New York Legislature could take up ballot measure today

(The Center Square) – New York lawmakers in both chambers filed legislation late Friday at Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s request that would allow former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin to be removed from the Democratic primary ballot, and reports indicate the Legislature could take up the bills as soon as today.

Benjamin resigned last month as Hochul’s next-in-line after federal authorities indicted and arrested him on bribery charges tied to previous political campaigns. However, that occurred after the Democratic Party placed him on the June 28 primary ballot and passage of the deadline for him to decline.

Currently, a candidate can only be removed from the ballot if they die, get nominated for another position, or move to another state.

The bills sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, and Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, would amend New York’s election law to allow candidates to remove themselves if they were arrested, charged or convicted on misdemeanors or felonies in either state or federal court.

After a candidate steps down, state law would allow for a substitute to be named within four days.

However, last week, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, expressed serious concerns about making such changes in the middle of an election.

The New York Post reported Saturday that Stewart-Cousins asked Krueger, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, not to introduce the bill.

In her filing memo, Krueger said that state law should not force voters to pick someone who would not be able or willing to serve.

Hochul assumed the governor’s office last summer after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned. She picked Benjamin, then a state senator serving Harlem, to take over her old role. Benjamin’s departure marks the third time since 2008 New York’s lieutenant governor has either succeeded the governor or left office.

Under New York’s system, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in party primaries and then as a ticket in the general election. That process can produce incompatible pairings. Three of Hochul’s challengers in the Democratic gubernatorial primary have announced their intended ticket mates who are on the ballot for lieutenant governor.

That includes Diana Reyna, a former New York City councilwoman running with gubernatorial candidate and Long Island U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, and Ana Maria Archila, a progressive organizer running with gubernatorial candidate and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Both have been critical of Hochul’s attempt to get Benjamin replaced on the ballot.

Archila slammed Hochul for a “self-serving move” in a Monday morning Twitter thread and urged lawmakers to vote against the bill.

“And in case you think this vote is about the merits of election law, consider this: If any other candidate for Governor or Lt. Governor were facing a scandal, the Governor would not be using all her power to change the law – and the legislature would not be taking it up today,” Archila wrote.

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