Suozzi makes a case for Democratic support in governor's race

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi criticized Democratic insiders Thursday, saying they need to wake up and stop avoiding issues that matter to voters – crime, taxes and population drain.

"We have a problem in our Democratic Party because we are not speaking to the issues people are concerned about. We’re not resonating," said Suozzi, the Glen Cove congressman who is running an upstart campaign to upend Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Democratic primary.

"These are not just Republican talking points," Suozzi said at a breakfast meeting of Democratic delegates shortly before the party was set to designate Hochul as its preferred candidate in the primary.

Suozzi also said that Hillary Clinton – a keynote speaker at the convention Thursday – telephoned him in the fall and tried to talk him out of running.

He said he declined.

Asked about parallels between the party trying to clear the primary field for Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign and party officials trying to clear the New York field for Hochul, Suozzi said: "It's an interesting point."

Suozzi said he wasn’t campaigning to try to win 25% of the convention vote – the threshold needed to automatically qualify for a primary. Instead, he will take the alternate route and deploy volunteers and paid employees to gather the 15,000 signatures needed to qualify.

Suozzi said he asked the party to give him and Jumaane Williams, the New York public advocate who also wants to run in the primary, the 25% of the vote needed – noting Democrats have done so with other races in the past. But he was rebuffed.

Instead, Suozzi was allowed to address the delegates’ breakfast, where he hit on familiar campaign themes.

"Crime and taxes are Democrat issues we need to address," he said, adding: "Property taxes are crushing everybody in this room."

Afterward, he told reporters the party was spending too much time on "poll-tested issues that do well with our base" but not with the general electorate.

Said Suozzi: "That’s why we’re losing races."