Democratic candidate for governor Tom Suozzi this week was eager to make some news in his town hall with voters from the Hudson Valley and Capital Region.
"I don't know if any reporters are on this call," Suozzi said, "but I'm going to make some news here."
Suozzi's news: He pledged to select a person of color to run with him as a candidate for lieutenant governor this year. But it's more or less beside the point whether the press was listening to the call. Suozzi's campaign said at one point on the hours-long event that more than 8,000 people were on the line.
"The reason I do these town halls is because I need to talk straight to the voters," Suozzi said. "I need the people to be involved in this campaign and recognize how powerful you are."
Suozzi took questions from Cifford in Saratoga Springs who was concerned about climate change and David in Montgomery County upset with government corruption.
The answers from Suozzi are off the cuff and a bit meandering: the corruption question was answered with a story about Suozzi pushing back on Medicaid spending with Sheldon Silver and Joe Bruno.
But the events, of which Suozzi has now held several, has become something of a rarity in New York politics, especially during a pandemic: retail campaigning.
Suozzi's campaign has sought to use the events to gain traction in what appears to be an uphill climb against Gov. Kathy Hochul for the Democratic nomination. He has called for changes to New York's laws that largely ended cash bail by allowing judges to consider whether a defendant is too dangerous to be released and has hammered the governor for her use of state aircraft to attend political events (Hochul's office has said the campaign has so far reimbursed the state $19,000 for the aircraft usage).
Still, the conventional wisdom is Suozzi, a moderate congressman from Long Island who was soundly defeated by Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 gubernatorial primary, is a long shot against Hochul. The governor has moved quickly to shore up the Democratic establishment in the state. She has the backing of labor unions in the public and private sector, and has scooped up millions of dollars in campaign cash over the last several months.
Polling for Suozzi, meanwhile, has been in the single digits. Few voters seem to know him, or that there is a primary that also includes New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
But Suozzi is placing a bet on the party's base, even in Democratic-heavy New York, being more moderate in its views. He has pointed to the narrow victory of Eric Adams in last year's crowded New York city mayoral primary as evidence voters, especially working class people of color, want someone who is more interested in accomplishments, not sound bites.
"I'm sick and tired of the pandering to the far left and I'm sick and tired of the craziness on the far right," he said in the town hall event, in what has become a common refrain.
In short, this is not a candidacy purpose-built for Twitter.
He also hasn't been shy this week when it comes to issues like affordable housing, a policy concern that's become a touchstone for Democratic officials. Suozzi knocked plans by Hochul in the State of the State to require municipal governments to allow for at least one accessory dwelling unit in an owner-occupied zoned lot.
The issue was picked up by Suozzi after one caller, Margaret in Chappaqua, raised the concern in the town hall event.
Democratic primaries have in recent years have resulted in progressive victories over establishment types. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory has often served as the model and inspiration for progressive underdogs.
But statewide, figures like Andrew Cuomo have won through a mix of moderating stances with nods toward progressive goals and issues. Suozzi hasn't quite sought to emulate Cuomo's style, though his use of slides to discuss the pandemic raised some eyebrows.
Suozzi, instead, told voters on Monday in the town hall he admires Democrats like Bill Clinton. Democrats, in other words, who fight.
"I didn't have to defend him the way people had to defend Carter and Mondale and Dukakis," Suozzi said. "He got stuff done and he would fight back."
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