Suozzi is running to Hochul’s right, with a focus on combating crime and lowering taxes to prevent further diaspora from the Empire State.
While they are both moderate Democrats, Hochul, who lives in Buffalo, has sought to shore up support in more liberal New York City and build relationships with the state Legislature, which is largely driven by progressive Democrats.
So for Suozzi, his platform nearly mirrors his previous campaign for governor, when he pushed for a property tax cap that ultimately became law under Cuomo in 2011 and resembles some of the rhetoric the state’s Republicans have been using for years.
But the emphasis on “balance” and “common sense” seems a more winning one for Democrats recently too, Suozzi said. He points to the write-in reelection last November of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown (who has endorsed Hochul) and New York City Mayor Eric Adams (who hasn’t weighed in on the race but offered Suozzi a job in his administration).
And Suozzi, who unveiled a 15-point plan to fight crime on Tuesday in New York City, said he doesn’t believe Hochul has laid out such detailed salutations and that she is “pandering to” rather than pushing back on extremes from both the far left and right.
Hochul is facing pressure from Adams, moderate Democrats and Republicans to revisit the state’s controversial bail laws, but in recent days she has resisted, sticking with legislative leaders who say the laws have helped keep people, particularly those from minority communities, out of jail on low-level offenses.
Suozzi supports the idea of revisiting the state’s bail reform laws to allow judges more discretion in creating exceptions to the state’s law banning cash bail.
The crime issue, which plays well in New York City and its suburbs, is one where Suozzi has focused more on developing prevention and rehabilitation measures for those unfairly caught up in the legal system. But he also believes in punitive measures when needed, he said.
“It’s these extremes of harsh enforcement to ’let’s understand the criminals’ and really you have to do both — we have to both enforce the law and we have to try and prevent crime from happening in the first place,” he said.
Suozzi’s first campaign ad was a promise to use the power of the governor to remove local district attorneys if they do not prosecute crimes, a counter to Manhattan’s new progressive district attorney, Alvin Bragg, suggesting that his office would reduce some criminal charges as a way of alleviating the city’s jail population.
It’s certainly the topic of the moment. Despite Hochul’s dominance and the 6 percent tie for Democratic support he shares with New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Suozzi’s background and rhetoric do have a potential path, said Larry Levy of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.
It’s a “narrow, ever narrowing lane, but not no lane,” Levy said.
Original source can be found here.
