Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, announced Tuesday that he’s seeking the Republican nomination for governor next year, competing against three other candidates who’ve already declared their candidacy.
Giuliani, speaking during a round of media interviews, said his top issues as a candidate would be the state’s economy and addressing New York’s outmigration problem.
“I am seeking candidacy for the 57th governor of New York,” Giuliani said. “I think it’s time that New York gets turned around. I’m sick and tired of seeing New Yorkers leaving to Florida, to Texas, to Tennessee.”
If he’s successful in seeking the Republican nomination, Giuliani would go on to compete against either incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo or whichever Democrat replaces him on the ticket.
Giuliani most recently worked as an adviser to former President Donald Trump at the White House. In the last year, he said he helped coordinate the Paycheck Protection Program, which provided no-interest, potentially forgivable loans to eligible businesses during the pandemic.
While Trump lost New York by a wide margin in both of the last two presidential elections, Giuliani said he doesn’t plan to shy away from his association with the former president.
“I’m not going to run away from my association with President Trump,” Giuliani said.
“I think the thing New Yorkers will learn about me if they don’t know already is that I’m genuine. I worked in the Trump administration for four years and I’m proud of many of the policies that we were able to accomplish there.”
New York Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said in a statement that, if elected, Giuliani’s time in office could mirror that of his father when he was mayor of New York City.
“New York is broken and in need of the type of overhaul that the Giuliani Administration ushered in during the 1990s,” Langworthy said. “The corruption, deadly mismanagement and incompetence of the Cuomo Administration has energized our Party from the ground up, as evidenced by the number of accomplished New Yorkers who have stepped forward to run.”
Giuliani joins three other Republicans who’ve already declared their candidacy: Rep. Lee Zeldin, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Lewis County Sheriff Mike Carpinelli.
If Republicans go through with a primary election for the nomination, that will take place next June. The race for governor will be decided in November 2022.