(l-r) Top: Jumaane Williams, Kathy Hochul, Tom Suozzi; Bottom: Rob Astorino, Harry Wilson, Lee Zeldin, Andrew Giuliani
The Democratic and Republican primaries in the race to become the next Governor of New York are fast-approaching, with early voting June 18-26 and primary day June 28. With three Democrats and four Republicans making their cases to voters and so much at stake for the future of the state, it's all the more important to compare where the candidates stand on the issues and what they are promising to do if elected.
Use the interactive tool below to compare the Democratic or Republican candidates for Governor on a variety of issues, selected based on the topics that candidates have been focused on or that are particularly pressing. Choose up to three candidates at a time on up to five issues at a time.
This comparison tool, brought to you by Gotham Gazette and The Daily News, is being regularly updated as the primary unfolds and candidates continue to offer their stances and proposals on major issues facing New Yorkers.
Read more: Where They Stand: Compare Democratic and Republican Candidates for Governor on the Issues
Rob Astorino, Harry Wilson, Lee Zeldin, and Andrew Giuliani (l-r)
With early voting for the June 28 primary set to begin on Saturday, the four Republican candidates for governor faced off in the sole debate of the race on Monday. The debate was hosted by CBS2, and moderated by anchor Maurice DuBois and reporter Marcia Kramer.
Appearing in person at the debate were former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, and businessman Harry Wilson; Andrew Giuliani, a former White House aide and the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, participated virtually after refusing to abide by CBS’ COVID-19 vaccination requirement to be present in the studio.
The hour-long debate was an acrimonious one with the candidates repeatedly sniping at each other as they addressed issues including former President Donald Trump’s culpability in the January 6, 2021 insurrection, public safety and gun control, abortion rights, the rising cost of living, vaccine mandates, congestion pricing, and more.
Zeldin is the frontrunner in the race, having been endorsed by the State Republican Party and many party officials, while a recent Emerson College poll showing him in the lead with 34% of the primary vote. Astorino, the 2014 Republican nominee for governor, came in second in that poll with 16%, Wilson trailed with 15%, and Giuliani was in last place with 13%. It was apparent at the debate that Astorino and Wilson were seeking to cut into Zeldin’s lead by repeatedly attacking his record as a former state senator and trying to link him with disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat.
Zeldin, for his part, did his best to emulate the Trump playbook, dubbing his opponents “Never Trumper Wilson,” noting the businessman refused to vote for Trump in 2020, and “Rolex Rob,” a reference to the luxury watch that Astorino was gifted by a real estate developer later caught in a bribery scandal. At one point, Wilson even said that Zeldin had asked him to join his gubernatorial ticket in January, a claim that Zeldin said was false, with Wilson then saying he has notes from the conversation.
As Astorino hammered Zeldin for voting for budgets largely designed by then-Governor Cuomo, the exasperated congressman noted that he had endorsed Astorino in his 2014 bid to unseat the governor then seeking a second term. Astorino retorted that Zeldin had not done much to help him win.
Giuliani, meanwhile, mostly stayed out of the fray, avoiding attacks on the others and receiving none in return, which has been the general tenor of the larger campaign as he has criss-crossed the state with his father.
Trump and January 6
As Congress holds public hearings on the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in Washington D.C., nearly all Republicans have come to Trump’s defense over his role in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results by force. At the debate, the story was much the same, as the candidates largely said the hearings were a distraction from the kitchen-table issues that matter more to Americans.
“I think President Trump was a great president and honestly, I'm hopeful that he runs again,” said Giuliani.
“President Trump told his supporters to go peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol and if President Trump wants to run, he should run and I believe that he will be the Republican nominee and he'll win,” said Zeldin, falsely characterizing how Trump whipped up the mob leading up to and on January 6, 2021, spreading lies about the election and siccing his faithful on Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress.
Zeldin was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results on the night of January 6, 2021 once the Capitol had been returned to government control.
Wilson said Monday night that people who invaded the Capitol should be prosecuted, though he did not place any blame on Trump for encouraging it.
Astorino seemed to be the only one to break from the party line. “I do think he bears some responsibility,” he said of Trump, though he added, “Look, we've got to move on though…These hearings right now are complete and utter political theater in Washington, D.C.”
