WASHINGTON — Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, announced Tuesday that he’s officially running for governor of the state in 2022.
The 35-year-old, who has never served in elected office and has limited political experience, launched a campaign website Tuesday with little information other than his biography.
“For New Yorkers, Andrew helped to preserve thousands of MTA jobs by facilitating CARES Act funding,” Giuliani's website says, referring to his time working as an aide under former President Donald Trump. “He also worked with the Treasury Department and Health and Human Services to ensure that the $3.9 million that had been inadvertently taken out of the 9/11 First Responders Fund over thirteen years and three administrations was completely refunded.”
Giuliani had been hinting at a bid for weeks, telling The Washington Examiner last month that he thinks he has a chance of winning.
“Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there's an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it's going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it's going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it's going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there's a very, very real chance to win,” he said.
Cuomo has said he plans to run for re-election next year. But the New York governor could be vulnerable to a challenge after having been besieged by calls to resign in recent months after dual scandals rocked his administration. Those include a federal investigation into whether his administration intentionally undercounted Covid-19 nursing home deaths and allegations from several women that he sexually harassed them.
Cuomo has denied wrongdoing with the nursing home numbers, and he has denied having harassed women while apologizing for how his behavior might have made some of them feel.
Giuliani served in Trump’s White House as a special assistant to the president and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison. His father, the former New York mayor, has served as Trump's personal lawyer and himself has been under federal investigation for his dealings with Ukrainian officials.
The elder Giuliani, who has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime, was key figure in the events that led to Trump's first impeachment, relying on Ukrainian officials and members of their parliament to try to dig up dirt about Joe Biden as he ran for president.
Several other Republicans have declared their candidacies for New York governor, including former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. George Pataki was the state's last Republican governor, serving from 1995 to 2006.
