Ads for Dem governor candidates contrast in style, substance

As with the gubernatorial primary debates, the ad wars among the Democratic candidates are a contrast in style, substance, status and resources.

And they offer insights into how the three candidates are running their campaigns heading into Tuesday’s primary.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, the front-runner in the polls, was late to the air waves, ignores her opponents and presents nothing flashy in her commercials, analysts say. But her deep campaign coffers give her the ability to repeat ad after ad and maybe drown out opponents.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) has been more the most “tenacious,” as one analyst said. The congressman has seven TV ads and an array of digital pieces that some observers say have hit emotional buttons — mostly on crime and criticism of Hochul. But with a smaller budget, he hasn’t been able to blanket the airwaves as much as the governor.

New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, whose campaign has little money and who considered dropping out amid a family health crisis, has been limited to online ads.

To date, Hochul ($16 million) and Suozzi ($7 million) have combined to spend at least $23 million on television, radio and digital ads. At a time when the pandemic has had a hand in limiting rallies, ads and news coverage are how the candidates are trying to reach voters — who are not accustomed to voting in a gubernatorial primary in June.

Suozzi also has held more than a dozen “Tele-Town Hall” events in which voters called in to ask him questions.

Hochul

The governor’s ads focus on her being the incumbent — approving new gun-safety and abortion-rights laws, or, in one piece, working at her desk at the State Capitol well into the night.

“It’s late at night and a light is on the governor’s office,” the narrator says as the camera shows the governor at her desk. “Kathy Hochul is hard at work — and it shows. Since taking office, she’s passed over 400 new bills …”

Another ad highlights gun laws Hochul signed after the latest mass shootings. In it she declares: “In Washington, nothing happens. But in New York, we’re taking action.”

It’s the classic strategy of an incumbent, analysts said.

“I think she benefits from the position she’s in: She’s able to highlight all the work she’s done,” said Jack O’Donnell, a longtime lobbyist and political consultant in Western New York. He called the Hochul strategy a “soft sell” that is being cheerful and avoiding any errors.

“It’s the equivalent of running with the football when you’re ahead, instead of trying a pass that could be intercepted,” O’Donnell said.

“Hochul’s ads aren’t as emotionally charged. They have no urgency to them,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic consultant.

But she benefits from being able to pay to run the ads repeatedly — $13.7 million spent on TV across metro New York and four upstate markets.

“When the ads don’t have an edge, you have to have repetition,” Sheinkopf said.

Suozzi

He was the first candidate to release an ad, hoping to break through in voters’ minds early in the campaign.

He has released ads blasting Hochul on the $850 million state subsidy for a new NFL stadium in Buffalo, on the appointment of Brian Benjamin, her first lieutenant governor who later resigned after being indicted on corruption charges, and for, in Suozzi’s view, not doing enough on crime. In one, he promises to cut income taxes 10%.

“You want to do something about crime in the streets? You fix bail reform,” Suozzi says in one commercial. “You want to do something about sky-high taxes? You cut income taxes by 10%.”

Suozzi also has a biographical ad and another that promises to be a “champion” for Long Island. In most ads, he calls himself a “common sense Democrat” who is more in touch with the concerns of the average Joe.

“The far right and the far left have gone too far,” the congressman says.

Suozzi’s ads contain an “emotional edge” that call attention to issues at the top of the list of voters’ concerns, Sheinkopf said. Then again, a challenger has to.

“When you have less money, they have to be sharper. He’s got to punch through faster,” Sheinkopf said.

Suozzi has spent about $7 million on ads, which Marist College pollster Lee Miringoff calls “not insignificant.”

“That’s enough to get known in New York,” Miringoff said. But, using a boxing analogy, he said time is running short.

Said Miringoff: “Suozzi’s still punching away and she’s dodging him and trying to run out the clock.”

Williams

He has the backing of the party’s progressive wing, but Williams has trailed the field in fundraising and, going into the campaign homestretch, still had not released a TV ad.

He does have videos posted on his campaign website and sought to win over voters in three televised debates.

Williams opens his campaign bio video by talking about how having Tourette’s Syndrome says something about his career and goals.

“My Tourette’s has never defined me but it has represented a truth about my life and my work: I’m always moving,” Williams says. He talks of pushing the status quo for progressive change and notes his participation in protests about police violence and deportations.

Last month, he told The New York Times that he twice came close to dropping out after his wife’s cancer and the premature birth of their daughter curbed his campaigning.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy