New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office released a scathing report on former Governor Andrew Cuomo that led to his resignation, announced Friday She is running for governor.
“I am proud to announce my candidacy for Governor of New York so that we can bring about transformative change that uplifts all New Yorkers,” she said in a statement.
James recounted some of her accomplishments in a Twitter campaign video. “I’ve sued the Trump administration 76 times, but who counts?” She said.
James, the state’s first black woman and first attorney general, will challenge fellow Democrat Kathy Hochhol, the state’s first female governor.
Hochul was Cuomo’s deputy governor, and rose to the top position in August when Cuomo resigned. Cuomo’s departure came a week after James’ office released a report saying he had sexually harassed or inappropriately touched 11 women.
Cuomo has denied the allegations, accusing him and his supporters that the report was a political “success.” “Tish James used her office to attack the governor for her own political benefit,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azopardi said before the announcement on Friday.
Cuomo was charged with forcible touch, a sexual misdemeanor, on Thursday in an incident involving one of the women in the report. James said in a statement afterwards that “the criminal charges brought against Mr. Cuomo today confirm the correctness of the findings in our report.”
a Siena College Poll On potential contenders in last week’s governor’s race, Hochul led the pack, with 31 percent of Democrats saying they would vote for her, 17 percent saying they would support Cuomo if he ran again, and 14 percent saying they would support James. . With Cuomo out of the equation, 39 percent said they would vote for Hoechul and 20 percent said they would vote for James.
