Gubernatorial primaries

Governor Kathy Hochul is trying to make history as the first female governor elected in the state with just 10 months in office under her belt. She is facing Representative Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Hochul has positioned herself as the frontrunner in the three-way primary field, in part through a relentless campaign fundraising strategy that saw her amass more than $30 million — far outpacing any of her opponents.

The governor’s campaign has blanketed the state’s airwaves touting her record during her short time in office, which includes a gas-tax reduction through the end of the year and a series of gun-control and abortion-access measures she signed into law just this month.

But Hochul’s tenure has not been without controversy. She selected then-state Sen. Brian Benjamin, a Manhattan Democrat, to replace her as lieutenant governor despite questions over his past campaign-fundraising tactics. Within six months, Benjamin was arrested on federal bribery charges and resigned.

Hochul’s opponents have faulted her for spearheading a deal to build a new $1.4 billion football stadium for the Buffalo Bills, which came with $850 million in direct public subsidies. And they’ve latched on to her past positions on gun issues, which earned her an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association when she represented a conservative-leaning district in Congress a decade ago.

Hochul has said her views have changed on the issue of gun control, and she successfully led the effort to boost the minimum age for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 in New York after an 18-year-old killed 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket last month.

Suozzi’s positions align with Hochul’s more often than not, so he is campaigning on his track record as a “proven executive,” having once served as a town mayor and county executive during his 30 years in politics. He has framed Hochul, who also held local office and, briefly, a seat in Congress, as unprepared or unwilling to take the necessary steps to improve the state in essential ways.

Williams, the No. 2 official in New York City, is the candidate favored by progressives, including the Working Families Party, the influential third party with a habit of backing insurgent, left-leaning candidates. This is his second race against Hochul; he came within seven percentage points of defeating her in the 2018 lieutenant governor primary.

He has criticized the governor for not doing more to focus on street-level crime in Harlem, the Bronx and other areas susceptible to gun violence.

All the public polling has shown Hochul with a comfortable lead over her two rivals, but the lieutenant governor’s race is much harder to gauge.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face the candidate that emerges from a contentious, four-way Republican primary Tuesday between Representative Lee Zeldin, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson, and Andrew Giuliani, a former Trump administration aide who is son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Zeldin, of Long Island, has the backing of Republican Party leaders across the state, who voted earlier this year to make him their designated candidate — a distinction that gave him an automatic spot on the primary ballot without petitioning.

Giuliani is making his first run for elected office and has made his unabashed support of Donald Trump a central part of his campaign. During a debate earlier this month, Giuliani repeated the discredited, incorrect claim that Trump rightfully won the 2020 election, going as far as claiming a “crime” had been perpetrated on the American people.

But Trump has not formally endorsed any candidate in the Republican race. Along with Giuliani, Trump counts Astorino and Zeldin — both of whom have been staunch defenders of Trump on cable news programs — as allies.

New York has more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans, with independent voters also outpacing the GOP. The state hasn’t elected a Republican to statewide office since George Pataki won his third term as governor in 2002.

It is a closed-primary state, meaning only enrolled members of a party can vote in their respective primary.

Image from www.facebook.com/andrewcuomo

ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo will remain in office for four more years.

That after voters across New York went to the polls on Tuesday to vote for the top office in New York State – along with several other statewide, regional and local offices.

With nearly all election precincts reporting by the end of Election Day, Cuomo had collected about 54 percent of the statewide vote, with Republican challenger Rob Astorino of Westchester County picking up 41 percent and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins coming in a distant third with just over 5 percent.

Shortly after the close of the polls on Tuesday, the Associated Press declared Cuomo the winner. During his victory speech, the governor focused on his campaign’s rhetoric – playing up his accomplishments of the last four years, which include legislation involving property tax assistance, new jobs and on-time budgets. The governor also promised those in attendance that he was just getting started and that New Yorkers “ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The governor said during the next four years he will focus on raising the minimum wage, improving public education, fighting the local property tax burden, passing the Women’s Equality Act and passing the DREAM Act.

