Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former aide in the Trump White House, is planning a run for governor of New York in 2022, he told The Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
“Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there's an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it's going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it's going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it's going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there's a very, very real chance to win,” he told the paper.
Andrew Giuliani, 35, has never held elected office. His father, Rudy Giuliani, found himself at the center of the post-November election controversy when he became the spokesman for then-President Donald Trump's efforts to reverse the results in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania.
If Andrew Giuliani runs and wins the Republican nomination, it could set up a clash between two longtime New York political families.
Cuomo is the son of the three-term New York Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo, and Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, served as New York City mayor from 1994 to 2001.
Cuomo, who is facing a political maelstrom regarding sexual harassment allegations from several women, has signaled he plans to stay in office and is expected to run for a fourth term. He has denied the allegations of misconduct and apologized for incidents where he said he did not know at the time that he was making women uncomfortable.
James, whose office is leading the investigation into Cuomo, has not signaled any plans to run for governor herself.
“I believe I can win the race,” Andrew Giuliani told the Examiner. “I think I'm the right candidate, and this is the right time to help change New York State, and we've got a playbook that works."
George Pataki, who served from 1995 to 2006, was the state's last Republican governor. In the 2018 election, Cuomo handily beat his GOP challenger, Marc Molinaro, 59.6 percent to 36.2.
