Jumaane Williams Eyeing Run For Lieutenant Governor

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — City Councilman Jumaane Williams may run for lieutenant governor in what would be a challenge from the left to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration. The Flatbush Democrat announced Monday that he's formed an "exploratory committee" for a possible primary campaign this year against sitting Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Williams, a former community organizer now in his third City Council term, is known as a prolific and outspoken legislator. He was previously said to be considering a gubernatorial run against Cuomo, who is seeking a third term this year. But Williams will still face a likely primary against Hochul, who's served as Cuomo's second-in-command for all of his second term.

Williams announced his possible campaign at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service Monday in Brooklyn, in which he emphasized the importance of moral principles over political expediency, the Gotham Gazette reported. He also invoked the civil rights leader in a Twitter post.

"We don't need people who respond to the political winds. We need people who make political winds," Williams said Monday at the end of a fiery, sermon-like speech during a separate rally for immigrant-rights activist Ravi Ragbir at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village.

Williams was among 18 people arrested at a Thursday protest against Ragbir's detention by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Williams' activist credentials offer a contrast to Hochul's more conventional political background. He's best known for passing landmark police-reform bills, such as the Community Safety Act. He made a failed bid for Council speaker last fall, during which he decried a lack of diversity among the city's political leadership.

After four years as the clerk of upstate Erie County, Hochul served one term in Congress before losing her seat to current Republican Rep. Chris Collins. Cuomo picked her to run on his 2014 re-election ticket.

The lieutenant governor's office has an annual budget of just $630,000, and much less influence over state policy than the governor. The person in the seat serves as president of the state Senate and is first in line to succeed the governor if he or she leaves office.

The governor and lieutenant governor run separate primary elections, but the winners become a ticket in the November general election, meaning a vote for one is a vote for both.

A handful of Democrats reportedly may run against Cuomo from the left, including former state Sen. Terry Gibson, the actress and education reformer Cynthia Nixon, and former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.

"I'm running for lieutenant governor. If the governor wants to endorse me, he's welcome to," Williams said Monday, according to the New York Daily News. "I think he's earned a primary, so I hope he gets one."

All statewide primary elections are on Sept. 11.

(Lead image: City Councilman Jumaane Williams is considering a run for lieutenant governor. Photo from Jumaane Williams via Twitter)