot to change the redistricting process. That leaves it up to Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo and the State Legislature to decide whether to keep redistricting in the hands of legislators or enact reforms to create a more independent process. With the state receiving census data from the federal government by April 1, 2011, and new districts needing to be drawn before the 2012 legislative elections, the clock is ticking on this important issue.

Cuomo and a majority of members of the legislature have expressed their support for change. But whether that will become a reality in time for the upcoming redistricting remains to be seen, along with how the governor, legislators and advocates will draw independent lines.

Governor's race about to get more interesting

From the NY Times:

A governor’s race that seemed all but settled could soon be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is planning to switch parties, a move certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic about their party’s hopes this fall.

Those leaders believe that the official, Steve Levy, a blunt-spoken fiscal hawk and contrarian who collected 96 percent of the vote in his last re-election bid, can tap into the public’s anti-incumbent sentiment and frustration with Albany’s overspending.

“There really seems to be a void out there that I can fit perfectly,” Mr. Levy said, describing Albany’s political culture as a “cesspool.”

“We’ve got to clean house, tear that place down and build it back in a cleaner, more efficient manner,” he added.

There is no question that Mr. Levy would add unpredictability to the race. He is known not only for his Puritan work ethic and stubborn frugality but also for his occasionally incendiary comments, especially on immigration. His detractors say he has stoked the anger of the largely white middle-class residents of Suffolk County, which is grappling with an influx of immigrants who are straining the social service system.

In 2005, Mr. Levy helped orchestrate a highly publicized raid on a house in Brookhaven, where the authorities rounded up dozens of suspected illegal immigrants. He once described foreign women who give birth after moving to the United States as having “anchor babies,” a term often used derisively by anti-immigrant groups. Asked in a recent interview whether he might have chosen his words more carefully, he was unapologetic. “There’s no need to,” he said. “The public is in agreement with me.”

His tendency to say what he believes is what he thinks voters find appealing about him. “I mean, I came out of nowhere for a lot of people,” he said. “And when they started paying attention to what I was saying, it’s like: ‘Wow. This guy is saying what I’ve been thinking for years.’ ”

In the county, he has reduced spending throughout the $2.6 billion budget, through steps like doing away with county vehicles, authorizing fewer hires of county employees and leaving unfilled positions vacant. He has fiercely battled public employee unions, and says he will do the same if he goes to Albany.

Holy shit! Where do I send my check?

Paterson will not run or step down

From the Daily News:

A beleaguered Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday.

He will announce the decision later Friday.

Paterson been under fire for contacting a woman who accused one of his top aides of domestic violence.

The source said the governor has agreed not to seek election, but he will not resign - opting to serve out the remainder of his term.

The decision clears the way for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is the favorite of many Democrats, to seek the nomination unimpeded.

Paterson just a big, lazy loser

From the NY Times:

On the eve of his election kickoff, however, interviews with dozens of current and former aides, legislators and friends reveal significant criticism about Mr. Paterson’s management of the state and of his election effort.

Those interviewed describe the governor as remote from the most seasoned people around him, and increasingly reliant on people whom he feels comfortable with but who lack deep experience in government, including his former driver, David W. Johnson, and his former Albany roommate, Clemmie J. Harris Jr., who retired from the State Police on disability a decade ago and has been appointed special adviser to the governor.

Some lawmakers say that despite the state’s crippling crisis, Mr. Paterson has seldom engaged with them, beyond denouncing them. And several former state commissioners say he has virtually no involvement with those he has running major agencies, only rarely participating in policy meetings.

In extended interviews with The New York Times last week, the governor emphasized that he believed that he was the best person to lead the state, saying he was working hard and making tough decisions in a brutal economic and political climate.

“I want this job because right now I feel I’m the one who is standing up to the special interests, standing up to the Legislature and standing up for the people of New York,” he said. “I really believe that I’m the person who’s doing that.”

But he also sought to portray himself as the victim of racist caricature — portraits driven, he suggested, by his rivals.

