Campaigns & Elections

Who wants to run for governor as a Republican in 2022?

The race appears up in the air with months to go before the June primary.

Rep. Lee Zeldin is the person to beat for the nomination.

Rep. Lee Zeldin is the person to beat for the nomination. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Polling and campaign finance disclosures have highlighted in recent weeks what has been apparent for quite a while: The 2022 Republican primary for governor remains very much up in the air.

Putative front-runner Rep. Lee Zeldin has a regular presence on right-wing cable and widespread support from party leaders, but poll after poll has highlighted how such advantages have not translated into widespread name recognition among GOP voters. Former Westchester Executive Rob Astorino and Andrew Giuliani (son of Rudy) are looking to take advantage in the run-up to a state convention in February. The newly-announced campaign of businessman Harry Wilson injects additional uncertainty into the race. 

The GOP faces long odds winning their first statewide election in two decades. Hochul has polled well since becoming governor, and her record fundraising haul shows the powers of incumbency in action. Former President Donald Trump still casts a long shadow on the Republican Party, particularly for those like Zeldin, who supported Trump in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. GOP leaders, however, remain bullish that the scandals that helped drive former Gov. Andrew Cuomo from office might help Republicans this November. 

Here is a roundup of the Republicans running for governor this year, last updated on Feb. 22.

Running

Rep. Lee Zeldin

The four-term member of Congress appears to be the person to beat by default. Recent endorsement from fellow Long Island officials underscore his support from party insiders and his multimillion dollar warchest puts him on much more solid ground than other candidates. Name recognition remains a big challenge in the months ahead given how new polling shows that most GOP voters have never heard of him despite his widespread campaigning across the state. So his current lead might just end up being an electoral mirage.

Lewis County Sheriff Michael Carpinelli

Keeping the peace in the fourth-least populated county in New York has evidently not connected Carpinelli to a network of deep-pocketed donors. A January financial disclosure shows that he has $663 bucks on hand after raising less than $20,000 overall. Some GOP voters might like his opposition to public health restrictions and recent defense of a Capitol rioter, but they got other choices with seemingly better chances of actually winning. 

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino

The fourth time might be the charm for Astorino after losing his last three bids for elected office. He has received lots of five-figure checks from political donors in recent months, but has about a fourth of the money Zeldin has for the upcoming campaign. He also has lower name recognition among registered voters, Republicans and suburbanites alike. His (mostly)  pre-Trump experience as a local leader does not appear to be catching much attention online either. 

Andrew Giuliani

The 36-year-old son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has had an interesting few months on the campaign trail. He has discussed the daddy issues behind his longshot bid and spun how his past gig as a presidential golf buddy made him the “quarterback” of COVID-19 relief programs last year. Curtis Sliwa, the 2021 GOP candidate for New York City mayor, has endorsed him, but Giuliani has raised less than $90,000 in recent months and polling shows his family name hardly guarantees universal recognition.   

Derrick Gibson

The obscure podcast host offers Republicans on the far right a chance to support someone who is “proud” of the Proud Boys. That might not be enough to prevail against better-known, and better-funded GOP opponents, but his candidacy might make other candidates think again about how any hint of moderation might cost them votes in the primary. 

Harry Wilson

Money is already proving to be a strength and a weakness for the millionaire businessman. A $12 million investment in his campaign gives him about twice as much money to spend compared to Zeldin in the months before the primary, but a $1,000 donation to newly-elected conservative bête noire Alvin Bragg, who Wilson met as an undergraduate at Harvard, is already inspiring talk about how his candidacy is dead on arrival with the political right. So Wilson might just prove to be the Michael Bloomberg of 2022 – except the questionable value of limitless money is being proven on the GOP side of the aisle this time around. 

Maybe running

George Pataki

A former staffer to the now-septuagenarian Pataki is behind an effort to make him the first Republican to win statewide office since ... Pataki did it in 2002. There is a website and everything, but it will likely take more than that to convince the three-term governor to reenter politics. His dismal performance in the 2016 Republican presidential primary hardly inspires confidence that he has a second act as the savior of the New York GOP. 

Not running

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro

Marc Molinaro may still have ambitions for higher office, but his May endorsement of Zeldin means a 2022 gubernatorial run is not happening. While Molinaro was the GOP standard-bearer just four years ago, he would have faced an uphill battle against a MAGA man like Zeldin. The party is continuing to move to the right, and Molinaro’s departure from the race all but ensures that the Republicans will cede a lot of the political center despite how that limits their chances in November. 

Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra

A lot of New York voters might like how Giambra campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016 alongside other moderate Republicans wary of electing Trump. But that is not going to go over well with Republican primary voters next year if Giambra ends up officially declaring his candidacy. His ill-fated campaign for the 2018 nomination seemingly confirmed that. There has been talk this spring of Giambra jumping into the race, but it does not appear to be happening. 

Rep. John Katko

His vote for impeachment and reputation for being a political moderate make the Central New York Congress member an odd fit in a party still defined by the former president. That is likely a key factor in the four-term incumbent demonstrating zero interest publicly in running for governor despite reported efforts by some party leaders to recruit him. Not running is probably a smart move considering the slim odds of beating the eventual Democratic nominee and the fact that Katko appears to be sick of politics in general, as evidenced by his decision to not seek reelection to the House. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik

The North Country legislator has officially ruled out a run for the Second Floor. That only makes sense considering how busy she is maneuvering for a leadership post in the Trumpian House minority. In another world, her serious MAGA cred, fundraising abilities and name recognition could have potentially shoved Zeldin aside – but she would have to give up her congressional seat in the process. At least she didn’t pose as a daughter of the Adirondacks for nothing!

Rep. Tom Reed

The Southern Tier lawmaker promised constituents in 2010 that he would only serve six two-year terms in Congress. That time will be up at the end of 2022. “I will honor those commitments, and I will leave it to the public to make the decision as to where my future goes,” he told The Buffalo News. His current position as co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus would have given some basis to argue that he could be competitive in a general election. And unlike Stefanik and Zeldin, Reed would not have needed to explain a vote to overturn the Electoral College results hours after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. But Reed said he won’t be running for any office following an accusation of sexual misconduct from a former lobbyist.

Janice Dean

Few people have done more to raise public awareness about COVID-19 nursing home deaths than a Fox News senior meteorologist who lost two in-laws to the pandemic. Her connection to the network most hated by Democrats would complicate any run for statewide office, but at least critics of the Canadian-born TV personality would not have to worry about her leveraging a campaign for a future White House run. Still, she has demonstrated no interest in running, despite her name getting thrown around.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.