White Plains — County Executive George Latimer, flanked by Westchester County Legislator Chairman Ben Boykin, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins and other elected officials, sang James’ praises – her investigations into former President Donald Trump, along with her record on gun control and fighting the opioid crisis as reasons for his endorsement outside the Richard Daronco Westchester County Courthouse located at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in White Plains, Thursday morning.
“She has stood up against powerful interests, and she’s been willing to risk in order to achieve for us,” Latimer shared Thursday morning.
With Westchester County’s Democratic dominance expected to play a major role in the upcoming New York State races, Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James picking up the importance endorsement from the prominent politician who runs the county and a dozen of current and former elected official in Westchester could be huge. Especially with three of Westchester’s big city Mayor’s, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, and five Assemblymembers, Amy Paulin, Nader Sayegh, Steve Otis, Chris Burdick and Sandy Galef endorsing current Gov. Kathy Hochul, in her first primary race for governor.
“The success in 2022 in the state of New York is going to require us to bridge the gaps of urban, suburban and rural, and have a message of change, a message of dynamism that can unite all of us first as Democrats through the primary and then to the general election,” Latimer continued.
James’s appearance as a surprise guest to Latimer’s campaign headquarters Election night in White Plains, started the speculation of a Tish James/George Latimer ticket. Many in Democratic circles has been talking about Latimer as a possible running mate ever since. While James hasn’t publicly ruled it out, she states she is currently vetting several candidates for Lt. Governor.
James will face Kathy Hochul (Incumbent), Nicolae Albert Bunea, Paul Nichols, Rep Tom Souzzi and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in the Democratic Primary. On the GOP side, former County Executive Rob Astorino, Derrick Gibson, Andrew Giuliani, Kris Lord and Lee Zeldin are also vying to be the 58th Governor of the great state of New York.
With Hochul popular in upstate NY, and James popular in New York City, some believe that Westchester County could play a major role in who wins the democratic primary for Governor in June 2022. James says it shows she can win the primary.
“Obviously, Westchester is absolutely key to the success and my path to victory, and I look forward to working with George Latimer and members of the (county) Legislature to win the office of governor of the state of New York,” she said.
