The State Convention
The state convention in Garden City, Long Island, was abuzz with excitement over the nomination of Congressman Lee Zeldin for Governor, along with the rest of the statewide offices. He came out in front of Andrew Giuliani, Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Businessman Harry Wilson to get the designation from the party. If his contenders can gather enough names, they may still appear on the June primary ballot.
Coming off the heels of the recent announcement of New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Alison Esposito as his running for mate Lieutenant Governor, the entire convention continued Zeldin’s momentum forward, cruising into an easy primary and eventually to the general election.
The party nominated a diverse slate of candidates for statewide office, including Latino candidate for Comptroller Paul Rodriguez. Democrats were recently criticized for not offering any Latino candidates for statewide office.
The diversity of candidates was noticed by media outlets and has been part of the agenda of GOP State Chairman Nick Langworthy to offer candidates that represent the diversity of New York State.
When Nick Langworthy took the reins of the GOP in 2019, he emphasized that the pathway to victory lay in emphasizing economic issues and creating a more inclusive party.
Yonkers native entrepreneur and Political News Commentator Joe Pinion received the designation to run against Senator Chuck Schumer. He became the first black man to run for the United States Senate in New York, according to his campaign.
“We are so proud that Joe Pinion has stepped forward to accept this historic nomination to become our next U.S. Senator,” said Langworthy, as reported by Democrat & Chronicle. “His story is one of the American dream and just like he electrified our convention, he is going to electrify the voters of this state.”
Esposito received the designation for Lieutenant Governor, bringing with her years of law enforcement experience to the race.
Michael Henry secured the designation to run against Attorney General Letitia James in the fall. He took aim at her backing by the Working Families Party and will likely run a campaign thematically centered around rising crime rates in the state and associating her with the ‘defund the police’ movement.
Paul Rodriguez received the backing of the Republican party to challenge Tom DiNapoli at the convention, the longest servicing Democratic lawmaker in the state.
Rodriguez argued that the Office of the Comptroller should not use the pension found to nudge firms into compliance with Democratic Party priorities.
At the convention, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman pointed to his own playbook that helped him take office previously held by popular moderate Democrat Luara Curran, namely taxes and crime.
The New York Democratic Party was quick to condemn Zeldin as the pick for governor.
“The New York GOP is starting off the 2022 election cycle on a dangerous foot – touting the same hatred, lies and division that led to attacks on our democracy,” reads the March 1 press release from the Democratic Party. “Led by none other than Trump’s top defender and ally, Lee Zeldin, the New York GOP Convention was a full-blown embrace of Donald Trump and his support for right-wing extremism, abortion bans, and election conspiracies.”
Interestingly enough, the former President was only mentioned at the convention by Andrew Guiliani in his failed bid for state party backing.
Zeldin’s support for Trump has routinely been brought up as a potential roadblock for Zeldin in a state Trump lost twice. However, Zeldin supporters urge voters to look at his voter record, as Zeldin has been ranked among the most bipartisan members of congress since his ascension to office. Clearly, there may still be work to be done to win over those still skeptical.
Overall, the convention represented a united front for the designated slate with little dissension overall. While Zeldin may face primary challengers, the challengers will need to garner the required petitions without state party resources.
The Suffolk Convention
The Suffolk County GOP nominating convention went off without a hitch under the leadership of Suffolk County Republican Chairman Jesse Garcia.
The convention saw the renomination of many officials in the county, such as Comptroller John Kennedy. He was designated by Legislator Leslie Kennedy, and the motion was seconded by Smithtown Republican Chairman Bill Ellis.
The Republican Convention declined to renominate Judy Pascale for County Clerk and instead opted for Smithtown Town Clerk Vincent Puleo. Ellis designated Puleo, and the motion was seconded by John Zollo.
At the Suffolk Convention, the Committee also designated congressional candidates for First, Second and Third Congressional Districts.
In the First Congressional District, former Republican Board of Elections Commissioner and current Chief of Staff to Suffolk County Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffery, Nicolas LaLotta was nominated. LaLotta, an Annapolis graduate, eventually returned to Long Island to attend Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. He also earned his MBA from Hofstra.
The Suffolk County Democratic Committee has declined to weigh into the Democratic primary process. The three frontrunners for the Third Congressional District are Suffolk County Legislators Kara Hahn and Bridgett Fleming and Veteran and Educator Jackie Gordon.
In the Second Congressional District, Andrew Garbarino was renominated. He is expected to face a primary challenge from Robert Cornicelli, who recently retooled his campaign to the Second Congressional District after previously announcing his candidacy for the First. Cait Corrigan is also running a primary challenge against Garbarino. As of the last FEC filing, there are no Democrats currently in the race, although that will likely change soon.
In the Third Congressional District, George D. Santos, who previously ran last election cycle against Tom Suozzi, was nominated. The Third Congressional District is now an open seat as Suozzi is running for governor. The Democratic Party has a crowded primary field of seven contenders for the congressional district. Melanie D’Arrigo, Alessandrea Biaggi, Deputy Suffolk County Executive John Kaiman, Navjot Kaur, Nassau Legislator Joshua Lafazan, Reema Rasool, and Robert Zimmerman are all vying for the seat spanning from progressive to even semi-conservative in their rhetoric.
