Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani who was a top advisor in former President Donald Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election, is planning a run for governor in 2022, he told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
“Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there’s an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it’s going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it’s going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it’s going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there’s a very, very real chance to win,” he told the paper.
Andrew Giuliani, 35, worked as senior Trump White House aide but has never won elected office. His father, Rudy Giuliani, found himself at the center of the post-November election controversy when he became the spokesman for Trump’s efforts to reverse the results in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania.
If Andrew Giuliani runs and wins the Republican nomination, it could set up a clash between two longtime New York political families.
Cuomo is the son of the late three-term New York Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo and Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, served as New York City mayor from 1994 to 2001.
Cuomo, who is facing a political maelstrom regarding sexual harassment allegations from several women, has signaled he plans to stay in office and is expected to run for a fourth term. He has denied the allegations of misconduct and apologized for incidents where he said he did not know at the time he was making women uncomfortable.
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James, whose office is leading the investigation into the sitting governor, has not signaled she plans to run.
“I believe I can win the race,” Andrew Giuliani told the paper. “I think I’m the right candidate, and this is the right time to help change New York State, and we’ve got a playbook that works.”
George Pataki, who served as governor from 1995 to 2006, was the state’s last Republican governor. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, Cuomo beat his GOP challenger Marc Molinaro 59.6 percent to 36.2.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
