By: Daniella Doria
Prominent Republican leaders are asking Nick Langworthy, head of the New York State Republican Party to leave his position as he is running for congress. They worry that Langworthy’s time and attention will be divided during the race.
“There’s no race more important to the state than the race for governor. We want the state Republican Party chairman 100 percent focused on that,” Giuliani, the former two-term mayor and legal adviser to ex-President Donald Trump, told The New York Post.
Lee Zeldin is the Republican nominee for Governor of New York State. According to Wikipedia, Zeldin was born in East Meadow, New York, the son of Merrill Schwartz and David Zeldin. He was raised in Suffolk County, New York, and graduated from William Floyd High Schoolin Mastic Beach, New York, in 1998. He also attended Hebrew school.
Zeldin received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the SUNY University at Albany in 2001. He received a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School in May 2003. In 2004, he was admitted to the New York State Bar.
Rockland County GOP leader Lawrence Garvey, who backed Harry Wilson for governor in the primary but now says he fully behind Zeldin, called Langworthy’s refusal to step down “disgusting” and “unbelievable”, according to The New York Post. “The party chairman should be criss-crossing the state for Lee Zeldin. Instead, we have a chairman putting his own interests before our gubernatorial candidate”, he said.
Garvey also said the fact that Langworthy is “looking for a landing doesn’t show confidence in Zeldin” winning the governor’s race against incumbent Democrat Hochul.
State GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud, issued a statement on behalf of Langworthy, said, “The Chairman enjoys broad support from every corner of the state for leading our Party to the strongest position it’s been in in 20 years. We are focused and working tirelessly to fire Kathy Hochul and elect Lee Zeldin to bring the change New York needs.”
Other Republican leaders and friends of Zeldin have publicly voiced their support. “Nick is able to do both. There’s been no drop-off or attention from Nick on party matters whatsoever,” said Suffolk County GOP chairman Jessie Garcia, a confidante of Zeldin, the Long Island Congressman and party’s gubernatorial nominee.
Langworthy is “very capable” of “juggling” both tasks. running for Congress and running the state Republican party,” said Ontario County GOP leader Trisha Turner. Turner went on to say she’s “disappointed” that a small minority of county leaders didn’t keep their criticism “in-house” and instead are engaging in a “public food fight that’s not helpful to the party.”
