All in all, the team has little experience with the kind of high-stakes valuation she needs for the state’s No. 2 official, and little connection to people in New York City politics who have can help them sort through warning signs. Asking Cuomo’s seasoned senior aides for help is unfounded because Ms. Hochul’s team largely distrusts them.
Almost immediately, Hochul, a white moderate Democrat from Buffalo, indicated to advisers that she was looking for a running mate from New York City, ideally one from New York City. a younger Black or Latino Democrat who was able to raise her profile in communities that barely knew her.
Her team ended up seriously examining two candidates, both considered rising stars in the State Senate: Mr. Benjamin, a former businessman, and Jamaal Bailey, the committee leader. Bronx Democratic Party committee.
Mr. Benjamin stood up. An Ivy League graduate who has spent most of his career working in banking and affordable housing development, he has made rapid progress in Albany since the 2017 election. His warm relationship with Miss Hochul, who spent seven frosty years as Mr. Cuomo’s No 2, worked in his favor, she told associates. Several prominent New York City leaders – including Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City and Father Al Sharpton – have privately praised Mr. Benjamin with Ms. Hochul.
However, a number of political leaders, including Keith LT Wright, Chairman of the Democratic Party in Manhattan, have quietly raised concerns to Ms. Hochul about Mr. Benjamin’s political standing. He had finished fourth in his race for the computer, failed to even make its own State Senate district in Harlem. Others questioned the wisdom of choosing a mate on the run from Manhattan, given the shift of Black power toward Brooklyn and other boroughs.
Mr. Benjamin also has a famous baggage among New York City Democrats.
A property he owned in Providence, RI, was seized. Records show he didn’t pay taxes in New York and Rhode Island about a decade ago, resulting in tax arrears (since repaid). He appeared as a A special care of a main character on the Oprah Winfrey Network reality show “Love in the City”, but was accused of being a thief after the relationship ends.
And as early as the first months of 2021, reports were circulating about campaign financial irregularities related to Mr. Benjamin’s campaign and wedding celebrations.