Gun Control
The Supreme Court seems poised to overturn a state law that restricts the concealed carrying of firearms, but there’s an open question of whether it will allow the state to designate “sensitive places” where individuals cannot carry guns. None of the Republican candidates were in support of such controls, which they insisted would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers. Some decried “gun-free zones” as easy targets and none expressed support for limiting the sale of assault weapons.
The candidates also emphasized what they see as Democrats’ failure to tackle crime, citing policies such as reforms to the state bail laws made in recent years.
“We’ve got to get back to actually what worked, Broken Windows policing; stop, question and frisk,” Astorino said, referring to controversial policing practices that have fallen out of favor among many Democrats.
Wilson said the focus should not be on law-abiding gun owners but on “criminals, the mentally ill, and the purveyors of hate.”
Zeldin went further, calling for a repeal of the state’s bail reform and the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act, a broad gun control package approved in 2013 after the Sandy Hook school massacre. “We have the strictest gun control laws in the entire country. They've gone too far,” he said.
Giuliani reiterated the push for more stop-and-frisk policing, a program put into effect by his father when he was mayor, and insisted on “empowering the police.” He also said that on day one as governor, he would call on the Legislature to fully repeal the state’s bail reform law and refuse to pass a state budget if it did not happen.
A common target of attack for each of the candidates as they bemoaned gun violence was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The progressive prosecutor, and first Black person to hold his position, came under fire early in his tenure this year for being far too lenient and refusing to prosecute certain crimes, policies he partially altered amid blowback. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from inaccurately blaming him for increases in crime and all four gubernatorial candidates said Monday that, if elected, they would use their executive authority to remove him from office.
They also all supported the idea of an amendment to the state constitution that could allow voters to recall state officials, akin to the ouster of San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin last week.
Pocketbook Issues
The candidates had varying solutions to offer for helping New Yorkers cope with the rising cost of living, as they called for cutting taxes and regulations, and reducing wasteful state spending. They seemed mostly focused on reducing the cost of energy as gas prices have skyrocketed.
Giuliani said he would make New York “truly the best fracking state in the country,” pledging to reverse a fracking ban that was approved in 2014. He later vowed to cut spending by 10% across state government, except in law enforcement.
Zeldin, similarly, said reversing the fracking ban would “allow us to create jobs and generate revenue and revitalize communities and to be able to drive down energy costs.” He also promised “the largest tax cut in the history of the State of New York.”
Astorino called for natural gas drilling and building out nuclear power. And he touted his experience in keeping spending and taxes low as a county executive.
Wilson repeatedly said he would turn around the state as he has done with businesses throughout his career. He said he would cut income and property taxes by 20% and repeal regulations to put $3,000-$5,000 back in the pockets of middle-class New Yorkers.
Abortion Rights
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority has indicated that it will overturn Roe v. Wade, which would repeal federal abortion rights — a decision in the case at hand is expected this month. New York is among the states that is already moving to strengthen abortion rights, with Governor Hochul having signed new protections into law on Monday, just hours before the debate, building off of the decision to codify Roe protections into state law in 2019.
Zeldin said he is pro-life and said the state should not allow “late-term, partial-birth abortion”, shouldn’t allow non-doctors to perform abortions and called for parental consent for abortions. “We need to be promoting family and I believe that right now New York's law is going too far when you start allowing late-term, partial-birth abortion,” he said, in reference to a practice that is virtually never used.
“I'm pro-life and I'm not afraid to say it,” said Giuliani, proceeding to attempt to use the issue of bodily autonomy to attack vaccination mandates put in place during the pandemic.
Wilson separated himself from the pack in saying he would not attempt to change state abortion law, but did say he was “uncomfortable” with partial-birth abortions and non-doctors performing the procedure.
“I'm pro-life, I've always been,” said Astorino, though he indicated openness to a “reasonable discussion” about abortion restrictions.
Rehiring Unvaccinated Workers
Giuliani has said that he would rehire state and city workers who were fired from their jobs for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. While the governor would have no authority to demand that of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, who has already refused to do so, Giuliani insisted he would put fired city workers on the state payroll.
Wilson said he would rehire state workers but said he wouldn’t “go beyond the purview of the governor's office.”
Astorino said he would demand that city workers be given back their jobs as part of any negotiations with the city regarding the state budget or legislation.
