Jumaane Williams announces run for New York governor, joining a crowded primary in the fallout from Cuomo's resignation

New York City Public Advocate Candidate Jumaane Williams speaks with a beige turtleneck under a blue blazer. — New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams announced his plans to run for governor of New York on Tuesday.
Williams, 45, is the third candidate in the race along with Gov. Kathy Hochul and AG Tish James.
On most policy positions, he has staked positions to the left of both of the major candidates.

Jumaane Williams, a rising star in the New York Democratic Party who was elected as New York City Public Advocate in 2019, officially declared his run for governor on Tuesday morning.

Although Williams had already filed paperwork in October for Albany's corner office, according to Bloomberg News, he entered the primary campaign with a video he tweeted out mid-morning.

—Jumaane Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) November 16, 2021

Centered around his activism and living with Tourette Syndrome, Williams has described his political ethos as moving forward on progressive issues.

Williams was first elected to the New York City Council in 2009, where he was a staunch advocate for police reform and won passage of his Community Safety Act, which created an Inspector General to oversee the New York Police Department. He was reelected in 2013 and 2017.

While serving on the council, Williams in 2018 launched a candidacy for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor against Kathy Hochul, who at the time was already serving in the role on a ticket with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Williams, running as an unabashed progressive on an anti-corruption platform, performed strongly in the race but came up short against Hochul, securing 47% of the statewide vote, compared to her 53%.

In 2019, Williams won a multicandidate special election to become the New York City Public Advocate after its previous occupant, Tish James, was elected as state Attorney General.

Later that year, Williams was elected to serve out the remainder of James's term, which expired in 2021 — last month, he was elected to a full term as public advocate.

He now joins a contested gubernatorial primary against Hochul, who in August became the state's governor after the resignation of Cuomo over his sexual harrassmnt scandal, and James.

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island could also potentially enter the race in the coming weeks.

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