Schneiderman, DiNapoli Win Re-Election

In addition to Cuomo’s victory, the two other state-wide office holder also picked up re election wins for their respective offices. Both Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli will serve four more years in Albany following wins on Election night.

Schneiderman defeated Republican opponent John Cahill 58-39 percent, while DiNapoli bested his Republican opponent Robert Antonacci, 61-36 percent. It was the first re-election for both Democrats.

Reed Cruises to Third Congressional Term

Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) with his family following news that he won re-election on Election Night, 2014. (photo from www.Twitter.com/TomReedCongress)

Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) will remain in office for at least two more years. The two-term Republican from Corning easily defeated his lone challenger – Martha Robertson (D-Dryden) from Dryden New York – by a margin of nearly 63 to 37 percent. The unofficial Election Night total from CNN had Reed picking up more than 105,000 votes across the 23^rd Congressional District, while Robertson was able to pick up just over 63,000.

Reed fared especially well in the western section of his district, which includes Chautauqua County. He picked up an estimated 40,600 votes in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties compared to the 20,000 that Robertson Received. The only county Robertson won was her home of Tompkins County – where she received over 14,000 votes compared to just 5,700 for Reed.

GOP Retakes State Senate

While Republicans were unable to win any of the three statewide offices, the GOP did find some success in the state’s upper legislative chamber.

It appears that Republicans will once again have sole control of the state Senate with candidates picking up enough wins to attain the required 32-vote majority.

Statewide, there were enough GOP victories rolling in around 11 p.m. on Election Night for Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos to declare in a statement that “New Yorkers have chosen balance and bipartisanship over an entire state government made up of Democrats from New York City, and placed their trust in Republicans to lead the Senate.”

Democrats later conceded that they weren’t going to win the majority.

It remained unclear whether members of the Independent Democratic Conference, led by Bronx Sen. Jeff Klein, would once again join forces with the Republicans, as they have for the past two years, or ally with their minority-conference Democratic colleagues.

Locally, Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) picked up her fifth term in office after running unopposed.

In the State Assembly, the Demcrats picked up a seat and increase their majority with 99 of the 150 seats.

Goodell, Gerace and Piazza win County-Wide Races

Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Chautauqua) and Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace (D-Jamestown) both won re-election, while Jeffrey Piazza was a four-way race to be the county’s new Family Court Judge.

In the Local elections here in Chautauqua County, it was a big night for the two candidates who hold county wide offices.

Assemblyman Andy Goodell, who’s 150^th district covers all of and only Chautauqua County, cruised to a third term in office after easily defeating democratic challenger Barrie Yochim. With all districts in the county reporting, Goodell picked up 75 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace cruised to a sixth term in office, defeating Republican Challenger Russell Payne from Frewsburg by a margin of 63 to 37 percent.

In the race for the newly created second Chautauqua County Family Court Judge position, republican Jeffrey A. Piazza of Jamestown easily defeated his three opponents. Piazza picked up 59 percent of the votes throughout the county. In addition to running as a Republican, Piazza also ran on Conservative and Independence party lines.

Democrat Sally Jaroszynski, picked up 28.5 percent of the vote, Fredonia Republican Michael J. Sullivan, who ran on the Green Party line, picked up 6.6 percent of the vote while Working Families candidate James J. Spann, received 5.81 percent of the vote.

Rankin Defeats Kresge in District 12 Special Election

The Chautauqua County Legislature will have a new member serving on the panel. Republican Elisabeth Rankin won the special election for the District 12 seat which cover the north side of Jamestown, picking up nearly 52 percent of the votes. Rankin was challenging Democrat Beth Kresge – who was appointed to the seat earlier this year after it was vacated by Fred Larson, who had to step down after being appointed as the new Jamestown city court judge.

Rankin picked up an unofficial election night total of 746 votes, compared to Kresge’s 691.

All Three State Propositions Pass

State voters were supporting all three ballot propositions, according to unofficial returns on Tuesday night.

Voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1 – the amendment that would retool the state’s redistricting practice, the once-a-decade redrawing of the state’s political districts.

And Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed Smart Schools Bond Act, Proposal 3, which would generate $2 billion to improve classroom technology and other elements of educational infrastructure, also saw approval, as did Proposal 2, the constitutional amendment that would eliminate the need for legislative bills to be printed and supplied to every lawmaker before being considered.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other officials held a news conference Thursday night providing more information on the case.

Health officials say Dr. Craig Spencer works with Doctors Without Borders and recently returned to New York City from West Africa, where he was working with Ebola patients in Guinea. The 33 year old physician returned more than a week ago but Thursday morning, he reported a fever and called health officials. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is now in an isolation unit.

Spencer is also a physician at New York Presbyterian, but did not return to work after his trip and did not see any patients.

Officials have identified three people who came in contact with Spencer during the relevant period of time and and they are now under quarantine.

ASTORINO CRITICAL OF STATE FOR FAILING TO PREVENT CASE

The Republican running against Gov. Cuomo in this year’s election says that the recent case of Dr. Craig Spencer being diagnosed with ebola in New York City was avoidable.

Westchester County executive and gubernatorial candidates Rob Astorino is accusing both President Obama and Gov. Cuomo of leaving JFK airport open to passengers arriving from Ebola-stricken nations – even though they knew the likelihood of an Ebola case arriving here was great. He said the two chose political correctness over public safety.

In recent weeks Astorino and other Republicans across the state – including local Senator Cathy Young of Olean – have been calling on both the president and governor to shut down JFK and Newark to potentially infected passengers as matter of common sense.

Astorino reiterated his request, saying that JFK must be shut down to passengers originating from Ebola designated nations.

Health officials have said that it would be extremely difficult to stop determine which passengers are coming from west Africa and entering the country via the New York City Airports because there is usually at least one connecting flight in Europe. Spencer came into New York from West Africa, via Brussels.

Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) and his Republican Opponent Rob Astorino.

BUFFALO – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo squared off Wednesday night against three of his opponents in this year’s election, including Rob Astorino – the Republican County Executive from Westchester County.

The only debate to feature four of the five candidates that will appear on the ballot on Nov. 4 took place in Buffalo and was televised on PBS and also broadcast on several public radio stations across the state.

Joining Cuomo and Astorino were Libertarian Michael McDermott and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. The other person who will appear on the Ballot – Steven Cohn from the Sapient Party – did not attend the debate.

Cuomo and Astorino spent much of the debate attacking each others record. Astorino explained that Cuomo is connected to corruption in Albany and uses his business tax break policy to secure sweet heart deals with companies that will support him and his campaign. Cuomo, meanwhile, noted that Rob Astorino’s views are too conservative to lead New York state. He also pointed out that during Astorino’s time as County Executive, Westchester County has seen this highest property tax increase in all of new York state and currently has the highest property tax rate in the nation.

McDermott – the libertarian candidate – used his time to criticize the major-party candidates and urged voters to carefully consider their options. He also said his focus will be on less government involvement for residents and businesses across the state.

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins voiced opposition to hydraulic fracturing and said the state needs to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Astorino supports hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, while Cuomo has said he wants to wait for a study on fracking’s health effects before deciding whether to allow the drilling practice.

Polls show Cuomo leads Astorino and the three other candidates by double digits.

Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) and his Republican challenger Rob Astorino.

ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Republican opponent in this year’s election says the governor should debate him several times in in the weeks building up to Election day.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says the governor owes it to voters to debate him on the issues. According to the Astorino Campaign, it is especially important that several debates take place, based on his claims that New York has the highest taxes in America, the worst economic outlook, and its state government ranks as the most corrupt in the nation.

Astorino’s campaign says the governor should debate the Republican challenger a total of eight times, with each debate taking place in a different region of the station. The governor has said that he would look into scheduling a debate with Astorino, but so far has not committed to a specific time or location.

