Democratic leader predicts Suozzi drops gubernatorial bid

Congressman Tom Suozzi’s campaign to be the Democratic nominee for governor won’t last another month, according to a prediction from New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs.

In a Capitol Pressroom segment making bold predictions for 2022, Jacobs revealed that he doesn’t expect his fellow Long Island Democrat to still be in pursuit of their party’s gubernatorial nomination when the state Democratic Party convention is expected to be held on Feb. 10 in New York City.

“I would be surprised if Tom Suozzi decided to continue his run for governor and go to the state convention, because I just don’t see, at this moment in time, the level of support that I would imagine he would have hoped to see, unless polling data comes out that surprises everybody in the near term,” Jacobs said.

He also anticipated that an upcoming campaign finance filing would reveal that Suozzi hadn’t raised much more than $2 million since entering the race, which will be a small fraction of what Gov. Kathy Hochul has raised for her pursuit of a full term in office. Jacobs also noted that Suozzi has “no union support,” no endorsements from “major community groups,”  and “won’t get one vote out of the state committee” members from his home county.

“I hope he’d go back to running for re-election as a member of Congress,” Jacobs added.

Suozzi campaign senior advisor Kim Devlin responded, “Voters could care less about mutual backscratching endorsements, but they do care about candidates who will take on crime, the Manhattan DA’s disastrous policy of not prosecuting serious crimes, too high property taxes and a better response to COVID. While Hochul is hiding behind the establishment, Tom Suozzi is the only candidate talking about the issues and offering solutions. His campaign is active and growing, and he has a clear path to win.”