For Gov. Kathy Hochul, the message is competency, and steady leadership, as she releases her first major ad of the campaign, titled “Hard Work.”

What You Need To Know

  • Just weeks before the primary election, and her first since becoming governor, Hochul releases her first television ad

  • Hochul is facing challenges from Congressman Tom Suozzi and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams

  • Suozzi says Hochul is unqualified to appoint a new lieutenant governor after the person she selected, Brian Benjamin, resigned last week after a corruption scandal

“Since taking office she has passed over 400 new bills,” a narrator says. “She is cracking down on illegal guns, to make our neighborhoods safer. And investing in public schools to hire more teachers to get our kids back on track.”

Hochul’s very first ad was released last year, shortly after becoming governor, when her predecessor resigned in scandal. 

But since then, Hochul hasn’t run any, even though she faces election for the first time as governor in just over two months. 

Hochul also released two digital ads, both of which focus on tax cuts. 

“And I’m cutting taxes for middle class families facing rising costs,” Hochul says in the ad.

One of Hochul’s Democratic primary opponents, Tom Suozzi, has been running ads for several weeks.

Suozzi says Hochul is unqualified to pick a new lieutenant governor, after the person she selected for the job, Brian Benjamin, resigned last week in a corruption scandal. 

“She picked a lieutenant governor who she knew, and everybody knew, had ethical problems. And she continued to defend him until he was arrested right under her nose,” Suozzi says.

The third primary candidate in this race is Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. So far, he has raised enough money to support TV ads, although he has been visible with his public events.