Rob Astorino to launch Republican bid for New York governor

ALBANY — Republican Rob Astorino will formally announce his candidacy for governor on Tuesday.

Astorino, the former Westchester County executive and the GOP’s 2014 gubernatorial nominee, gave an interview Monday to News 12 Westchester outlining his campaign, the news outlet reported.

Later in the day, an Astorino spokesman said kickoff announcement was slated for Tuesday in Albany.

Three weeks ago, Astorino addressed a gathering of Republican county-level leaders and told reporters he was "99%" sure he would jump into the race.

"At the end, it’s going to be clear I’m the best candidate for a general statewide election," Astorino said.

He is one of several hopefuls more than a year away from Election Day 2022.

Among them, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) has racked up endorsements from dozens of GOP county leaders and is considered the front-runner at this point, New York Republican chairman Nick Langworthy has said.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the party’s 2018 candidate against Democrat Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, also is considering a run.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) also was set to address the Republican gathering in April but canceled at the last minute because of a family matter. But since then, she has sought to become the GOP conference chair in the U.S. House of Representatives.