“The state should offer the people who used to work for the city a job working for the state,” Zeldin said, insisting that he will end all covid mandates on day one as governor.
Congestion Pricing
All the candidates were opposed to the implementation of congestion pricing, which is meant to limit car and truck traffic south of 61st street in Manhattan while raising much-needed revenue for the MTA.
Zeldin said he would do “everything in my power” to stop congestion pricing, and emphasized the need for public safety to restore mass transit ridership, and therefore revenue, for the MTA. He also referenced long-standing calls he’s made to better run the MTA in order to lower costs.
Astorino called the policy “another backbreaker” while Giuliani called it a “tax” on hardworking New Yorkers. Neither offered ideas for how to make up for the planned revenue from congestion pricing that is supposed to help pay for the MTA capital plan.
Wilson stressed the need for a long-term capital plan for the MTA, “that means dealing with the cost overruns on construction…driven by overtime, bad contracts,” he said.
Domestic Terrorism and Social Media
Following the racist mass shooting in Buffalo, Governor Hochul called on social media companies to crack down on the forms of hate speech that radicalized the shooter. But Republicans are among those who have been circumspect about restrictions on speech, citing the First Amendment.
At the debate, Astorino blamed the state’s current policies for the inability to tackle domestic terror. “We need to get very tough on criminals. That always is the case but it's not happening in New York. Charges are being dropped. We’re coddling criminals. We’re turning the other way,” he said. He stressed the need to be careful about limits on the First Amendment and “who's going to define hate speech…That's not a rathole I think we should be going down.”
“I too worry about constraints of the First Amendment,” said Wilson. “I think the focus should be on people we know are problems: criminals, the mentally ill who have violent tendencies, and people who are purveyors of hate.”
Giuliani suggested a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields website owners from liability for content posted by third parties.
“You have to protect First Amendment rights and you can't infringe upon that,” Zeldin said. “That has to be the gold standard.”
LGBTQ History in Education
Asked by the moderators, given it is pride month, about whether LGBTQ history should be taught in schools, the candidates took things in different directions, talking about sex education and other matters.
“I do not believe that the classrooms in New York State should be used to advance an agenda that is not age appropriate. Let parents deal with this at home,” said Zeldin, who also jumped to attacking Critical Race Theory. “Parents have a fundamental right to control the upbringing of their child and they don't relinquish that right by sending their kids off to school,” he added.
Giuliani cited the recent Parental Rights in Education legislation passed in Florida and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis. The bill prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten till third grade. Opponents of the legislation have dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” law.” As a father of a young daughter, I'm concerned with how we've brought sexualization into the classroom at such a young age,” Giuliani said. “I too believe that it's so important that parents take the lead in education and that includes sex education.”
“How are we having a debate in this country, whether sex should be taught to five year olds,” Astorino said, though the question was about LGBTQ history. “It is completely inappropriate.”
Wilson stood apart again. Education, he said, is “a hugely important issue, but respectfully, the issues you're focused on are not the most important issues.” Instead, he emphasized the need to “reinvigorate civics education” and a “curricular reboot” to help children recover from learning loss during the pandemic. Like the others, he did not answer the question about LGBTQ history.
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Jumaane Williams, Kathy Hochul, & Tom Suozzi
Governor Kathy Hochul squared off against her Democratic primary opponents, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, for the first time in a debate on Tuesday night. The debate, televised on CBS TV and radio, took place three weeks from primary day, June 28, and a few days after Hochul declined a debate last week where Williams and Suozzi faced each other on Spectrum News.
Hochul, who is running to be elected to the position for the first time, spent much of the debate touting what she has accomplished in the nine months since she took over from disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo and fending off attacks from the two challengers. The candidates sought to distinguish their track records, experience, and positions from the others on a raft of issues including gun violence and bail reform, ethics, congestion pricing, term limits, and more.
While there were a number of attacks on Hochul — who has had wide leads in polling and fundraising — and she rebutted many of them, the debate remained calm and cordial throughout the hour. The questions ranged from the serious to the trivial and a number of important topics were left off the table as the debate finished with a “lightning round” of personal questions. The three candidates are scheduled for one more debate, on June 16, just before the early voting period of June 18-26.
The leading issue at the debate was gun violence, in the wake of the recent racist mass shooting in Buffalo.
