Hochul, in announcing Benjamin as lieutenant governor pick, says he’ll be her partner in leading New York

(The Center Square) – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul went to Harlem on Thursday afternoon to introduce state Sen. Brian Benjamin as her pick for lieutenant governor. In the process, she told the crowd gathering to celebrate the pick that he would also be a “partner” in her administration.

Benjamin, 44, had widely been considered a leading pick for the post. As reports rolled out Wednesday, Hochul’s office eventually posted she would hold a “special announcement” with the Harlem Democrat.

The official swearing in ceremony will take place after Labor Day, Hochul said, adding the special election to fill his senate seat will coincide with the November general election.

Benjamin has represented the Senate’s 30th district – the same office former Gov. David Paterson once held – since June 2017 after winning a special election to fill the seat vacated by Bill Perkins, who was elected to the New York City Council.

Since 2019, Benjamin has served as the chairman of the Budget and Revenue Committee.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who introduced Hochul Thursday, called Benjamin a “son of Harlem.”

The son of a Caribbean mother, he was born at Harlem Hospital. He was raised in a middle-class union household by his mother and stepfather. However, Benjamin said Thursday he considered him his father.

“They taught me to show up every day, work hard,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what title you have. Titles are nothing when it comes down to it, at the end of the day. What matters is, what’s in your heart. What do you stand for? What do you believe? What are you willing to fight for?”

He graduated from Brown University with a degree in public policy and received his M.B.A. from Harvard. After working as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley out of college, he then became a partner in a minority business enterprise developing affordable housing in Harlem.

Benjamin ran for New York City Comptroller earlier this year, but he finished fourth in the Democratic primary.

The pick of a downstate second-in-command gives the administration – and the possible 2022 Democratic ticket – balance. But on Thursday, Hochul said her administration would have a “real focus on New York City,” and Benjamin will play a key role championing the administration’s agenda.

“New York City needs our help. … (Benjamin) has been a champion of criminal justice reform, affordable housing and tenant protection, three huge priorities of mine as well,” she said.

Republicans, though, targeted Benjamin’s progressive policies, including calls to defund the police.

In a statement he made on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as he was running for city comptroller, he said he would audit the New York City Police Department’s $5.4 billion budget and provide recommendations on how much could be saved and where those funds could be spent.

“Our goal must be to use the power of the powers of the (NYC comptroller’s) office to prioritize more public safety measures, not more law enforcement,” he said.

In a tweet early Wednesday afternoon, New York Republican Committee Chairman Nick Langworthy didn’t name Benjamin in his statement. However, he said Hochul made a “reckless pick” for her lieutenant governor.

“New Yorkers are being shot, stabbed, raped, robbed and attacked in huge crime surges across our state and Kathy Hochul doubled down on Democrats’ dangerous agenda by appointing a ‘Defund the Police’ radical leftist to serve as her second in command,” Langworthy said.

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