By Dan Murphy
As Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul prepares to take the oath of office to become Governor on August 24, sources tell Yonkers Rising that Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano is contemplating his next step in New York politics and is moving forward with an exploratory campaign to run for Governor in 2022. Mayor Spano is in the middle of his third term in the City of Yonkers, which recently became the third largest City in New York State.
Sources close to Mayor Spano confirmed that he is moving forward with plans to run for Governor, and that his candidacy for statewide office would depend on several factors, including how New Yorkers and NY Democrats view the job performance of Governor Kathy Hochul, and who else decides to get into the democratic race for Governor.
The idea of Spano for Governor was first raised by Jerry Kremer, an attorney, lobbyist, and former 13-term Democratic Long Island assemblyman, on the PIX11 Morning News on August 5. Kremer said there are both the expected names, like Attorney General Letitia James and New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, as well as newer names like New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Long Island Congressman Thomas Suozzi, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
Since NY Attorney General Letitia James’ report on Governor Andrew Cuomo forced his resignation, Mayor Spano and his political team were waiting “out of respect and their loyalty to Governor Cuomo,” said one Yonkers political insider, noting that Mayor Spano did not call for Governor Cuomo to resign.
Now that Cuomo has resigned and Hochul is set to take office on Aug. 24, Spano and his advisors are ready to let it be known that the Mayor of New York’s third largest City is interested in running for Governor. “The new Governor will have at least one State budget to preside over, so she will have an impact on Yonkers, and Mayor Spano. But before then, Governor Hochul will have the next 8 months to prove to be a viable candidate for Governor. And she could do that, she has been underestimated before. But it’s also possible that she can’t win a democratic primary for Governor next year, and we want to be ready for whatever happens. The mayor of the 3rd largest City in NY doesn’t want to wait to see if Kathy Hochul is a viable candidate for Governor,” said an insider to Mayor Spano.
What about NY Attorney General Letitia James, and if she decides to run for Governor? “The AG will have to decide if she wants to give up her position as Attorney General to run. That is a big decision for her to make, but she also has to find out if the other progressive-left members of the democratic party will step aside for her, or whether there will be three or more progressive democrats running for Governor. If there are multiple progressive candidates, then they could split the vote and a moderate democrat from the suburbs, it could be Mayor Spano, it could be (Westchester County Executive) George Latimer, it could be Suffolk County Executive Bellone, could win.”
“Mayor Spano could be a commonsense candidate who represents the progressiveness of the democratic party without embracing some of the far-left wing craziness. He is from a suburban county who has served in the Assembly. He knows how state government and local government works. He has been elected three times in the 3rd largest City in New York state and he is wildly popular in Yonkers and in Westchester. Spano checks all the boxes,” said someone in the Mayor’s inner-circle.
Mayor Spano recently made news when Lt. Governor Hochul visited Yonkers last month, to announced funding for a jobs program for young, at-risk males, to combat guns and gang violence in Cities like Yonkers. Spano tweeted, that Lt. Gov Hochul “comes to Yonkers with little to offer.” Spano quickly removed the Tweet, but the message was clear. “The last thing that the Mayor of Yonkers wanted was to be left out of the conversation. There are issues about crime and bail reform that he wants to talk about. He wants to make sure that his voice, and that part of the democratic party, are heard.”
Yonkers Democratic Chair Tom Meier had positive thoughts about both Governor Hochul and Mayor Spano. “Kathy Hochul is a strong and capable woman who will do a great job and will have an edge for re-election. It’s time for a woman to be Governor in New York.”
“Mayor Spano has served for 9 years in Yonkers. He has the qualifications and the record of an economic boom in the city, two major movie studios coming into Yonkers, more affordable housing built and improvements in the schools. All of that makes him a viable candidate statewide.”
And the race for Governor of NY-2022 has officially begun.