Williams has been an ardent proponent of investing in community-focused solutions to gun violence prevention, and he faulted both Hochul and her predecessor for stalling legislation and funding to prevent street-level crime.
Hochul touted a package of ten gun control laws she signed just on Monday. “We got so much done that had been hampered and unfulfilled for a decade,” she said. She also said she was preparing the state for a potential adverse ruling from the Supreme Court that could weaken New York's restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms. “Within hours of that Supreme Court decision, we will have a response,” she promised, floating the possibility of convening a special session of the Legislature to address the issue.
Suozzi pointed to his 15-point “crime intervention and prevention” plan, which includes changing the state’s bail reform law that was passed in 2019 and which has subsequently been watered down and modified twice, including in the April budget deal negotiated by Hochul. He and Williams both also criticized Hochul for her past record which earned her an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and its donations for her campaigns.
Hochul insisted that her positions have since “evolved” since she represented a conservative area of her native Western New York in Congress. “You know what we need? More people to evolve,” she said. “We have to change the hearts and minds of people all over this country so we can finally have common sense legislation from Washington.”
One of the main points of contention on bail reform this year was a push by moderates and conservatives to allow judges to use a “dangerousness standard” while setting bail for defendants. Hochul supported the change but was overruled by legislative leaders who noted that it could lead to disproportionate impacts on defendants of color, instead negotiating a compromise she touted for heading in that direction.
Asked why she did not use her political capital to push through the change, Hochul noted that the tweaks made this year did give judges more discretion. “I think what we gave the judges is better than this vague term that can be subjective and many times used against the individual because of the color of their skin,” she said. “We don't need to go backwards. We need to go forward in a thoughtful way but we're not compromising either justice or safety.”
Suozzi also supports instituting a dangerousness standard, which 49 other states already employ, while Williams has been opposed to it. The public advocate has repeatedly noted that there is little data to connect bail reform to the increase in gun violence over the last two years.
Suozzi was pressed by the moderators to explain a potential ethics probe by the House of Representatives into whether he failed to report stock transactions in a timely manner for years. “It's a paperwork error,” said Suozzi, who has a very large stock portfolio, insisting he regularly filed annual disclosures though he was required to report his transactions more regularly. “The reality is we've corrected it and we're moving forward with this on a going forward basis,” he said. Suozzi has repeatedly noted that he has no say in how his portfolio is handled by his financial manager.
But Suozzi also took the opportunity to pivot into an attack on Hochul for her appointment of Brian Benjamin, who had to resign as her lieutenant governor after being indicted on corruption charges from his time as a state senator, and for rushing through a last-minute deal in the budget to build a new Buffalo Bills stadium with $850 million in taxpayer subsidies. Hochul’s husband, William Hochul, is one of the top executives at Delaware North, the massive concessions company that currently has contracts with the Bills stadium.
Hochul conceded that she was disappointed with Benjamin. “I promised the voters of New York and the people of the state that I would do everything I can to restore their faith in government and that was a setback,” she said.
She also would not say whether Delaware North should be precluded from bidding for contracts from the new stadium. “I worked hard to structure the best deal I could to the benefit of the taxpayers,” she said, insisting that her husband and the company had no involvement in the negotiations of the deal and that over many years both Hochul have had to be very careful on ethical lines, including during her time in Congress and his as a U.S. Attorney.
The debate also touched on a wide range of specific issues while a number of major challenges facing the state went fully or largely unaddressed, including affordable housing, child care, health care, and climate change.
Hochul and the Legislature recently accelerated the issuance of three casino licenses for downstate New York, and the candidates were asked if they would like to see one in Manhattan.
“I’m not opposed to it but I do need to look more at it and I'm not sure that Manhattan would be a place to build,” Williams said, then stressing that he wants New York to be careful about how casinos often take money from those who can least afford to gamble it away.
“I'm not opposed to it, but I'd rather have some public hearings, find out what the people have to say locally, as well as the state Legislature to have public hearings on the location,” said Suozzi, who had also criticized Hochul for not having any public hearings on the Bills stadium deal.
“I'm not going to put my finger on the scale,” Hochul said about the potential site of a casino, touting the process that’s in place including a panel of decision-makers.
