It’s getting down to the wire for the republican primary candidates for governor. There are three days of early voting left in Onondaga County before primary election day on Tuesday. Yesterday, we heard from Rob Astorino and Andrew Giuliani who made campaign stops in Syracuse. Today, we check in with Harry Wilson, who we caught up with on the road from Syracuse to Binghamton.
"I'm not a politician looking for a job. I've turned my life upside down to run to try to fix this state. Why have I done that? is because I really believe this is a once in a generation opportunity for the right republican to win and fix the state."
Wilson says he can turn around the state like he has large companies over his 30 year career. His plan for New York starts with reducing taxes.
"We'll cut income taxes by 20%. We'll cut property taxes by 20%. We will reduce the cost of living driven by Albany regulations at food, energy, and housing. And the combination of those things will put up to $5,000 a year into the pockets of middle class families. It'll be a total game changer of families struggling to get by in this high inflation environment."
Wilson admits there aren’t a lot of policy differences among the GOP primary candidates. Familiar themes include ending COVID mandates, letting parents have more control over curriculum, and repealing the No Cash Bail law. Party designee and Long Island Congressmember Lee Zeldin was not made available for an interview. He said back in a February zoom conference that Albany’s approach to crime is all wrong.
"In many respects, the handcuffs have been on law enforcement. The handcuffs have been on judges. The handcuffs haven't been on criminals, and law-abiding citizens are desperate for government to act. The crime numbers throughout this entire state have been increasing. We've seen it in Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo."
It’s worth noting that Zeldin has had a more limited campaign schedule upstate compared to his opponents, who’ve criss-crossed the state in recent weeks. He stopped in Syracuse in early May, and in Buffalo after the mass shooting. Zeldin’s only recent visit to Rochester was for a debate this week. On the democratic side, Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi have not been very active on the campaign trail, and Governor Hochul has primarily stayed in New York City in recent weeks. Early voting in Onondaga County continues through Sunday at eight locations. Primary election day is Tuesday from 6 to 9 pm at your regular polling place. More information is at onvote.net.
