For the besieged Republican Party in New York, all signs point to the months leading up to 2022 as a special year.
As Democrats battle a traditional midterm slump, Republicans are blessed with unforeseen fortunes, including court victories that lead to new congressional line pitted veteran liberals against each other and put new housing areas into play. Add to the polls of Governor Kathy Hochul, and many New York conservatives have dreamed of a unified GOP winning the first statewide election since 2002.
Then Carl Paladino walked in.
Mr. Paladino, the former party’s dominant candidate, unexpectedly re-emerged this past week as a candidate in the newly drawn 23rd Congressional District in Western New York, a development that has prompted a close relationship between a number of Republicans, including those who feel Paladino’s history of racism and outrageous remarks disqualify him and may jeopardize other members of the public. Republicans up and down the ballot.
It is also fueling a potentially uncomfortable proxy war between two of the younger leaders of the Trump-aligned party vying for dominance: Representative Elise Stefanik, the strongly conservative party of North Country, who has backed Mr Paladino, and Nick Langworthy, the state’s party chairman who officially announced his candidacy for District 23 on Friday, made a curtsey that concealed ally bias. its a time for inciting statements.
“We don’t just need people who like to make noise,” said Mr. Langworthy. a campaign announcement video. “We need fighters who are proven and know how to win.”
Unfazed, Stefanik, a Republican in the 3rd House of Representatives, was standing next to Mr. Paladino, whom she approved of right after that The district’s incumbent congressman, Representative Chris Jacobs, announced last week that he will not seek re-election faced backlash for his adoption of gun control measures following mass shootings in Buffalo – near his county – and in Uvalde, Texas.
Ms. Stefanik’s team spent the week helping Mr. Paladino collect signatures to qualify for the ballot. And privately, she and her allies are stoking grievances against Mr Langworthy among center-party leaders and lawmakers, a growing number of whom believe his congressional run-off. could distract the party if he didn’t step down as chairman.
Needless to say, a tough and complicated first battle on the shores of Lake Erie isn’t what Republicans have in mind ahead of the key midterm elections that are arguably the most promising for the party in two years. decade.
After a failed attempt to redistribute power to the Democrats, party leaders planned serious competition in dozens of House districts across the state.
And in a race for governor likely against Ms. Hochul, a Democrat who has seen her job performance ratings plunge. in the face of concerns about crime and the economyRepublicans are hoping for a serious shot to break a long losing streak in a state where Democrats are more registered than Republicans more than two to one.
Four Republicans are facing off in the June 28 primary election for governor, with Representative Lee M. Zeldin of Long Island receiving the party’s blessing. Andrew Giuliani, son of the former mayor of New York City; Rob Astorino, former Westchester County executive; and Harry Wilson, a corporate voter expert, were also on the ballot and will meet for the first debate on Monday.
Thomas Doherty, a former top aide to Governor George Pataki, the last Republican elected statewide in New York, talks about Paladino and the debris that is turning his campaign around.
“You have the top Republican in the House supporting someone with a lot of baggage against the Republican chairman,” added Mr. Doherty. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Since Mr. Paladino entered the race last Friday, Media Matters, leftist watchdog groupunearthed a Facebook post amplifying conspiracy theories about mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas and a 2021 radio interview in which Mr. Paladino praised Adolf Hitler is “the kind of leader we need today.”
Mr. Paladino, 75 years old, who defeated in the governor’s race by Andrew M. Cuomo in 2010, has long been known for racist and homophobia comment. He partially apologized for Hitler’s remarks on Thursday, calling it a “serious mistake” that he said had been distorted by the news media.
On Friday, Mr Paladino’s campaign said it would not comment on Mr Langworthy’s candidacy, but it said he planned to submit more than 3,000 petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. more than his opponent.
“I am grateful for the support of thousands of Republicans across NY-23 in such a short amount of time,” Paladino said in a statement. “Going to victory!”
In her own statement, Stefanik said she is “focused on winning the majority this November,” while serving her constituents and the House Republican Convention she leads in Washington. .
But some Republican leaders were ambivalent about Mr. Paladino, including Keith H. Wofford, a Black corporate attorney who was the party’s 2018 nominee for attorney general. He issued a zero-tolerance statement on Friday saying his personal experience left no doubt about who Mr.
“There have been many times when people have called one Republican or another racist, and I have explained to those accusers why they are wrong,” Mr. Wofford said. “But Carl Paladino is a racist. Not ‘racially insensitive’; not ‘uncomplicated’; a straight, old-fashioned racist. “
He added: “If he wins the preliminary, I expect him to lose in November.”
Democrats chose Max Della Pia, an Air Force veteran and community activist, as their candidate for the region.
Mr Langworthy’s decision to run – after pushing Mr Jacobs aside – was not controversial. A series of county party leaders have criticized him for trying to run for Congress and lead the state party at the same time, raising concerns about conflicts of interest.
“All must be all hands on deck and our state chair cannot be lowered in the 23rd Precinct running the primaries,” said Lawrence A. Garvey, party president in Rockland County. while we are simultaneously trying to elect a governor,” said Lawrence A. Garvey, party chairman in Rockland County.
He called on Mr. Langworthy to resign.
“There is a lot of potential to squander the good choices we have this year,” added Mr Garvey, explaining that he was also not trying to push Mr Paladino: “Nobody has the right mindset. Their might protect some of his things. said. ”
That sentiment is echoed by Susan McNeil, the Republican chairwoman of Fulton County, northwest of Albany, and Mike Rendino, her counterpart in the Bronx.
Ms McNeil, who is close to Ms. Stefanik, said: “You cannot serve two employers. “I’m not arrogant enough to think I can do both.”
Mr Rendino said Mr Langworthy would make a good congressman, but said “we need a state president who is committed to increasing the amount needed for ballot security and party protection in the upcoming statewide election.” .”
In an interview, Mr. Langworthy, 41, argued he was promoting party interests by confronting Mr. Paladino and said he maintained the support of the “vast majority” of county GOP presidents in the state.
He also predicts he will have no trouble focusing on winning the Republican gubernatorial race in the general election after defeating Paladino in the primary.
“There are dissenters and self-interested people in any organization, and perhaps they are eyed by certain elected officials, but I will not accept it,” he said. “The most destructive thing that could happen to us is to have a leadership election.”
Mr. Langworthy’s candidacy for office follows a career in party activism, which includes stints in Pataki’s office and stints with two Republicans. In 2010, he became president of the Erie County GOP, a position he used to promote Mr. Paladino’s crude and breezy gubernatorial campaign.
Both he and Mr. Paladino urged Donald J. Trump to run for governor against Mr. Cuomo in 2013, ultimately failed to convince him. Both made it difficult for Mr. Trump in his 2016 presidential run.
In 2019, Mr. Langworthy helped topple the party’s longtime chairmanEdward F. Cox, with the support of the president at that time and took the job himself, promising a new face to the party.
District 23, redrawn by a court-appointed cartographer last month, should be Republican safe. It runs from the Buffalo suburbs to the Southern Tier, on the New York-Pennsylvania border, and includes some of the state’s most conservative counties.
However, after experiencing a brutal spring – with their carefully crafted redistricting plan thwarted by the courts and lieutenant governor indicted on bribery allegations – Democrats seemed delighted on Friday to sit back and let Republicans share the look of scrutiny.
“I wouldn’t call the last few months perfect for my team, and that worries me as a Democrat,” said Christine C. Quinn, a state party leader.
But she calls the ongoing GOP conflict a “shipwreck”.
“Republicans seem committed to making things worse,” she added.