The plan to institute congestion pricing in New York City, specifically Manhattan below 61st Street, to limit traffic and bring in revenue for the MTA is still under environmental review by the federal government and isn’t expected to be approved until later this year. But the candidates differed on the timeline for implementation, though all three said they support congestion pricing overall.
Suozzi said the mechanism should be delayed by “at least a year,” arguing such a delay could be helpful to the state’s economic recovery.
Hochul said the federal government has placed new hurdles in implementation. “So this is not going to happen over the next year under any circumstances, but now is not the right time,” she said, but added that it will happen.
“[We] should do it now,” said Williams, insisting that it is necessary for the environment as well as to raise much needed revenue for the MTA.
With the Supreme Court leaning towards overturning Roe v. Wade, all three candidates have reriterated their support for safe, legal, and accessible abortions and expanding reproductive rights in the state. At the debate, Hochul defended her decision to create a $35 million abortion access fund, which will serve New Yorkers and those who travel from out of state to seek an abortion.
Though Suozzi tried to put Hochul on the defensive for failing to usher through a constitutional amendment making abortion a constitutional right in the state. “She didn't put her weight behind it and it didn't pass through the legislature during the legislative session,” he said, noting that Hochul has TV ads touting her efforts to do so.
But Hochul in turn critiqued Suozzi for refusing to support a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortion coverage – thereby precluding it from Medicaid, which covers the poorest Americans. “I don't think that the right to have an abortion should be reserved only for wealthy women,” Hochul said. Suozzi said he didn’t know what Hochul was talking about.
Under newly drawn congressional lines, there is a crowded Democratic race shaping up in New York’s new 10th congressional district, covering parts of downtown Manhattan and a large swathe of Brooklyn. One of the candidates is former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the candidates were for unclear reasons asked if they would endorse his run. None of them said they would.
“I am probably going to weigh in with that race so I don't want to tip my hand,” Williams said.
“I don't think he's the best person for the job,” Suozzi said.
“I'm not getting involved in primaries,” Hochul said, insisting that she is more focused on helping Democrats win races in the general election to maintain their tenuous hold on the House of Representatives.
New York City passed a local law that, beginning in January 2023, will allow hundreds of thousands of noncitizens with green cards and certain types of work authorization to vote in municipal elections. The candidates were pressed on whether they would push for such a provision statewide.
“Of course, in the state, we want to make sure that everyone is civically engaged,” Williams said, indicating support for doing so but not explicitly saying it. “And that includes some of our noncitizen residents who are dealing with the impacts of very bad policy.”
Suozzi said “the right to vote should be reserved for citizens” but touted his past efforts to help immigrants.
“I respect the right of a locality to make that decision as they did in New York City,” Hochul said. “But I will not be proposing that it be extended to the entire state.”
On term limits for state elected officials, Suozzi was entirely opposed. Hochul has previously proposed term limits for statewide officials, but not for members of the Legislature, and she reiterated that stance. Williams, on the other hand, said there should be limits for all state elected officials, with legislators allowed to serve more terms than statewide officials.
After the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium on certain types of energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining, Hochul indicated that she may not sign the bill into law. Her critics have pointed out that both she and her new lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, have received major campaign donations from the cryptocurrency investors.
At the debate, Hochul refuted that her reluctance to sign the bill was influenced by wealthy donors. “We have over 800 bills that were passed. And this bill came up at the very end of session,” she explained. “We didn't have a chance to have our legislative team engage with it to work out any problems or to say yes or no or any modifications that normally occurs in the process.”
Williams said he agreed with the moratorium and noted there are other methods of producing and verifying cryptocurrency than through the mining process. Suozzi said he agreed with a moratorium but that he would have liked it to be shorter than two years.
Williams was the only candidate to say that the state should pay compensation to the families of more than 15,000 New Yorkers who died of COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, in part because of the decisions of the Cuomo administration. “Of course they should,” he said.
Suozzi critiqued Hochul for not having already convened hearings to examine the state’s covid response. “I don't know why the governor has not put together a committee to look at this so we could learn lessons from what we went through,” he said.
The governor’s office previously confirmed to Gotham Gazette in April that such a review was underway, and Hochul has since talked more about it, again noting on the debate stage that she has a review underway. But Hochul would not say at the debate whether the families of the deceased deserved compensation. “I gave them an apology and I said I will look at this even further to determine what else we can do to help them,” she said.
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Ben Max contributed to this story.