NY Dems ‘scrambling’ for way to lift Hochul and boot Brian Benjamin from ballot

[Kamaji]

NY Dems ‘scrambling’ for way to lift Hochul and boot Brian Benjamin from ballot

By Bernadette Hogan and Sam Raskin
April 14, 2022

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to pick Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor has left Democratic state lawmakers in New York “scrambling” to push a measure that could boot the former second-in-command off the ballot in the upcoming primary following his resignation prompted by his indictment for alleged participation in a campaign finance scam.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin told her colleagues on Wednesday that she will “soon be introducing legislation to allow a candidate for office to decline their party’s designation or nomination, and be removed from the ballot, if they are charged with a crime.”

“A candidate who is charged with a crime prior to the election should be permitted to voluntarily decline the party’s designation or nomination and withdraw their name from the ballot to allow a new candidate to be selected,” Paulin (D-Westchester) argued in an email to Democratic and Republican members of the state Assembly.

Paulin told The Post that members of the legislature are seeking to pass the bill by the beginning of May, since state election law bars rules changes 53 days prior to the elections. This year’s Democratic primary falls on June 28.

“If we could get it done very quickly, it could address the current quagmire that we’re in,” she told The Post Thursday. “If we can’t hit that deadline, it should be for future elections.”

John Conklin, a spokesperson for the state Board of Elections, said, “Without additional re-writes to the law, which the Legislature can do any time it wants, the statute requires SBOE to certify the statewide primary ballot on May 4 and the CBOE’s to certify the local primary ballot by May 5.”

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/04/14/ny-democrats-scrambling-for-way-to-lift-gov-hochul-and-boot-brian-benjamin-from-ballot/

[Kamaji]

I'm sure they'll get it done, by hook or by crook; too bad, I'd love to see them stuck with running their ticket with this PoS as second in line.

[mountaineer]

NY Dems are such a mess Republicans might actually win the governorship
April 16, 2022 | wirenews
Sebastian Hughes, DCNF

    *The arrest of Democratic New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin could give the Republican Party an opportunity to flip the state governorship red.
    *“We’ve had 15 years of Democrat governors have just leave office in disgrace … She is absolutely going to be tied as a part of that,” New York state GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
    *“I think is the best opportunity we’ve had [in] a long time to win the governor’s office,” Republican New York Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay told the DCNF.

... Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul assumed office in August after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned following numerous scandals related to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as allegations of sexual harassment. She faces a Democratic primary in June, with Benjamin still expected to be her running mate on the ballot.

“I think they’re scrambling right now trying to see how they can get him off the ballot,” New York state GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The whole thing was just like a giant embarrassment.”  ...

Regardless of whether the change is enacted, Republicans intend to “paint [Hochul] as just being part of the same … corrupt, disastrous gubernatorial administrations that we’ve had in New York,” Proud said. “She’s no different than Andrew Cuomo and we’ve had 15 years of Democrat governors have just leave office in disgrace … She is absolutely going to be tied as a part of that.” ... More at American Wire News

[jmyrlefuller]

Disclaimer:

New York has a weird primary system. In the primary elections, lieutenant governor and governor candidates run in their own races. But in the general election, the winner of each primary is joined as one ticket.

So, if Hochul wins the governor primary but Benjamin wins the LG primary, they become the Democratic nominee for governor/LG and run together in the general. But it's not like the presidency where the primary winner gets to pick their nominee.

That means it's a lot easier of an escape hatch for Hochul to avoid—she can just pick another LG candidate from the Dem primary ballot as her new LG and Benjamin can be brushed aside as an also-ran. Though the fact she chose Benjamin to begin with might be harder to evade...