Candidates For New York's Next Governor: Who's Still Running To Run This State?

By Rachel Holliday Smith, THE CITY

December 10, 2021

New York had a decade of Andrew Cuomo. And we’re just getting used to Kathy Hochul. Who will voters choose to lead the state next?

Cuomo’s replacement, his lieutenant governor, Hochul, hopes to turn her short stint as chief executive into a proper four-year term via the 2022 election.

She has already registered her gubernatorial campaign, announcing her intention to run even before she was sworn in Aug. 24. The Buffalo native is already aiming to raise $25 million and led the first major poll in the race.

But she will be far from the only Democrat vying for the job, even after her top opponent — Attorney General Letitia James, whose office’s investigation led to Cuomo’s resignation — suspended her campaign Dec. 9.

Even before Cuomo resigned in disgrace this August, several of his fellow party members said they were considering a run, including city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) is running, and Mayor Bill de Blasio is considered a strong possibility to get into the race, especially following James’ departure.

Meanwhile, Republicans have been suiting up for a fight for months, if not years, and are already fundraising and mobilizing. U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino are among the GOP candidates who have filed 2022 campaigns with the state, records show.

Officially, fewer than a dozen campaigns have registered with the state Board of Elections to fundraise towards a run for governor in 2022. But many other serious contenders — and some longer-shot hopefuls — are gearing up for the race without yet making it official.

To help you parse who’s in and who’s out, here’s a guide on the 2022 gubernatorial candidates. as we know them so far in alphabetical order. We’ll keep updating this piece as the campaign moves along:

The Democrats

Before taking office as mayor, de Blasio served as public advocate between 2010 and 2013 and, previous that, served as Council member in Brooklyn’s 39th District between 2002 and 2009.

As THE CITY reported in this piece about her career, Hochul served as Erie County clerk, then briefly represented Buffalo in Congress in 2011 after winning a special election. She ran with Cuomo for lieutenant governor in 2014 and 2018, though it was recently revealed that Cuomo had wanted to kick her off the 2022 ticket.

She launched her election bid as she took office to replace Cuomo, and records show her campaign committee had $1.7 million on hand as of mid-August.

He is running on a platform promoting affordable housing, easing the wealth gap and incentivizing New Yorkers to move to other parts of the state “to ease the concentration of population within downstate,” his campaign site says.

Suozzi announced his candidacy in late November, telling Newsday he will campaign as a “common-sense Democrat.” He chose to run over an opportunity to become deputy mayor under Eric Adams, a friend and ally for years.

Williams has served as public advocate since 2019. Previous to that, he served as City Council member for Flatbush, Brooklyn between 2010 and 2019. He ran and lost to Hochul in his 2018 bid for Lieutenant Governor.

State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi speaks about horrid conditions she witnessed on Rikers Island during a rally outside the jail complex on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021/Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Tom DiNapoli, the state comptroller’s, was rumored to be thinking about a run earlier this year as Cuomo faced pressure to step down. But DiNapoli ruled out a run in an interview with WAMC in July.

Cuomo is not barred from running for his old job again. Since he wasn’t impeached, he is still allowed to hold office in New York State — and, at last count, his active campaign account still holds about $18 million. He could use that money to play kingmaker.

Several other people have started campaign committees registered with the state, records show, but little could be found about their campaigns or platforms. They are: Nicolae Albert Bunea, John Jay Hathaway, Abbey S. Laurel-Smith, Dr. Kris Alan Lord and Gregory Alan Vernon.

This story was originally published on Dec 9, 2021 by THE CITY. Sign up here to get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to you each morning.

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