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GLEN COVE, N.Y. — On Monday, Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who has represented New York’s 3rd congressional district since 2017, announced his run for the state’s governorship.
The New York Times reports:
“I don’t believe it’s about going to the far left or to the far right,” said Mr. Suozzi, who outlined an agenda that includes lower property and income taxes, robust efforts to fight crime and reduce homelessness, and a focus on combating the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy.
“I’ll work with anybody,” he said. “It’s not about being politically correct. It’s about doing the correct thing to actually help people.”
Mr. Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive who is billing himself as a “common-sense Democrat,” could cut into parts of the coalition [Gov. Kathy] Hochul is seeking to assemble on Long Island and in suburbs around the state.
Suozzi is the fourth major candidate to enter the increasingly crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to succeed disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In August, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who assumed the position following Cuomo’s resignation, announced her intent to run for a full term. The race is also rife with self-described progressives, including state Attorney General Letitia James and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, an open socialist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Similarly, a campaign announcement by Mayor Bill de Blasio is effectively seen as imminent.
Suozzi is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus — both of which are comprised of moderate Democrats who consistently draw the ire of the far left.
Despite this, Suozzi’s voting record since President Joe Biden took office shows that he’s sided with the president on 100% of the legislation he’s voted on.
The fact that a congressman who has unilaterally voted in favor of the president’s agenda, which has proven itself decidedly to the left of the platform he campaigned on, is being established as the “moderate” in the race is telling of the state New York’s political climate.
However, for the pragmatic conservative, a primary win by Suozzi may provide the Empire State with its only realistic opportunity to establish a bulwark against the COVID fanaticism of a continued Hochul administration.
Furthermore, unlike members of the far left, such as de Blasio and Williams, mainstream Democrats like Suozzi — while undoubtedly ideologically similar to them — seem far less inclined to double down on woke, racial essentialist talking points, or attempt to legislate into existence open redistribution schemes.
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