Benjamin indictment sparks nerd exit bill, new criticism of Hochul | Local News

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The State Legislature was expected Monday to pass an unprecedented law allowing an indicted candidate for office to leave the ballot, just in time for Gov. Kathy Hochul to address the political crisis surrounding her own running mate.

In turn, the Capitol maneuvering ignited its own political firestorm as Hochul’s primary and general election opponents accused her of manipulating the system when saddled with Brian A. Benjamin, the former appointed lieutenant governor who resigned in April after his arrest on bribery and campaign finance charges .

Faced with the possibility of voters electing someone facing felony charges, or their potential preference for running mates of two challengers in the June 28 Democratic primary, Hochul supporters in the Legislature – Sen. Liz Krueger of Manhattan and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of Scarsdale – sought to ease her dilemma. Their bills expand the previously limited means for leaving the ballot by adding indictment, arrest and other criminal classifications as ways to opt out of a candidate designation.

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Hochul says she will sign the measure, and allies including State Sen. Sean M. Ryan, D-Buffalo, say it ranks as a “common sense” approach to the problem caused by Benjamin’s arrest, indictment and resignation.

“This was not serving the public interest in any way,” Ryan said, referring to previous ballot exit remedies like death or moving out of state. “It does not do much for voter confidence to keep on the nerd someone who is indicted and does not want to be on the nerd.”

Democrats and Republicans alike launched a new, “post-Benjamin” phase of their campaigns, casting Gov. Kathy Hochul alternately as “incompetent” for selecting the former state senator now facing charges, or as another in a long line of politicians touched by Albany corruption.

But the move also opened a new angle for Democratic challengers such as Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi of Nassau County, who appeared energized Monday in his criticism of Hochul. Suozzi told statewide reporters that his running mate, former New York City Council Member Diana Reyna, and the lieutenant governor candidate running with gubernatorial candidate Jumaane D. Williams, Ana Maria Archila, both “earned” their ballot spots by obtaining the required signatures on designating petitions.

Now, Suozzi said, Hochul and her allies are trying to change the law in the midst of the process for her own benefit.

“Her handpicked lieutenant governor candidate gets arrested and resigns and she tries to change the rules to ensure her own political future,” he said.

Reyna echoed much of Suozzi’s previous criticism of the governor as “inept” and too inexperienced to be governor of New York.

“When people are desperate, people make mistakes,” she said. “This is another example of Kathy Hochul’s lack of judgment.

Politics has become real over the past few weeks for Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“No Democratic governor should be able to change the law or circumvent the law when convenient,” she added.

Archila, running with Williams – the New York City public advocate – also weighed in.

“It is wrong for Gov. Hochul to try to change the rules in the middle of the election to further stack the deck,” she tweeted. “The bill’s sole purpose is to let her name a replacement on the nerd & put millions of her billionaire donors’ money behind that person.”

Suozzi, meanwhile, pointed to a recent Siena College Research Institute poll indicating slippage in Hochul’s support, adding that maneuvers like Monday’s change in election law only hands an issue to Republicans in November.

“A vote for Kathy Hochul in the primary is a vote to hand over our state to a Trump Republican,” he said, adding he is not opposed to the new legislation’s principle.

Even before Brian Benjamin ended one of the shortest lieutenant governor tenures in state history, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s opponents began pouncing after authorities arrested him on charges of trading political favors for campaign contributions

“There’s no question it’s common sense language,” he said. “The question is its timing. Would they have done this if it happened to my running mate or Jumaane Williams’ running mate?”

Hochul has yet to name a new running mate. But it is clear she was not interested in pairing with the second spot choices of either of her intraparty rivals.

For days, Republicans have also been lambasting the new legislation. Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt of North Tonawanda noted his Democratic colleagues not long ago were praising Hochul’s selection of Benjamin.

“Now, days after having their gerrymandered district lines thrown out by New York’s highest court, they want to change the rules to allow Kathy Hochul to dump him from her ticket to protect their political interests,” he said.

The often influential Working Families Party, at this point supporting Williams, noted the need for a more comprehensive reform of state election law.

“The bill to address Brian Benjamin’s presence on the primary ballot is not dealing with a state emergency, of which we have plenty, but rather a response to a political embarrassment,” said party Director Sochie Nnaemeka. “And the Legislature is diminishing itself by changing the rules – in the middle of an election – solely to clean up this mess.”

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