Statewide races highlight ballot

OSWEGO — County voters will join their fellow New Yorkers one week from today in selecting a slate of candidates to occupy leadership positions in Albany and Washington, including the state’s top cop as well as chief financial officer.

At the top of the ticket, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking a third term amidst a crowded field that includes several minor party candidates who have made major noise this election cycle.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro is the nominee for the Republican, Conservative and Reform parties and has tried throughout his campaign to tie Cuomo to the dysfunctional and often criminally corrupt state Capitol.

While Cuomo has maintained a significant fundraising and spending advantage, Molinaro is hoping to recapture the energy of the 1994 election, when then-little-known Peekskill Assemblyman George Pataki swept into the Governor’s Mansion on a wave of Cuomo fatigue then focused on his late father, Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Cuomo will appear on the Democratic, Independence, Working Families and Women’s Equality Party lines. Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s Lt. Governor, fended off a primary challenge from New York City Councilor Jumaane Williams. Molinaro’s Lt. Governor pick is former Rye City Councilor Julie Killian.

Down ballot, a pair of Syracuse iconoclasts are looking to make their mark on the gubernatorial race with former Salt City Mayor Stephanie Miner running an insurgent campaign on the Save America Movement (SAM) Party line and perennial gadfly Howie Hawkins again taking up the mantle for the Green Party.

Pelham Mayor Michael Volpe and NYC educator Jia Lee would serve as Lt. Governor for Miner and Hawkins, respectively.

Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe, who appeared in Oswego earlier this year, is also on the ballot.

One of the most surprising races this year is for Attorney General, the top law enforcement officer in the state. Former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a popular and conspicuous Democrat, was first elected in 2010 but in May resigned abruptly following reports he had engaged in the prolonged physical and sexual abuse of several women.

The vacuum of Schneiderman’s exit drew in a number of candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination, including former gubernatorial hopeful Zephyr Teachout and Hudson Valley U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.

Through a bruising primary emerged Letitia ‘Tish’ James, the New York City Public Advocate behind whom party officials rallied and supported as their endorsed candidate.

James will face off against Buffalo native and Manhattan attorney Keith Wofford. Whichever candidate ends up victorious, it will be an historic moment: New York has never before elected an African-American attorney general.

The New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has served as the state’s chief fiscal officer and watchdog since 2007 when he was elevated from his seat in the state Assembly to replace Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who resigned in the wake of several scandals.

DiNapoli, a Long Island native, faces a challenge from fellow downstate Democrat Jonathan Trichter, an investment banker who renounced his party affiliation to assume the Republican Party ballot line.

New York voters will also have the chance to vote for a Washington representative in the race for U.S. Senate as incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand goes up against Republican nominee Chele Farley.

Gillibrand has served in the seat formerly held by Hillary Rodham Clinton since 2009, when Clinton left New York upon appointment as Secretary of State by President Barack Obama. Gillibrand formerly served in the House of Representatives, representing portions of the Hudson Valley, Capital Region and North Country.

Farley is attempting to flip the script against Gillibrand, who has routinely trounced previous electoral opponents. The an engineer and financial consultant by trade, Farley has hectored Gillibrand on the campaign trail regarding her presidential ambitions and what Farley claims is indifference to upstate issues.

On Tuesday, Farley spoke to The Palladium-Times outlining her motivations for running against Gillibrand and her plans if elected.

“I’m in it to win it,” Farley said, recounting her decision to enter the race made after realizing “if you don’t throw your hat in the ring, you can’t yell at the TV anymore.”

“I’ve put my own money into the race and think we’ve gotten a lot of traction,” Farley said of her commitment to the campaign.

Gillibrand’s service in Congress leaves a lot to be desired, Farley said.

“She’s been a poor legislator,” said Farley. “She’s been in Congress 12 years, she’s had her 12 years and New Yorkers deserve someone who will stand up for them.”

Farley points to “$48 billion lost by the state of New York each year” and a million New Yorkers who have left the state since 2009.

“The upstate economy is in shambles, our infrastructure is falling apart,” Farley said. “I want to increase jobs, let ICE continue to protect us and I will stand with Israel.”

One of Farley’s novel campaign promises is a measure to “let middle class Americans write off their rent on their taxes,” citing 4 million New Yorkers who rent.

Multiple requests to Sen. Gillibrand’s office and campaign for an interview were not returned.

Election Day is Nov. 6.