Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to name him a former lieutenant. Governor Brian Benjamin as its vice-presidential candidate, despite his much-publicized ethics issues that eventually led to his indictment and arrest on Tuesday, could continue to cost her as she seeks her first full term this year, experts told The Post. Benjamin resigned hours after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan filed five corruption charges, arguing that the then senator exchanged campaign contributions for a tax-funded grant. “It’s absolutely a flaw, because this is someone who chose and therefore reflects that he raised the situation and got caught where he is now on the ballot,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “It reflects the culture in Albany and that smears the selection process and puts a cloud on it.” Hotsul, who is white, landed on Benjamin shortly after taking office in August, largely out of political necessity. The longtime Buffalo politician had tried to balance her candidate ticket with a colored state legislator. Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated Benjamin to run for vice president in November. REUTERS / Mike Segar But Benjamin was elected only after several other high-profile New York minority MPs made it clear they were not interested in the position, sources said. These discussions took place as Attorney General Letitia James considered a now-defunct candidacy for governor’s office, which would have garnered widespread support from African-American politicians in outlying municipalities. “He came in fourth and lost his constituency,” said a well-connected Democrat. “You almost wonder who is advising her on her political operations in the lower state, as these concern the communities of blacks and Latins.” Once elected, Hotsul did not have an easy politically pleasing way of rejecting Benjamin as its vice-presidential candidate, as his legal problems escalated in the months leading up to the indictment – despite rising taxes on her image, experts told The Post. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has won widespread support from African-Americans in her short-lived candidacy for governor.AP/Seth Wenig “She was stuck, if she had rejected him too quickly, she would have looked unconscious to African Americans and she could not afford to lose this constituency,” said longtime Democratic general Hank Seinkopf. “He had no choice but to wait.” Another veteran Democrat adviser reiterated the assessment. “You can not throw someone away before they are accused and those accusations fall from the sky,” said Eric Suffer. “I was there with Malcolm Smith in the past,” said another convicted New York politician who had tried to bribe his way to run for mayor in 2013. Hotsul elected Benjamin shortly after becoming governor in August, succeeding the disgraced former governor. Andrew Cuomo. Experts say Hotsul was trapped in the months before Benjamin’s arrest, with no clear way of rejecting him as her candidate. AP / Richard Drew Tuesday’s accusation that Benjamin “repeatedly” provided false information to Hochul’s team as part of the job audit process. However, the ethical woes of the then state senator were already public after stories from an investigative news agency, The City, which revealed a pattern of fraudulent donation in his failed campaign for the city’s Superintendent. “Benjamin is now the face of crime,” Sheinkopf added. “This is the obstacle to a democratic ticket. It will remain a problem in the fall. ” – Additional citation by Carl Campanile
