MANHATTAN - Marc Molinaro on Wednesday accepted the Republican Party's designation for governor, pledging to cut property taxes and income tax rates if he's elected.
Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, headlined the first session of the state Republican convention at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, which kicked off Wednesday morning.
His speech took aim at Cuomo, a Democrat, and his policies, faulting him for building a $30 million campaign war chest while doling out billions of dollars in corporate grants and tax breaks.
"I stand before you today grateful, humbled for the leap of faith you are taking in me," Molinaro told Republican delegates, who voted unanimously for him. "And with that humility, I accept your nomination for governor of the state of New York."
Molinaro was introduced on stage by another Hudson Valley politician with small-town roots: Former Gov. George Pataki, the last Republican to hold statewide office.
For Republicans, Pataki's presence was symbolic.
A former mayor of the Westchester County city of Peekskill, Pataki defeated then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1994 and went on to serve three terms in the governor's office.
Twenty-four years later, the GOP is hoping for a similar fate: Molinaro, former mayor of the small Dutchess County village of Tivoli, is hoping to topple Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mario's son.
Molinaro has been Dutchess County executive since 2012 after serving as a state assemblyman from 2007 through 2011.
Like Pataki did in 1994, Molinaro will face an uphill climb.
Public-opinion polls show Molinaro trailing Cuomo by 26 percentage points in a state that has more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans. Cuomo, meanwhile, is facing a Democratic primary challenge from Cynthia Nixon.
"To our friends in the media who have written the story of 'Molinaro's a great guy but he can't win,' you wrote the same stories about me in 1994," Pataki said. "And just like in 1994, in November of 2018 you're going to say 'How did this happen?'"
Molinaro's newly selected running mate, former Rye deputy mayor Julie Killian, will receive the lieutenant governor nomination Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday, GOP leaders will vote on candidates for comptroller and attorney general, with four Republicans angling to replace former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned earlier this month after he was accused of physically abusing multiple women.
Manhattan attorney Manny Alicandro, former Pataki administration official Joe Holland, Rockland County Attorney Thomas Humbach and Manhattan attorney Keith Wofford are all hoping to find their way on the Republican primary ballot for attorney general.
Holland officially entered the race this week, boasting support from 16 county Republican leaders.
Candidates need to get support from 25 percent of the weighted vote of delegates to get on the primary ballot. Otherwise, they would have to petition their way on.
"I have been active in the Republican Party for many years," said Holland, who Pataki's housing commissioner and co-chair of his 1994 campaign.
"I have the kind of track record that will bring the new leadership and vision we need to the attorney general's office."