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Tom Suozzi Raises Over $5M for NY Gubernatorial Race; Competes with Hochul’s $12M

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By Ilana Siyance

Democratic candidates gearing up to run for New York State governor are raising funds fast. As reported by the NY Post, Rep. Tom Suozzi has raised more than $5 million for his Gubernatorial campaign. While this is impressive, fellow Democrat, incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul has raised some $12 million.

Suozzi, 59, who represents NY’s 3rd district in congress, and who was the County Executive for Nassau County, officially threw his hat into the race on Nov. 29, permanently transferring $2,101,572 from his congressional account into the race. Suozzi, who began his career in politics as Mayor of Glen Cove in 1994, and is licensed as both a lawyer and accountant, has total cash on hand of $5,245,224 for the Democratic primary, as of the state Board of Elections’ reporting deadline on Tuesday Jan. 18. Gov. Hochul, who took over after Andrew Cuomo resigned, has raised some $12 million, with $11.1 million of the cash on hand as of November. On Monday, her campaign declined to comment on updated fundraising numbers.

The June Democratic primary challenge will also include New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, for a total of three candidates after NY Attorney General Letitia James dropped out. Republicans candidates include Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin, a party favorite; former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; and Andrew Giuliani, the son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani who served as a White House aide to former President Donald Trump.

Despite Gov. Hochul’s superior funding, Suozzi’s capital is more than enough to run a successful campaign, and he has already hired seven new senior staffers over the past seven weeks. For his campaign’s new communications director, he has hired Jason Elan, who formerly served as spokesman for Suffolk County Democratic Executive Steve Bellone and was formerly a staffer to both Gov Hochul and ex-Gov.Cuomo. As for his new media consultant, Suozzi tapped Jimmy Siegal of Siegal Strategies, who had helped former-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in his 2006 gubernatorial race, as well as Michael Bloomberg’s unsuccessful presidential campaign. Suozzi hired Dritan Nesho, founder and CEO of national research and consulting company HarrisX, as the campaign pollster.

The other new hires will also be joining longtime Suozzi staffers, led by his senior advisor Kim Devlin, his campaign manager Mike Florio, and deputy campaign manager Marianela Casas. “As Tom Suozzi introduces himself to tens of thousands of Democratic voters across the state through his tele-town hall meetings and he continues to distinguish himself as the only candidate with a proven track record of executive experience and common-sense solutions, his financial support will continue to grow,” Devlin told The Post.

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