A year from now will be the early voting period for the June 23, 2026 New York statewide primary (yes, we know that it is now amid the early voting for this year’s citywide primary). Should there be party primaries for governor, what Democrats and Republicans will see on their ballots for the first time will be joint slates for governor and lieutenant governor.
While better than having the LG contenders run in separate party primaries, as has been the case for decades and which we urged be changed (and our called was followed by Gov. Hochul and the Legislature), the new system created when the budget passed last month, 38 days late, is not best way to do it.
Of course, this being always-secretive Albany, when they fixed the law, it was done with no public debate and nothing in writing besides what we put in these columns. And they got it wrong.
The ideal method, as is used at the presidential level, which Hochul had publicly invoked, is that the nominee selects a running mate after securing the nomination. That’s how it’s done across the river in New Jersey, where Democratic primary victor Mikie Sherrill and Republican primary winner Jack Ciattarelli, who both prevailed in contested gubernatorial primaries last week, have until July 28 to choose running mates. That timing allows the nominees to pick anyone they want, including a defeated gubernatorial rival.
The way that New York did the LG will require each gubernatorial contender to decide on their running mates at the beginning, says the new statute: “A designation for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, shall be made jointly by a single majority vote of such committee,” which means at the statewide party convention or “a petition designating a candidate for the office of governor or lieutenant governor shall be valid only if such petition jointly designates candidates for both such offices on such petition,” for those who go the petition route.
That applies to Republicans Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik and Bruce Blakeman and anyone else running, at the GOP convention in February or when collecting petition signatures during March. The same for Hochul who will need a new LG (her third) since the incumbent, Antonio Delgado, is running himself against his boss (which is the very reason the law was changed). Another possibility is Ritchie Torres.
Each of the candidates will have to decide on a partner months in advance of the primary. Under this setup it’s hard to see a victorious primary winner choosing as LG a defeated rival. But this being New York election law, there is probably a way around it by having the initial LG pick drop out and be replaced with a substitute.
Hochul has had very bad luck picking lieutenant governors. Hochul’s first LG was Brian Benjamin, who lied to Hochul about being under investigation and then after he was indicted by the feds she went with Delgado, who has turned on his boss, promoting calls for him to resign, which he could do in the interest of good government.
Under the state Constitution, when Hochul leaves the state, as she did last week to testify at a congressional hearing, Delgado becomes acting governor, allowing him to sign and veto bills and issue executive clemencies, all bad outcomes.
