Gov. Kathy Hochul will not be asking indicted ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin to move out of state to get his name off the June primary, but she says she is still keeping her increasingly limited options open as the state Board of Elections gets ready to finalize the ballot by May 4.
Having Benjamin move out of state is one of just a handful of ways that state law would permit the governor to get a new potential running mate on the ballot.
“I will not be asking him to do that,” Hochul said after touting environmental initiatives at an event at the Empire State Building. “That is up for him and his attorneys to decide the best recourse for him.”
Benjamin, who has suspended his campaign for a full term in office, pleaded not guilty after his arrest last week to five federal felony counts related to a quid pro quo involving his 2019 campaign for New York City comptroller.
The disgraced Harlem Democrat was designated by the Democratic Party as its preferred nominee for lieutenant governor in February. He could only be removed from the ballot at this point if he moves out of state, runs for a different office or if the state Legislature passes a bill changing election rules.
State Senate Democrats are refusing to take up legislation that would help Democrats boot Benjamin off the ballot following his arrest last week for alleged involvement in a bribery conspiracy. Two bills — one sponsored by Assembly Member Amy Paulin and Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobs — have yet to get sponsors in the upper chamber.
Some Democratic senators fear blowback from voters this November if the Legislature were to change election law with weeks to go until the June primary.
“Why would we want to be in the same sentence as Brian Benjamin,” a Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told the Post Wednesday. “It might be beneficial to the governor, but is it beneficial to Democrats statewide?”
New York Republicans are bullish about their chances this November of winning their first statewide election in two decades as well as reducing Democratic dominance in the state Senate and Assembly.
The governor, however, said a legislative fix remains an option. Legislators are scheduled to return to Albany on April 25 for the first time since passing a state budget earlier this month.
“I’m not going to tell them what to do,” Hochul said. “But they certainly know their options.”