New York Governor Kathy Hochul won the Democratic primary to run for a full term as governor with about 68% of the vote as of the count early Wednesday morning. The win makes her the first female to be nominated for governor in addition to being the first female governor of the state by virtue of her assuming the post after the resignation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Hochul issued a statement saying, “It”™s the honor of my life serving as your governor, New York. I”™m humbled to accept the Democratic nomination and continue fighting to move our state forward ”” together.”
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado was challenged in the primary for the Lt. Gov. slot on the Democratic side of the November ballot by progressive activist Ana Maria Achila and New York City Councilmember Diana Reyna. Delgado won handily with about 61% of the vote.
Hochul was running against New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who had 19% as of Wednesday morning”™s count and Congressman Tom Suozzi, who received 13% of the vote.
Suozzi said, “I called and spoke to the governor at 9:45 (Tuesday night) and congratulated her on her hard work and disciplined campaign. We lost the campaign, but we brought an important message about crime, affordability, our troubled schools and the corruption in New York. The work continues.”
In the Republican primary to run for governor, Congressman Lee Zeldin won with 44% of the vote, while Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor and Trump advisor Rudolph Giuliani got 23%, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino had 18% and businessman Harry Wilson had 15%.
Zeldin said, “Kathy Hochul has now been warned that (New Yorkers) are coming for her job at the ballot box this November. We will secure our streets. We will make NY more affordable again. We will fight for our kids (and) our schools. We will fight to preserve freedom.”
Democratic Party registrations in New York state lead Republican Party registrations by about two to one, so Zeldin has that as a major obstacle to overcome. The last Republican governor was George Pataki, who served from 1995 to 2006. Malcolm Wilson served just over a year from Dec. 1973 to Dec. 1974 when Governor Nelson Rockefeller resigned to become U.S. vice president. Rockefeller had served almost 15 years as New York”™s governor. He succeeded Thomas E. Dewey, a Republican who had served as governor for a dozen years beginning in 1943.
In Westchester, Board of Legislators member MaryJane Shimsky defeated Assemblyman Tom Abinanti who was seeking the Democratic nomination to run for another term in the 92nd Assembly District. Shimsky had 55% of the vote compared with Abinanti”™s 45%.
In the race to run on the Democratic line in the 95th Assembly District, Dana Levenberg beat out Colin Smith and Vanessa Agudelo with 47%, compared with 21% for Smith and 32% for Agudelo. The 95th District seat has been held by Sandra Galef, who announced that she is retiring at the end of the year.
