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SOURCES: Letitia James Will Run For New York Governor


New York Attorney General Letitia James plans to run for governor, according to three people directly familiar with her plans who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

James will enter the race as a formidable candidate for the Democratic nomination just months after issuing a damning report that drove Andrew Cuomo from office in a harassment scandal.

The three people familiar with her plans were not authorized to speak publicly. James is expected to make an announcement later this week, according to one of the people.

Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a James campaign adviser said in a statement: “Attorney General Letitia James has made a decision regarding the governor’s race. She will be announcing it in the coming days.”

James, 63, is the first woman elected as New York’s attorney general and the first Black person to serve in the role. With a power base in New York City, she is poised to be a top threat to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant governor.

Hochul, who is from the Buffalo area, entered office with a reputation as a political centrist but has been striving to win over New York City progressives, making numerous appearances in the city during her first months in office.

James, who was born and raised in Brooklyn and made her first run for City Council as a candidate of the liberal Working Families Party, would have the reverse task of winning over upstate Democrats who might be more conservative.

Before this year, James was best known nationally for her frequent legal tussles with former President Donald Trump.

Since she became attorney general in 2019, her office has investigated Trump’s business affairs and sued the Republican’s administration dozens of times over federal policies on immigration, the environment and other matters.

James also filed a lawsuit accusing the National Rifle Association’s leaders of financial mismanagement, the latest in a string of regulatory actions that have delighted liberals but drawn complaints from Republicans that she has unfairly used her office to target political opponents.

Under public pressure, Cuomo last year authorized James to investigate allegations he had harassed several women. The independent investigators she hired to conduct the inquiry released a report in August concluding that there were credible allegations from 11 women.

Cuomo and his political advisers assailed the report as an unfair and inaccurate hit job, designed to drive him out of a job James coveted. But he resigned from office in August, saying the state couldn’t afford the distraction of an impeachment fight.

James dismissed the charge that her investigation was politically motivated, saying Cuomo should take responsibility for his own conduct.

James’ announcement will set the stage for a competitive race featuring Hochul fighting to retain the job she got when Cuomo quit, and a host of other potential candidates who could sap some of the attorney general’s potential downstate strength.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have both said they are considering a run. Two other potential Democratic candidates come from Long Island: Suffolk County executive Steve Bellone and U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi, who lives in Nassau County.

Cuomo might also be a factor in the race. After leaving office, he has dug into his campaign funds to pay the salaries of spokespeople and lawyers who have spent months blasting James’ integrity on television and on social media.

Republican candidates include U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Trump-aligned congressman from Long Island; Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who lost to Cuomo in 2014.

The primary election is in June and the general election is in November 2022.

Before becoming attorney general, James was New York City’s public advocate, an elected job where she acted as a sort of city ombudsman. Previously, she was a member of the City Council. She worked as a public defender and an assistant state attorney general. She graduated from Lehman College in the Bronx and earned her law degree from Howard University in Washington.

(AP)



12 Responses

  1. If Letitia does run, the privileged WHITE Hochul would have to drop out. If Hochul runs against a female black, that would be racist.
    How will James be able to campaign? Where will she find the time? She is still so determined to get former President Trump on his personal tax returns dating back to 1978. That is why she was elected. Any century now we’ll get a press conference from her with the latest breaking developments.

  2. How does a great state such as NY manage to offer such terrible choices to voters for leadership positions in both NYC and Albany?

  3. At this point we should all be resigned to the fact that the left firmly controls New York politics and that it will be quite some time before we see a Republican in City Hall or Albany again. The GOP has basically ceded New York to the Democrats. Let’s just hope decent people get elected as opposed to wacky BLM, AOC-affiliated socialists who will bring the city back to the bankrupt, dirty 1970’s.

  4. 5Tresident, you are very optimistic. I don’t think there will ever again be a Republican president. NY is on the way to becoming a third world countries. Third world countries do not have Republican-style politicians.

  5. 5Tresident, you are very optimistic. I don’t think there will ever again be a Republican president. NY is on the way to becoming a third world country. Third world countries do not have Republican-style politicians.

  6. I agree with the first 2 sentences of the 5TRes post.

    To GadolHa: Maybe you are just out of step with the majority of New York voters. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

  7. all I know she is more friendly to frum voters as she represented Hochul who probably never met a frum Jew in Buffalo, she would be better than Hochul for that alone.

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