Astorino is one of several candidates running against Cuomo in this year’s election. Others include Howie Hawkins (Green Party), Michael McDermott (Libertarian Party), Jimmy McMillan (Rent is Too Damn High Party), Steve Cohn (Sapient Party) and Michael Carey (Life & Liberty Party).  Election Day is Nov. 4.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo

ALBANY – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo easily defeated upstart liberal challenger Zephyr Teachout in Tuesday’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. The victory by the incumbent governor sets up a November race against Rob Astorino, the Republican candidate and current executive of Westchester County.

Cuomo had over 60 percent of the votes and Teachout, a Fordham University law professor, had just over 34 percent. Drug law activist Randy Credico came in third.

Teachout was largely unknown to voters, but her presence on the ballot nonetheless served as a liberal rebuke to the popular incumbent, and highlighted his sometimes uneasy relationship with his party’s base.

In Chautauqua County, Cuomo received more than 65 percent of the vote while Teachout received just over 26 percent.

Cuomo’s running mate, former Buffalo congresswoman Kathy Hochul, also won Tuesday, beating Columbia University law professor Tim Wu.

Westchester County Executive and 2014 NY Gubernatorial Candidate Rob Astorino.

HAWTHORNE, NY – Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino will outline his plan to improve public education in New York State at a news conference Tuesday morning outside of Hawthorne Elementary School in Westchester County.

Astorino is the two-term Westchester County Executive running for New York governor on the Republican ticket. He began his public service career as an elected school board member, with all three of his children currently attending public school. His wife, Sheila, is also a special education teacher in Westchester County.

Both Astorino and Democratic Party candidate Zephyr Teachout have been critical of current governor Andrew Cuomo and the way his administration have rolled out the controversial Common Core teaching standards.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo

BUFFALO – During his first public appearance since a revealing report by the New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke about the Moreland Commission.

In July 2013, the governor praised the commission that was created under the Moreland Act. It was given the power to subpoena and examine witnesses under oath. Cuomo said he hoped the Moreland Commission’s reforms would restore the public’s trust in government. But during a three-month investigation, the Times discovered the governor’s office compromised the commission’s work. Cuomo apparently objected whenever the commission focused on groups or issues close to him.

Monday during an appearance in Buffalo, Cuomo stopped just short of refuting the Times’ article, but added that the Moreland Commission was a great success. He also said the Moreland Commission can still do independent investigations and he insisted he did not interfere with the its work. Instead, he said his staffers may have given advice to people on the Moreland Commission, but he and his staff did not interfere.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino says Gov. Cuomo is “tone deaf” to call the Moreland Commission a “phenomenal success.”

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo

ALBANY – Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino has actually lost ground in the polls, just two months into his campaign to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A poll released Monday by Siena College has Cuomo leading Astorino by  36 percent. Cuomo receives support from 57 percent of those polled, compared to 21 percent supporting Astorino. That number’s down from the 28 percent Astorino received in an April poll.

The poll found 63 percent of New Yorkers view Cuomo favorably, which is up from 57 percent in April.

As for Astorino, 69 percent of those surveyed say they don’t have an opinion of the Westchester County executive. That’s up from 66 percent in April. Astorino has a favorable rating of just 18 percent

Westchester County Executive and 2014 NY Gubernatorial Candidate Rob Astorino.

ALBANY – The man who wants to be New York State’s next governor says the state capitol is a cesspool of corruption that needs to end.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino was in Albany on Friday as part of his statewide tour following his announcement that he will be seeking the Republican party’s nomination for governor. During his stop in the state capitol, Astorino said that things have gotten so bad in Albany that he wouldn’t let his two daughters work in the Capitol.

According to the Times-Union, Astorino said that if elected he would push not only push for term limits in both the Assembly and Senate, but he would also push for other ethics reforms. He also said if he is elected he would work to repeal the SAFE Act and would also finally lift the moratorium on Horizontal Hydrofracking.

If Astorino receives the republican party’s endorsement, he’ll likely square off against incumbent Andrew Cuomo in the November general election.