DUNKIRK – County Commissioner of Elections Norm Green says Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s visit Friday is a way of localizing Governor Cuomo’s State of the State speech he made Wednesday in Albany.
“The Lieutenant Governor coming around is just localizing what the Governor already presented this week, so that doesn’t change,” Green said. “She is able to identify the parts of the budget that are going to be important to Chautauqua County.”
Green said he’s noticed criticism of Cuomo and the state budget from State Senator Cathy Young (R) and State Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R). Both have, in the past, criticized Cuomo’s executive budget proposals.
“I do realize that both our State Senator and Assemblyperson have been critical of the Governor and the budget, but the Governor, in the past, has been very attentive to Chautauqua County,” Green said. “We got big things happening in Chautauqua County, and the budget is what propels those things.”
Hochul will also be visiting Batavia’s Genesee Community College at 2 PM this afternoon.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is up for re-election this November. He’s the only Democrat to publicly declare a run.
Former U.S. Senator, First Lady and Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have all publicly declined to make a run.
The latter three will be running for re-election.
Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra and Minority Leader Brian Kolb (Republicans) have both officially declared their intention to challenge Cuomo.
The following have publicly declined a bid to run:
- Rob Astorino, former Westchester County Executive and nominee for Governor in 2014
- John J. Flanagan, Majority Leader of the New York State Senate
- Chris Gibson, former U.S. Representative
- Marcus Molinaro, Dutchess County Executive
- Donald Trump Jr., businessman and son of U.S. President Donald Trump
- Harry Wilson, businessman and nominee for State Comptroller in 2010