Here's how the GOP candidates for governor target their campaign ads
From left, businessman Harry Wilson, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Rep. Lee Zeldin of Shirley and Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, face off during New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of Spectrum News NY1 on Monday in New York. Credit: Pool / Brittainy Newman via AP
ALBANY — The candidates running in Tuesday’s Republican primary for governor have used dozens of broadcast, cable TV and social media ads to introduce themselves to voters while explaining their positions on issues and taking some shots at their rivals.
The ads include business owner Harry Wilson saying he can fix New York's economic woes the way he revived companies in his career, Andrew Giuliani, a White House aide under Donald Trump, promising he would break through Democrats’ control of the State Legislature, Rep. Lee Zeldin asserting he would bring fiscal discipline to state government and Rob Astorino, a former Westchester County executive, arguing that he alone as a former elected executive can efficiently manage state government.
Each candidate hit common Republican themes of the failure of state government now controlled by Democrats to combat crime, corruption and the cost of living in New York State.
Here’s what they have been saying:
Rob Astorino
Astorino’s first broadcast ad says New York is “in crisis … every day we have corrupt politicians in Albany failing all of us, acting like our state is their kingdom.” The ad flashes images of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who resigned in August amid sexual harassment allegations, and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“And what do we get? Crime is raging everywhere as criminals are coddled and the police are defunded.”
He goes on to blame rising taxes and inflation on Cuomo and Hochul, although both enacted some tax cuts and governors have little control over inflation.
He blames Democrats for an exodus of New Yorkers and particularly young, educated residents to less expensive states, but notes “for a lot of us that’s not an option …. We are not going to let them force us out.”
Astorino, 55, emphasizes his argument that he’s the most electable of the Republicans because he won two terms as county executive in “deep blue” Westchester where he didn’t raise county taxes.
Astorino also strikes an optimistic tone: “I know we can make our state great again. We just need to get Albany the hell out of our way. As governor, we’ll show them we’re not going anywhere.” He calls this “revenge of the normal people.”
Andrew Giuliani
Giuliani’s most prominent ad on TV opens with scenes of Montauk, Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty and other New York State landmarks.
“We New Yorkers are facing turbulent times,” he says in the narration. “Some elected to lead us say the best days are in the past.” Giuliani, 36, speaks over images of Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cuomo.
The ad said of the Democratic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included vaccination mask mandates: “At the first sign of a problem … They take away our freedoms.”
The ad continues: “They send the sick to infect our elderly.” The ad then cuts to Cuomo at a Capitol news conference defending his decision to require hospitals to transfer COVID-19 patients back to their nursing homes to recover as part of plan to keep hospital beds available for more patients. The ad says, “But who cares? They died.”
Giuliani goes on to blame economic problems on “partisan politics” and says liberal laws “let criminals run free.”
“It’s time to bring back New York!” Giuliani said, citing the success of his father, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Harry Wilson
Wilson stresses his roots in a small upstate city, Fulton County’s Johnstown, in his first ad. Wilson is bundled up and strides amid a cold, bleak upstate winter backdrop to drive home a point that New York isn’t as prosperous as it once was and that he knows that New York extends beyond the five boroughs.
In his ads, he hits hard on the themes of: “Career politicians like Cuomo and Hochul”; “I spent my life fixing problems”; and “politicians want business as usual”; while the narrator refers to him as “outsider Harry Wilson.”
Wilson, 50, targets only one Republican primary foe, “Cuomo clone” Zeldin.
“Zeldin was Andrew Cuomo’s favorite Republican,” headlines one Wilson ad. “They raised taxes” it states. Wilson refers to Zeldin’s years — 2011 to 2014 — as a member of the State Senate Republican conference, which at the time controlled the Senate and worked with Cuomo to pass policies and budgets.
In another ad, Wilson says that amid “rising crime, closed schools, broken roads … Albany politicians gave themselves a massive pay raise.”
Wilson says he will withhold that pay from legislators if they fail to support his tax and spending cuts. A governor can do that if a budget misses its April 1 deadline.
Lee Zeldin
Zeldin, 42, emphasizes in a half dozen TV and internet ads his four years of active duty as an Army intelligence officer and lawyer and his deployment to Iraq in the summer of 2006. Amid photos of Zeldin in combat fatigues, he states: “Losing is not an option.”
In another ad, a narrator warns: “Some say New York should just turn out the lights,” as a bulb switches off. “Endless corruption. Liberal crime policies. Unaffordable living. People are heading for the exits. But not Lee Zeldin … surrendering is not in his blood.”
“We all know the Cuomo scandals and right there with Cuomo was Kathy Hochul, the silent accomplice,” Zeldin says, referring to probes of Cuomo, including his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes and sexual harassment allegations.
Zeldin’s ad said Hochul’s “own scandal” was the arrest of her appointed lieutenant governor, former state Sen. Brian Benjamin, who was charged with bribery in a federal indictment and resigned. Hochul blamed poor vetting by her staff.
Another ad opens with the sound of gunshots and sirens. A narrator says: “Do you recognize this sound? It’s the sound of violent crime up in New York due to the radically liberal crime policies.” Crime, however, also has risen nationwide.
Zeldin targeted his GOP opponents in the ad titled “Bad Actors.” He shows a news clip in which Astorino appeared with Cuomo at a bill signing. The ad also notes “Wilson worked for Obama — twice! Zeldin fought for our country.” Wilson worked on aiding the U.S. auto industry in the wake of the 2008 recession when Obama brought in several experts to revive the economy and save jobs.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
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