By Dan Murphy
Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin was the overwhelming choice of the leaders of the New York State Republican Party to be their nominee for Governor in 2022. Zeldin won 85% of the delegates and together with his pick for Lt. Governor, former NYPD Commander Alison Esposito, are the party’s team to run against Governor Kathy Hochul and Brian Benjamin in November.
Zeldin also has the Conservative Party line. Prior to the convention, Zeldin was able to wrap up almost 90% of County GOP Chairs and Committees, and had the support of NYSGOP Chair Nick Langworthy.
At the convention, two Westchester County residents each got 7% of the vote. Former County Executive Rob Astorino, and Scarsdale Executive Harry Wilson received the same number of delegates, but came to the convention on different paths.
Astorino has been running for Governor since last year. He was the GOP candidate for Governor in 2014 and lost to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Since then, Astorino lost his reelection for County Executive to George Latimer and lost a bid for State Senate to Peter Harckham.
One republican recommended to us that Astorino run for Congress against Jamaal Bowman in the 16th District, which now runs up into northern westchester and putnam counties.
But Astorino posted online that he will circulate petitions to get on the GOP primary ballot for Governor in June. “Many of the GOP insiders were supporting Cuomo back in 2014 when I ran. It’s fine. I don’t want to be the party establishment’s champion – I want to be the people’s champion. Petitions start today! Join our grassroots army across the state by emailing us at Info@RobAstorino.com. Simply say you want to help collect Republican signatures in your area and include your phone number. There WILL be a GOP primary in June and we WILL win. And we’ll save our state when we defeat Hochul in November. It all starts now,” said Astorino.
Wilson made his announcement for Governor just a few weeks ago, and after the convention posted, “It was great seeing so many friends – old & new – in Garden City. Having Eva & our precious girls here to support me was the best part. Get ready for us, NY! We’re looking forward to bringing my turnaround message directly to Albany because only an outsider can shake things up.”
While Wilson certainly has the resources to get on the GOP Primary ballot for Governor in June, (he wrote a check for $12 Million to his campaign), some Independent minded New Yorkers are hoping that he considers a third party run, like another upstate New York businessman, Tom Golisano. Wilson is from Jamestown NY but now lives in Scarsdale. In 2010, Wilson received the highest percentage of votes statewide for a republican when he ran for Comptroller, narrowly losing to Tom DiNapoli, 52%-48%.
Andrew Giuliani, son of former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani, got 1% of the delegates at the convention. His father appeared with him at the convention and signed Andrew’s petition to get on the ballot for the June GOP Primary. Andrew Giuliani has touted several polls that put him ahead of Zeldin in name recognition and favorability ratings, across the state.
One republican quipped, “I’m not sure there are enough republicans left in New York to sign petitions fror Astorino, Wilson and Guiliani.”
Westchester democrats that we spoke to “can’t wait to run against republicans locally with Zeldin on the top of the ticket. “Zeldin won’t help any GOP candidates in Westcheter and may hurt them. With our enrollment edge and with Hochul on top of our ticket, it could be a blowout.”
