Cuomo backs Thomas Suozzi for 3rd Congressional District seat
Former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and State Sen. Jack Martins are seen before their debate on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Cablevision studios in Woodbury. Credit: Daniel Goodrich
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday endorsed former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
The endorsement comes nine days before voters head to the polls, as Suozzi and state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) vie for the seat being vacated by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington).
Cuomo, in an email statement, said Suozzi has “the ability to navigate a dysfunctional system to work with other like-minded officials to come up with bold ideas that will solve the tough problems we face.”
“Tom Suozzi is a fighter who will take on entrenched special interests and the status quo if it means making things better for his constituents,” Cuomo said. “He will legislate with courage, conviction, leadership.”
Suozzi responded to the endorsement by saying he looked forward to working with Cuomo, if elected, “to bring much needed federal resources back to Long Island and Queens so we can grow the economy and create new jobs, rebuild our aging infrastructure, and protect our natural beauty and open spaces.”
Martins’ campaign spokesman E. O’Brian Murray said in an email: “It’s no surprise that the leader of the New York State Democratic Party endorsed a New York Democratic candidate.
“Jack Martins will work in the same bipartisan manner to deliver tax cuts, fiscal discipline and economic development funding in Washington just as he did in the State Senate,” Murray said.
The email endorsement follows Cuomo’s public endorsement last week of a number of Long Island congressional and state Senate candidates.
Last Tuesday, at the Suffolk Democrats’ fall fundraiser, Cuomo endorsed congressional contenders Anna Throne Holst, a former Southampton Town supervisor running for the 1st Congressional District against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), and Suffolk Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory for the 2nd Congressional District against Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford). Cuomo also backed State Senate hopeful James Gaughran who is running against incumbent Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) for the 5th Senate District.
Earlier that day, Cuomo headlined a rally in Albertson for a pair of state Senate candidates — Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), who is running for a full term in the 9th Senate District against Republican attorney Chris McGrath, and businessman Adam Haber, running against Republican Elaine Phillips, mayor of the Village of Flower Hill, for the open 7th Senate District seat vacated by Martins.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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