Even long-time peers and allies are skeptical.
And they’re not sure challenging the state’s first woman governor, who has so far not made any major missteps, is the right idea for the moment.
Suozzi’s criticisms of Hochul’s experience, combined with a consistent moniker of “interim governor” have been called sexist and inaccurate.
Jay Jacobs, chair of the state Democratic Committee and the Nassau County party, chaired Suozzi’s 2006 bid. Yet now Jacobs is publicly encouraging Suozzi to drop his 2022 campaign and what will inevitably be a “tough ordeal” of petitioning, he said.
Suozzi is unlikely to get volunteers from party infrastructure, now that so many officials have backed Hochul, and hiring foot soldiers for the effort could prove difficult with minimum wage being as much as $15 an hour in New York and because “the weather isn’t best Upstate at this point in time,” Jacobs said.
“It’s the longest of long shots that’s dependent more on someone else failing than anything he does on its own,” said Jacobs, who has endorsed Hochul.
“It’s a Hail Mary pass. At some point, you just hope that ball lands in the right hands. It’s not something I’d want to risk a great congressional career on, and that’s what he’s doing.”
Suozzi said he doesn’t believe Jacobs really thinks Suozzi will end his campaign. Due to the timing, Suozzi couldn’t lose the primary and then run for his current House seat again.
“You know, I think Jay Jacobs knows me pretty well,” Suozzi said. “He knows very clearly I’m not dropping out.”
In 2006, New York Magazine called Suozzi “the perfect candidate for governor of New York in any other year than this one.”
In 2022, Suozzi, as a white man, wouldn’t be making history like Hochul would as the first woman elected to the role or Williams as the first Black person elected to governor. But Suozzi says he does think 2022 is the year his skill set and resume line up with what New Yorkers want.
“And I’m risking a lot — I’m a United States congressman — and it’s a great honor,” he said.
But he quickly added: “I feel like this is something I’m supposed to be doing. And I can’t not do it just because it’s tough.”
Original source can be found here.
