NY Gov. Hochul hits election hurdle in running mate’s arrest

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — One man’s scandal catapulted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul into office. Will alleged misconduct by another man hurt her chances of holding on to the job?

Hochul’s previously smooth path to a Democratic primary win hit a major bump this week when her lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned following his arrest in a federal corruption investigation.

One of Hochul’s first big decisions as governor was to appoint Benjamin, then a state senator, after she took over from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned last summer rather than face impeachment over sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied.

Her leading opponents in both the primary and general election pounced, saying Hochul’s pick of Benjamin at a time when he was already under scrutiny showed poor judgement.

“Either she’s consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction, and either way it’s clear that unless we elect leadership outside of the old ways of Albany, these patterns of scandal and corruption will keep repeating,” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is running against Hochul for the Democratic nomination.

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Long Island Democrat also trying to beat Hochul, piled on, saying her pick of Benjamin was part of a pattern of bad choices, which he said included cutting a deal that will give her hometown Buffalo Bills more than $1.1 billion to build and operate a new stadium.

“Hochul has fostered a culture of continued corruption with months of fundraising from pay to play insiders and people doing business with the state, and secretive budget deals that resulted in the billion dollar Bills stadium and little else,” Suozzi tweeted.

Hochul, though, hasn’t appeared to lose support from top allies.

News of...