New York Rep. Tom Suozzi announced that he would retire from Congress and seek his state’s Democratic nomination for governor on Monday.
Suozzi is just the latest Democrat to enter the primary race that already includes Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was sworn in after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August, and the state’s attorney general, Letitia James. He branded himself as a “common sense Democrat,” criticizing both the far-left and far-right while pledging to work with anyone willing to help New Yorkers.
“I’m a common sense Democrat,” Suozzi said during his virtual press conference. “I don’t believe it’s about going to the far left or the far right, it’s about trying to find the answers to the problems we face. When it comes to my experience and my ideology, there are clear differences with the other folks [running].”
Suozzi added that he would work to cut property and income taxes, add police officers and house homeless people, if elected. He repeatedly emphasized the need to make New York a more attractive place to live, deriding high taxes that are driving residents away.
Suozzi’s announcement comes just days after he turned down an offer from Eric Adams, New York City’s incoming mayor and an ally of Hochul, to be his deputy once Adams takes office on Jan. 1. Had Suozzi accepted that offer, the Democrats’ 221-213 House majority would have narrowed even further.
Suozzi, who has represented a northern section of Long Island that includes part of Queens since 2017, is the 18th House Democrat to forgo reelection ahead of the 2022 midterms. A moderate, Suozzi was instrumental in expanding state and local tax deductions in the House-passed version of President Joe Biden’s nearly $2 trillion spending package, a policy that faces sharp opposition from multiple Senate Democrats.
Despite Suozzi’s announcement, he is far from guaranteed to win the Democratic primary. One recent poll showed Hochul trouncing the rest of the field, with James in a distant second.
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