Despite the fact that she has maintained an anti-gun message since she became governor in August, Kathy Hochul accepted money from the controversial National Rifle Association (NRA) when she was a congressman for New York at the National Capitol, recalled Tom Suozzi , his Democratic rival in the upcoming primaries.
Suozzi, the current NYC representative in Washington DC running for governor, released a campaign ad focusing on Hochul’s past stance on guns , as a result of the two horrible mass shootings in Buffalo (NY) and Uvalde (Texas), the homicide of a Hispanic man shot in the NYC Subway and the death of a girl by stray bullets on a street in the Bronx, all of this happened this month.
“Shootings in the subway, guns flooding our streets, loss of children, loss of parents and a governor who voted with the NRA in Congress and has done nothing against crime” says Suozzi angrily during the half-million-dollar ad spot for 30 seconds released this weekend that will be played throughout the state on open television and cable, detailed New York Post.
Suozzi then criticizes Hochul by quoting her own words, including her saying that she was “one of only two Democrats to be endorsed by the NRA” during her unsuccessful re-election bid for Congress in 2012.
Hochul was one of the two Democratic politicians backed that year by the controversial NRA, associated with Donald Trump and others conservative Republicans who oppose gun control. At that time, Hochul was seeking to be re-elected for the first time – she did not succeed – after winning a special election in 2011 in the district 27 of western New York, which is right-leaning.
“We need to stop the bleeding, now. I will fix bail reform so families feel safe here and lower taxes so families can live here. I have the record and the determination. This has to stop. When I am governor. I’ll stop it,” Suozzi proclaimed, ending the ad by walking down the stairs to the entrance of a NYC subway station.
Hochul had already rejected criticism of her support for the NRA, arguing that she should now be judged on how she acts as governor rather than her work in previous positions.
Since she took office as lieutenant governor following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo last August, Hochul has activated several executive orders and a legislative package aimed at strengthening New York’s anti-gun laws. In October she signed a law to crack down on “ghost guns” statewide.
The “ghost weapons” owe their name to the fact that they are difficult to trace as they lack a serial number, since they are assembled in a homemade way, built with parts that are sometimes bought on the internet.
“The horrible shooting of 19 children and two teachers in Texas, not even two weeks after the mass murder of ten New Yorkers in Buffalo, is yet another infuriating reminder of the plague of gun violence facing our nation,” said Hochul on 25 in May, according to a press release from his office.
A representative of the Hochul campaign seeking re-election did not respond to The Post‘s request for comment following Souzzi’s new announcement.
Another Democrat vying for the primary nomination for the governor on June 27 is Jumaane Williams, current Ombudsman (NYC). On the Republican side are Andrew Giuliani, Lee Zeldin, Rob Astorino and Harry Wilson. The final election will be on November 8.