Two Republicans have jumped into the race for New York governor.
Andrew Guiliani, the son of New York City's former mayor, chose the conservative Washington Examiner to announce his intentions Wednesday. The younger Guiliani was a top aide to President Donald Trump and has the name recognition, but has never been elected to political office.
Thursday morning, Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin chose Twitter to announce he is running for governor, saying he will "save New York" from "multi-million-dollar self-congratulatory book deals, cover-ups, abuse and self-dealing." Zeldin is an attorney, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and has been a member of Congress since 2015, after four years in New York's state Senate.
The two new candidates come after Republican Southern Tier Rep. Tom Reed announced he will not seek elected office again, after a former lobbyist made an allegation of sexual misconduct against him. At first, Reed denied the allegations, but then he apologized and said he was dealing with alcoholism at the time, for which he has since received treatment.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is embroiled in three separate scandals, due to allegations of sexual misconduct, that he gave COVID-19 testing priority to family members and friends and that he covered up the number of nursing home residents who have died from COVID-19. An impeachment investigation has begun and even fellow Democrats have called for his resignation.
