Zeldin selects NYPD officer as lieutenant governor running mate

Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said Wednesday he’s selected Alison Esposito, a New York police officer who has never held elected office, to be his lieutenant governor running mate.

Zeldin, who faces a potential primary for the Republican nomination, leaned into his law-and-order campaign message in touting Esposito, a deputy inspector and commanding officer of NYPD’s 70th precinct.

"Our next lieutenant governor is somebody with so much experience fighting to protect our communities," said Rep. Zeldin (R-Shirley), who is giving up his seat in Congress to run for governor.

"Time and again we've heard politicians talk about what they're going to do to fight crime — I've actually done it," said Esposito, 46.

Esposito will take leave from NYPD to run for the office, a Zeldin spokeswoman said, although she wouldn’t say if that would take effect immediately.

Zeldin made the announcement ahead of Monday’s start of the Republican state convention in Garden City. He’s expected to easily win the vote of convention delegates to become the party’s designated candidate, but he still faces a likely primary in June.

Harry Wilson, a business chief executive from Westchester County, announced his candidacy Tuesday and said he’s spending $12 million of his own money on the campaign. In a radio interview, Wilson said Zeldin, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, could not win a statewide race in such a blue state — a view shared by some Republicans but not party leaders. Wilson campaigned in Utica, Syracuse and Rochester on Wednesday.

Similarly, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has said he’d make the best Republican candidate in a statewide election. He is seeking the nomination, as well as Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Kathy Hochul won the party convention vote but might face a primary challenge by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Zeldin held a news conference at Police Plaza in Manhattan, where he was joined by supporters and some critics who shouted questions about the Republican’s vote on Jan. 6, 2021, to refuse to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the presidential election.

Zeldin, asked by a reporter about New Yorkers who might be troubled by his vote, said he was "focused on the issues that matter most to New Yorkers," such as crime and taxes.

He touted Esposito as potentially the "first woman to rise from law enforcement" to lieutenant governor. No other Republican has announced a run for the No. 2 job in state government. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run in separate primaries and occasionally in state history, gubernatorial candidates have wound up running in the fall with a running mate not of their choosing.

Esposito unsuccessfully sought the Conservative Party nomination in last year’s mayoral race in New York City. Zeldin’s campaign said she joined NYPD in 1997 and has served on plainclothes, anti-gang and emergency-services units before going to the 70th precinct in Brooklyn. She grew up in suburban Orange County.

"The city that I love has been in a spiraling decline," Esposito said, blaming "fatally flawed liberal policies" on bail and other criminal justice issues. She also called for an end to all pandemic mandates.