Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
NEW YORK, 29th June. NY Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday won the democratic nomination and will face-off GOP pick Lee Zeldin in a race for New York governor in November after it was projected the candidates to win the nomination for their respective parties.
NY governor Hochul as a relative unknown won her party’s nomination and became the first woman to ever win a major party nomination in the state.
She was serving as lieutenant governor under the shadow of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo until last year, when he resigned after sexual harassment allegations, leading Hochul into office.
Hochul beats other democratic candidates – York City’s elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate from Long Island.
She is getting ready to become the first woman to win election to the New York governor’s office this fall.
Hochul gave an election night speech Tuesday on a stage underneath a glass ceiling at an event space in Manhattan.
She enters the general election campaign with a big advantage, running as the incumbent with a heavy fundraising advantage in a state that has twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans and has not had a GOP governor in 16 years.
GOP candidate Zeldin is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
He will become the first Republican elected governor in New York State since Gov. George Pataki who was reelected in 2002.
Hochul’s prospects are stronger this fall after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights.
She has made abortion rights a key issue of her campaign, while three of the four candidates on the Republican side are anti-abortion.
Zeldin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015.
He defeated former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York City’s former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who frequently campaigned for his son.
Zeldin has focused his campaign on fighting rising crime and criticized Hochul for not tightening the state’s bail laws, for imposing COVID-19 mitigation mandates and for rising costs.
Hochul seeking to project a fresh start from Cuomo, Zeldin has referred her to the “Cuomo-Hochul Administration.”
He has to persuade the state’s independent voters, which outnumber Republicans, along with Democrats in order to win the general election.
Democrats are expected to focus on Zeldin’s vocal defense of Trump during both of his impeachments and objection to the election results.
Hochul is likely to focus on Zeldin’s statements praising the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and his comment that, as governor, he would appoint an anti-abortion state health commissioner.
She focused her campaign on abortion rights, strict state’s gun laws after a racist mass shooting in Buffalo and elsewhere. .
Suozzi and Williams criticized Hochul for her endorsement a decade ago from the National Rifle Association and over her plan to spend more than $1.1 billion in state and county funds on building and maintaining a new stadium for her hometown Buffalo Bills.
She faced questions about her choice for lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, who was arrested on federal corruption charges in April related to his campaign funds.
Benjamin pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Hochul pointed to the short time frame she had to pick a No. 2 and said she had been assured that any questions previously raised about Benjamin’s campaign fundraising had been resolved.
NY Governor Hochul replaced Benjamin with Antonio Delgado, who stepped down from his seat in Congress to accept the role.
Delgado, Hochul’s choice for a running mate, won his primary Tuesday.
Zeldin’s running mate Alison Esposito is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.
The election in New York on Tuesday also covered statewide offices and state Assembly races, but primary elections for U.S. House seats and the state Senate will be held Aug. 23.
Those elections were delayed because of a redistricting lawsuit that led a court to throw out new political maps.
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