Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging state lawmakers to help boot her embattled former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin off the Democratic ballot in the upcoming June 28 Democratic primary.
Benjamin — indicted in a pay-to-play bribery scandal — resigned from office in disgrace but his name will still appear on the primary ballot due to election laws. The governor, however, believes that Albany can pass a law to fix the ticket.
“There is a need for a legislative solution,” Hochul told reporters in the state capital Tuesday.
“And I would like the legislature to do just that and to pass legislation that corrects what is really a strange part of our law that does not allow the removal of someone who is under indictment.”
In the party primary, the lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor. However, Benjamin’s name on the ballot is an embarrassing albatross around the neck of the governor.
Hochul said she’s had conversations with lawmakers about approving a law that would allow the Democratic Party to remove Benjamin’s name and possibly name a replacement.
“So let’s just talk about you know, what sense it makes right now to have a law changed. I’m asking legislators to do just that,” Hochul said.
She emphasized that time is of the essence. The ballot must be finalized for statewide offices on May 4, according to the Board of Elections.
The Benjamin scandal is the biggest mess of Hochul’s brief governorship after replacing disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned last August under the threat of impeachment amid a sexual misconduct scandal.
Her selection of Benjamin, a former state senator from Harlem, as lieutenant governor was one of her early and most important decisions — and critics have been quick to question her judgment after Benjamin’s tenure blew up in a corruption scandal.
In response to criticism, the governor insisted the information she knew about Benjamin during the vetting process did not disqualify him from being appointed lieutenant governor.
Shortly after Hochul spoke, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) confirmed the governor called her Monday night, asking for a change in the law to allow the removal of Benjamin’s name from the primary ballot.
Stewart-Cousins said she doesn’t like to “change the rules in the middle of a process and certainly in the middle of an election” — but did not rule out Hochul’s request.
“We will continue the conversation,” Stewart-Cousins said. “She put it on the table as it relates to having a conversation with my conference. … We’ll have the conversation. We’ll see what happens.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office (D-Bronx) office had no immediate comment.
Bills have been introduced in the Assembly by Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) and Jonathan Jacobson (D-Newburgh) to remove Benjamin from the ballot, but none yet in the Senate.
Republicans said they will attack Democratic lawmakers during the fall elections if they pass a law bailing out Hochul by removing Benjamin from the ballot.
“If Kathy Hochul’s co-conspirators in the legislature help her avoid accountability for picking a crook as lieutenant governor they will be directly responsible for aiding and abetting the cesspool of Albany corruption, and we will make sure every voter knows it,” said state Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy.
One of Hochul’s Democratic primary rivals, Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, also said the Democratic-run legislature shouldn’t reward Hochul for bad judgment and accused them of “carrying her water.”Â
“Why would the Senate and Assembly make another secret backroom deal with Kathy Hochul to replace her indicted former Lt. Governor?” Suozzi asked in a statement.
“The members of the Senate and Assembly will already pay a political price for her Buffalo Bills deal, her refusal to address crime and the LG saga. How long are they willing to carry Kathy Hochul’s water? She made these messes, she needs to clean them up herself.”
The House Ethics Committee recently extended a probe into whether Suozzi properly disclosed stock transactions as a sitting member of Congress.
Benjamin resigned on April 12 just hours after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on five corruption-related charges that alleged he attempted to trade a state grant for campaign contributions when he was a state senator and running for city comptroller.
There are two other Democratic candidates running for lieutenant governor: former Brooklyn Councilwoman Diana Reyna, Suozzi’s running mate; and immigration activist Ana Maria Archila, the running mate of city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.