James weighs a race as governor as Hochul locks down key approval



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“Kathy Hochul has done a great job as governor and I hope she succeeds, but I think things need to play out a bit more,” said Suzanne Berger, chair of the Westchester County Democratic Committee. “The attorney general, who has also been a great elected official, needs an opportunity and a space to make the best decision for herself and for the state.”

Other Democrats have openly criticized Mr Jacobs’ decision to step in a primary, especially at a relatively early stage in the race – although there are few other recent points of comparison. Mr Cuomo was in office for a decade, and before that, party officials asked Gov. David A. Paterson not to run for a full term after taking over from disgraced former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Mr Williams said in a statement that Mr Jacobs’ role, “and that of our state’s top Democratic officials, should be to uplift Democratic candidates, Democratic voters and Democratic values.”

Mr Williams also noted Mr Jacobs ‘long-standing alliance with Mr Cuomo, who released another statement on Monday wrenching the independent inquiry into his conduct released by Ms James’ office. The ex-governor lamented that “this is not New York at its best”. There has been a lot of speculation as to whether Mr Cuomo – whose resignation speech also served as a defense of his legacy – would seek to invest real money in meddling in the race.

Mr Jacobs said he gave Mr Cuomo, among other things, a warning about the approval, a remark that drew attention on Monday.

“I’m not involved in this, I really am not,” said Ms Hochul, when asked about Mr Jacobs’ decision to hire Mr Cuomo. “I’m proud to have the support of Jay Jacobs, Rich Schaffer and everyone who wants to line up behind me, but they know that’s not my goal.”

And when asked about Mr. Cuomo’s missive, she replied, “I’m actually too busy governing New York to care about emails written by people.”

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