With another Democrat embroiled in a scandal, New York Republicans are more optimistic they can overthrow the historic blue state in November and gain control of the governor’s office.
Vice President Brian Benjamin resigned on Tuesday after being accused of bribery in an alleged public corruption system, less than a year after Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment.
“I really believe New York is ready to elect a Republican governor this year,” RN.Y. spokeswoman Nicole Malliotaki told Fox News Digital. “And I know it sounds crazy because we’re an overwhelmingly democratic state, but look what happened in Virginia. Look at what happened in New Jersey – almost.”
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Republican Glen Youngkin won a landslide victory over former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in November with the support of mobilized parents concerned about education issues. And New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy had a very comfortable victory over Republican Jack Siatarelli last year who was not even on the national radar as a competitor.
ARCHIVE – New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accompanied by Lieutenant Brian Benjamin, speaks during a ceremony at the Governor’s Office in New York on September 17, 2021. Benjamin, whose seven months in this role have been overshadowed by Previous campaign investigations, arrested on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 in a federal corruption investigation. (AP Photo / Richard Drew, Archive)
Republicans have argued that the ground is ripe for change in New York, following a series of scandals in Albany, the economic impact of COVID-19, rising crime, mass immigration and high inflation.
“How much longer will it take New Yorkers to change course?” said Malliotakis.
“[With] “The catastrophe we have seen under the rule of a city and state party – I believe this election is our last chance to really save our state.”
Benjamin, 45, was the last New York politician to be hit by a scandal. Federal authorities claim he entered into a corrupt deal with a real estate developer and directed a $ 50,000 government grant to a developer-controlled nonprofit. In return, the developer poured tens of thousands of dollars into Benjamin’s campaign accounts.
“This is a simple corruption case,” said Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney general for the Southern District of New York.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 19: Representative Nicole Malliotaki speaks (R-NY) during a subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis at the Rayburn House Capitol Office Building, May 19, 2021 in Washington, DC (Susan Walsh-P). Getty Images)
Benjamin, through his lawyers, denied the allegations and vowed to prove in court “why his actions were commendable, not criminal.”
“There has never been a federal case like this in America,” attorneys James D. Gatta and William J. Harrington said in a statement. “Brian backed a $ 50,000 grant to Friends of Public School Harlem. Every dollar was to buy supplies for public school students in Harlem. There was nothing wrong with that grant.”
New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hotsul has accepted Benjamin’s resignation following his arrest. He elected Benjamin, then state legislator, to serve as the second in power when he became governor, taking over Cuomo.
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“As the legal process unfolds, it is clear to both of us that he can no longer serve as deputy governor,” Hotsul said in a statement on Tuesday. “New Yorkers deserve absolute trust in their government, and I will continue to work hard to bring them about.”
Hotsul’s opponents called it a bad crisis — she fell between two democratic scandals.
GOP spokesman Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor, said Hochul was either “complicit or out to eat” with scandals surrounding her comrades in power. He said Hotsul should never have chosen Benjamin from the beginning.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 20: Spokesman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) attends a press conference on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Republicans have voiced support for Israel and called on the Biden government to intervene. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
“I think his support for repaying the money from the police agenda should have ruled him out last summer,” Zeldin told Fox News Digital of the Harlem politician. “And quickly in the most recent, it was very indicative that when Kathy Hochul was asked last week about all these reported investigations and scandals [surrounding Benjamin] Or that Hotsul’s call was to triple and cover him. “And that only happened last week.”
The last Republican to win a governorship in New York was George Pataki, who served from 1995 to 2006. In addition to Zeldin, other Republicans running for governor include Rob Astorino, Andrew Giuliani, Harry Wilson, Michael Carpinelli, Derrick Gibson Lord. Recent polls put Zeldin ahead. The qualifying elections are on June 28.
Benjamin is simply the last elected Democrat in New York to resign or not seek re-election amid a scandal.
New York State Auditor Alan Hevesi resigned in 2006 and eventually served 20 months in prison for his role in a retirement scandal. In 2008, Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned following revelations that he was protecting prostitutes while traveling for official business.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters after a swearing-in ceremony at the State Capitol on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 in Albany, NY (AP Photo)
Spitzer handed over power to Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, making him the state’s first black governor. But Patterson ended his bid for full-time governorship in 2010 amid a scandal over whether he and his soldiers intimidated a woman who had reported domestic violence against one of his top government aides.
Then came Cuomo who resigned in 2021 after a barrage of allegations of sexual harassment which he denied. Cuomo also reacted because he misunderstood how many nursing home residents died from COVID-19.
Now, eight months later, another New York Democrat is forced to resign.
March 12, 2008: Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer appears to announce his resignation. (AP)
“If Republicans have ever had the chance to win an office across the state, now is the time,” spokeswoman Claudia Tenney, RN.Y., told Fox News Digital. Tenney, a former state lawmaker, has long blamed corruption in Albany and summed up the Benjamin scandal as the final chapter in the “corruption capital.”
Hotsul has already challenged fellow Democrat Tom Swatchi, New York ombudsman Juman Williams and lawyer Paul Nichols. The Democratic primary is also on June 28, where Benjamin may still have to appear on the ballot with Hotsul because of the election rules.
Spokeswoman Claudia Tenney, RN.Y., in an official headshot from her office. (Wife of Congresswoman Claudia Tenney)
Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, says there is an opening for Republicans in November.
“In our nationwide March poll of New York voters, we found Governor Kathy Hochul with 41% disapproval and 40% approval,” Kimball told Fox News Digital. “More specifically, its approval is 57% with the Democrats and only 24% with the Independents, suggesting the possibility of a competitive general election, if the Republican candidate can flirt with the Independent New York voters.”
The biggest wild card in the race remains whether Cuomo could launch an independent candidacy for governor, which would further break the Democratic base.
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Zeldin said he had already felt the shifting of political ground in New York as voters wanted to feel safer on the streets and in the subway, have more control over their children’s education, boost the economy and reduce the high cost of living. in New York. In addition, with President Biden’s low approval ratings nationwide, Republicans are facing a red wave in the midterm congressional elections.
“There is a great opportunity here on November 8 for New Yorkers to take control of their fate,” Zeldin said Wednesday. “And the evolution of Brian Benjamin who was arrested and charged and resigned, I’m sure will just continue the momentum we already had yesterday.”
“I’m not in this race to finish second,” he added.
