Greetings, this is the latest installment on a series covering the 2018 New York Governor’s Race. For those who are interested in reading the earlier installments, you can click the following links:
Introduction to the New York Governor’s Election
Republican Straw Poll, Corruption in Cuomo Administration, and Other Recent News
Since the last installment, we have seen some significant additions to the group of people running for governor.
Marc Molinaro has joined the race for the Republican nomination for governor. He announced his run on April 2nd. Marc Molinaro is the County Executive for Dutchess County. He joins a field of contenders for the GOP nomination which includes State Senate Deputy Majority Leader John DeFransisco and former Commissioner of the New York Department of Housing and Community Renewal Joseph Holland. Initially, Molinaro had declined to seek to the Republican nomination. But after various members of the party urged him to reconsider, he decided to run. He has entered the race with a significant amount of support within the party and could arguably be considered the current front runner in the race fr the Republican nomination.
The Primary field for the Democratic Nomination has also seen a new entry. Actress and education advocate Cynthia Nixon has joined the race
She is challenging the incumbent governor, Andrew Cuomo. While Governor Cuomo has an institutional edge, Nixon is aiming to draw on members of the Democratic Party who want a more heavily liberal progressive politicians as governor and on members who are dissatisfied with Governor Cuomo’s performance. So far, there are signs that she might be able to mount a stronger primary challenge against Cuomo than he had faced in 2014. Unlike 2014, where he effectively ignored primary challenger Zephier Teachout, Cuomo has already publicly acknowledged the existence of her candidacy. Also, in her first day after declaring her candidacy, she received more small donations than Cuomo has in the past 7 years. Though Cuomo continues to have a vast financial advantage to the far larger amount of big donations he has received over the years. Furthermore, former state senator, Terry Gipson, who had been running in the Democratic primary, has dropped out and endorsed Nixon.
The Green Party has seen an entry on its front. Howie Hawkins, who was the Green Party candidate for governor in the last two Gubernatorial elections, has announced that he will run again. Previously Hawkins had declined to run in 2018, but like Molinaro he decided to change his mind. If the Green Party does end up running Hawkins again, then they will have an experienced third party candidate, with a base of recognition, who could have a fair chance on ensuring that the Green Party can get the 50,000 votes needed to remain a ballot qualified party.
With these things stated, this is it for this installment.
