MOLINARO JOINS GOVERNOR’S RACE
Dutchess County exec vows reforms in seeking GOP nod to unseat Cuomo
Outside the village’s Watts de Peyster Fireman’s Hall, a small plaque dedicated to Marc Molinaro reads: “He gave us hope. He helped Tivoli find its identity, and recapture its spirit.”
On Monday, standing inside that same hall where he served 12 years as the village mayor, the 42-yearold Republican, now the Dutchess County executive, vowed to do the same for New York state, officially kicking off his campaign for governor.
“I believe this generation of New York does in fact have a rendezvous with destiny,” Molinaro said.
Molinaro vowed to change what he called the “culture of corruption” in Albany. He said the campaign is “larger than any one person, any one candidate, a campaign more important than a race for governor.
“It is a race for the people and the very soul of the state of New York,” he said.
In remarks afterward, Molinaro also promised to limit himself to two terms if he is elected governor.
Molinaro’s announcement was a reversal for the county executive, a married father of three who in January said he would not enter the governor’s race.
“Then something surprising happened and that something was you,” he told the roughly 250 people crowded in the village hall meeting room. “The calls, the emails, the tweets, the outpouring of encouragement, caused me to reconsider.”
Molinaro vowed to tackle the corruption in Al-
“Today, people have lost faith in their government and rightfully so. Not just in the policies, but in the character and competency of leadership.” — Marc Molinaro
bany that he said has hurt New Yorkers, and criticized two-term Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for being more concerned about “self preservation, political survival and presidential ambitions” than the good of the state.
“Our state is at a dangerous crossroads,” Molinaro said. “We see the needs of everyday New Yorkers being neglected and so many left without hope.
“Today, people have lost faith in their government and rightfully so,” he said. “Not just in the policies, but in the character and competency of leadership.”
Molinaro said Cuomo
has “squandered the public trust” and set a tone in Albany that is “angry and divisive.”
“We must redefine democracy in New York and make this government work for the people,” he said.
Molinaro said he would return civility to the debate and work across party lines to solve the myriad problems he said now plague what he referred to as “the once Empire state.”
He promised to bring about mandate reform and real property tax relief and vowed to control spending by reducing “corporate handouts.”
He said the state must improve its infrastructure, public safety and education system — and in particular its special education programs, vocational education
and apprenticeships.
Molinaro also touched on the need to combat opioid and heroin addiction, which he called “the public health crisis of our lifetime.”
He also vowed to limit himself to two terms if he is elected as governor.
Describing himself as coming from a working class family that at times found itself on food stamps, Molinaro said “we as a state can no longer afford to avoid the voices of those in need.”
“The problems we face run deep,” Molinaro said. The first step in remedying those problems, he said, is to end the corruption that he said permeates every area of state government.
“When this governor came into office, I had the same belief that many had, that perhaps he’d sweep in a
new day,” Molinaro said after his speech. “But instead we’ve had seven years of a new normal where pay-forplay politics, and this corrosive corruption and culture of more corruption continues to paralyze the way in which state government is supposed to function.”
During his earlier remarks, he referred to last month’s conviction of the governor’s former top aide on corruption charges. A Manhattan jury found Joseph Percoco guilty on federal bribery and fraud charges stemming from acceptance of more than $300,000 in bribes from companies looking to do business with the state.
Cuomo wasn’t accused of any wrongdoing, but the trial and others on the upcoming docket involving former
high-profile state government figures highlight Albany’s pay-to-play culture.
“Make no mistake, the burden we shoulder is the cost of a corrupted government inaccessible and inexcusable,” Molinaro said. “Whether you know it or not, whether Albany accepts it or not, all New Yorkers are paying a corruption tax.”
A Red Hook resident, Molinaro has spent his entire adult in public office. He was first elected to the Tivoli Village Board in 1994 when he was 18 years old. A year later, at 19, he was elected mayor, becoming at the time the youngest mayor in the U.S. After 12 years as mayor, Molinaro was elected to the Dutchess County Legislature, where he served until he was elected to the state Assembly in 2007. In 2011, he was elected Dutchess County executive.
If he gets his party’s nomination, Molinaro faces a daunting task in trying to beat Cuomo, son of the late former Gov. Mario Cuomo. The younger Cuomo has about $30 million in his campaign war chest, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 margin in New York state.
Earlier this year, Republican state Sen. John DeFrancisco, of Syracuse, announced he would seek the party’s nomination to challenge Cuomo. Meanwhile, the governor faces a Democratic primary challenge from the actress Cynthia Nixon, star of the television series “Sex and the City.”