CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. – Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday night that she and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are focused on getting New York State through its budget deficit, not on politics or the 2018 election.
But when asked if she’s considering running against Republican Congressman Chris Collins, Hochul didn’t say yes or no.
Speculation had been going on for a few days after some news sources, including our partners at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, reported that Gov. Cuomo was scouting Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren as a potential running mate.
Hochul said, yes, colleagues have encouraged her to run against Collins, and no, Albany is not scouting Warren.
"The potential scouting of Lovely Warren seems to be correlated to if you were to run against Congressman Chris Collins, where do you stand on that?” reporter Erica Brecher asked.
“Well first of all, Lovely Warren would tell you there's no scouting of Lovely Warren. I think if you check the media sources where they came from, I think there's people that like to spin a little palace intrigue. It's not unusual in our business for people to say things, the media to get all excited about it and report on it, but there's no truth to it,” Hochul said.
Hochul was less clear on if she’d challenge Collins, who will have held the 27th Congressional district for three terms at the end of 2018.
“Individuals floating my name, talk about, it's just part of what we do, it's not unusual,” she said. “That election occurs almost a year from now, so we're focused on doing the good work for the people of the state, and we're not going to be forced into a political announcement any earlier than we choose to.”