New York State Insider: Election Desk 2022 News: Endorsement Alert: Buffalo News Endorses Astorino in Republican Primary for Governor: Elections 2022.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THE BUFFALO NEWS ENDORSES ASTORINO IN 

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR. 

“Astorino claims to be the most qualified and most electable of the four Republicans running. He’s right.”

New York-June 17…The Buffalo News has endorsed former two-term Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in the June 28 Republican Primary for governor, citing his “successful executive and political experience” and disciplined fiscal stewardship, the Astorino campaign today announced. 

 

“Astorino claims to be the most qualified and most electable of the four Republicans running. He’s right,” the editors wrote. 

“Astorino has shown what a center-right Republican can do in this state. In overwhelmingly Democratic Westchester County, he was elected to two four-year terms as county executive. In that role, he eliminated a budget deficit and left office with a county budget of $1.8 billion – the same size as the one that he started with eight years earlier. In all eight of his years, the county’s Board of Legislators was in Democratic control.

“That should be encouraging to anyone skeptical that a Republican can succeed in blue New York. It takes backbone, skill and a willingness to work with political adversaries. That speaks well of Astorino…”

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is the strongest Republican candidate for governor. Early voting begins on Saturday and the party primary is on June 28.

Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press

News Editorial Board

Four candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for New York governor. Two are worthy and, of those, one has significant and successful executive political experience. For that reason, we endorse former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Astorino has shown what a center-right Republican can do in this state. In overwhelmingly Democratic Westchester County, he was elected to two four-year terms as county executive. In that role, he eliminated a budget deficit and left office with a county budget of $1.8 billion – the same size as the one that he started with eight years earlier. In all eight of his years, the county’s Board of Legislators was in Democratic control.

That should be encouraging to anyone skeptical that a Republican can succeed in blue New York. It takes backbone, skill and a willingness to work with political adversaries. That speaks well of Astorino, though we’re not at all sure the overwhelmingly Democratic State Legislature would be as welcoming as Westchester’s Board.

Astorino says he supports enhanced background checks for guns, as well as effective and fair red flag laws, but he played to the right-wing crowd by criticizing politicians who “rushed out to shamefully politicize” the massacre in Uvalde, Texas. Gun control is a political matter, by its nature – it takes no politicizing – and no one is rushing. These issues have been discussed for years. Such is the boilerplate of the Republican Party. 

Unsurprisingly, then, he’s more interested in hardening schools against assault than doing something about access to military-style weapons.

On budgets, he wants to “rein in spending,” and proposes to reduce the number of tax brackets to three from the current 10 and to lower their rates. He touts his environmental record, which is real, but wants to streamline the environmental review process to speed projects.

Equally impressive in his approach is businessman Harry Wilson, running on his history of turning around troubled companies. His bona fides are significant enough that the state Republican Party was practically begging him to run for governor. He initially declined, though, and the party turned to Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County.

But the outsider as political savior is becoming shopworn. Only former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has succeeded in a high-profile position. Maybe Wilson could be another Bloomberg, but Astorino already has a record of success.

As to the others, Zeldin disqualified himself by voting, in the immediate aftermath of an insurrection, to reject electors pledged to Joe Biden. He defends the action as routine, but an insurrection isn’t routine. It was terrible judgment and, for a governor, judgment is the coin of realm.

Finally, Andrew Giuliani simply has no business in this race. He worked for the Trump administration, but has never led any large organization, let alone one as complex and sprawling as New York. It’s not a job for beginners.

Astorino claims to be the most qualified and most electable of the four Republicans running. He’s right.