“This latest kind of bashing of me is a depiction of me in what is, in my opinion, a racialized, hypersexualized and more or less dissolute context,” he said, adding, “I resent this sort of, in my opinion, and I’ll be frank with you, kind of profiled way that it appears that all I’m doing is drinking, chasing women, doing drugs.”

Welcome to the real world of politics. The criticism is more because you suck than because you are a black guy. Even other black people think you suck. Time to face it.

Run, Steve, run!

From 1010WINS:

Steve Levy, a suburban politician whose opposition to illegal immigration has brought him national attention, said Sunday he was weighing a primary challenge to Gov. David Paterson.

Levy, the Suffolk County executive, said he had formed an exploratory committee, creating the potential for a three-way race to lead the Democratic Party's state ticket.

Levy was elected as Suffolk County's executive in 2003 after serving in the state Assembly. He was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature in 1985.

Levy signed a law that required contractors doing business with the county to certify their employees are in the country legally. He also supported efforts to get day laborers off street corners and backed doing raids aimed at overcrowded houses where Latino workers live with their families.

He is co-founder of a national group called Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform.

Levy has raised nearly $4 million for his possible campaign, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed in July.

NJ governor may kill LNG plan for Rockaway

From the Queens Courier:

Plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on a 60-acre man-made island off the Rockaway shore have run aground, with published reports saying that New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie will veto the project.

Safe Harbor Energy, the planned deepwater port island, was proposed to be about 13 miles south of Long Beach, and 19 miles east of Highlands, NJ. Geographically, it would appear to be directly off the Rockaway shore.

The planned island would have a harbor for two LNG tankers, each more than 1,000 feet long, storage tanks to hold more than 19 million cubic feet of gas and pump it to shore through two 36-inch diameter pipelines.

Christie, who defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine in the November elections, has been on record as being against the project, viewing it as a threat to New Jersey’s coastal commercial and sporting economy, according to spokesperson Maria Comella. “The governor-elect’s position on LNGs has not changed,” she said.

The company proposing the facility, Atlantic Sea Island Group, initially tried to eliminate New Jersey from the process, but was overruled by Commissioner Sean Connaughton of the Federal Maritime Commission. New York Governor David Paterson has not revealed his views on the project.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had already determined that the proposed port and sub-sea pipeline may result in significant adverse environmental impacts and that compliance with state law requires preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.

At least he's honest about it...

From the NY Times:

In unusually revealing remarks, Gov. David A. Paterson said on Wednesday that he never envisioned himself becoming governor and that he is trying to do the best with the situation he has found himself in.

Speaking at a luncheon organized by The Associated Press, Mr. Paterson said that when he ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 on a ticket with Eliot Spitzer, he had hoped that then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would later become president and Mr. Spitzer would appoint him to her seat.

“I did not sign up for this,” Mr. Paterson said. “I wanted to be lieutenant governor. I had this grand plan that Hillary Clinton was going to become president. Maybe the governor would appoint me to the Senate.”

Things obviously did not work out that way.

Accidental governor says it's about race

Paterson Brings Up Racism for His Low Standing
By The New York Times

Gov. David A. Paterson said on Friday that the chorus of people who believe he should not run for election next year want to keep him out of the race because he is black.

“We’re not in the post-racial period,” said Mr. Paterson, according to an article posted on The Daily News Web site, which cited an interview the governor provided to a radio program hosted by Errol Louis, a Daily News columnist.

“My feeling is it’s being orchestrated, it’s a game, and people who pay attention know that,” he said. “We have a media that doesn’t report the news. We have a media that wants to make the news.”

Mr. Paterson — whose approval ratings and support even among fellow Democrats have dipped this year — also mentioned Deval L. Patrick, the Massachusetts governor and the country’s only other current black governor, and suggested that criticisms leveled against him are based on race.

“The reality is the next victim on the list, and you can see it coming, is President Obama, who did nothing more than trying to reform a health care system,” Mr. Paterson said.