Governor Kathy Hochul handily won the Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday night, moving her one step closer to her first full term as the state’s top executive.
Hochul will now face off against Congress Member Lee Zeldin of Long Island, who captured the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday night after a contentious fight against former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew Giuliani, businessman Harry Wilson and Westchester pol Rob Astorino.
The sitting governor captured the Democratic nomination with about 60 percent of the vote of the 91 percent scanners counted in an unofficial tally.
City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams came in second with about 28 percent of the vote and Congress Member Tom Suozzi followed with about 12 percent, according the unofficial voting results.
“I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, constantly having to [go] up against that glass ceiling. To the women of New York, this one’s for you,” Hochul said.
Hochul spoke to her accomplishments so far and set her sights on the general election.
“As we move forward, we must answer one question: are we going to move New York forward or let the far right take our state backwards,” she said. “There’s only one party that can take our state forward. And who’s that? That’s the Democratic Party.”
For more coverage of Kathy Hochul and the governor’s race, head to amNY.com.
Antonio Delgado, Hochul’s lieutenant governor, will be her running mate in the general election after overcoming challengers Diana Reyna and Ana Maria Archila — who were running alongside Suozzi and Williams respectively.
Hochul became the state’s first woman governor last summer, taking over for her predecessor Andrew Cuomo – who stepped down after being hit with nearly a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct spanning his decade in office. Before becoming Cuomo’s lieutenant governor in 2015, Hochul represented a western New York district in Congress for two years and served as Erie County clerk prior to that.
The governor sailed to her commanding victory, holding significant fundraising and endorsement advantages over Suozzi and Williams. But while Hochul raked in cash and nods from fellow electeds and influential labor unions, she reportedly hasn’t put much effort into campaigning in the final weeks of the election, when most campaigns go into overdrive.
It wasn’t always so clear that Hochul would capture the Democratic nomination. Last fall, she briefly faced a formidible challenge from popular state Attorney General Letitia James – who’s investigation into Cuomo’s sexual harrasment accusations is what ultimately toppled the disgraced former governor. But in the end, James decided to withdraw from the race in December to run for reelection as attorney general.
Then Hochul hit a significant rough patch this spring when she drew criticism for delivering her first state budget deal a week late and for her successful push to include a $600 million tax break funding the construction of a new Buffalo Bills stadium in the spending plan. Adding insult to injury, Hochul’s first lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin resigned following his arrest and indictment on federal corruption and bribery charges.
Throughout the last few months of the campaign and during two recent debates, Suozzi and Williams attacked Hochul on both the Bills stadium and Benjamin’s arrest, trying to draw a connection between her and the disgraced Cuomo administration.
But Hochul was able to bounce back with some significant wins at the end of the state legislative session earlier this month. That included bills to further protect the right to abortion in New York after a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade – which the court officially decided to throw out last week – was leaked early last month. And a package of gun control bills in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde Texas, that together claimed the lives of 31 people – 19 of them being children.
Hochul will face off against Zeldin in a November general election, after he narrowly won the Republican nomination.
The Long Island rep just edged out Andrew Giuliani – son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, while former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and businessman Harry Wilson came in a distant third and fourth place.
A version of this story first appeared on our sister website, PoliticsNY.com
