ALBANY – Comparing himself to Mayor Bloomberg, upstate billionaire businessman Thomas Golisano yesterday announced he’ll run for governor in a campaign expected to cost $20 million.
Golisano said he was launching his third bid for governor “because after 20 years of Mario Cuomo and George Pataki, our schools are still failing in their mission to prepare our young people, and our economy has suffered for too long.”
Golisano said he, like Bloomberg, would finance his own campaign, freeing himself from the influence of “special interest” money.
“I am not going to be put in that position of having to deal with special interests,” said Golisano, who has told friends he expects to spend about $20 million on the race.
Golisano, who founded the Independence Party in 1994, said he would again seek that party’s nomination, despite Pataki’s strong backing from its current leadership.
If Golisano, 60, manages to win at least 25 percent of the vote at the Independence Party’s convention later this month, he would likely face Pataki in the September primary.