Wu Likes Liu, Not Hochul



Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Tim Wu today condemned rival candidate Kathy Hochul’s record on immigration issues, while sua sponte endorsing John Liu in his state senate primary.

Liu Endorsement:

Former City Council member John Liu, who faces State Senator Tony Avella in a Democratic primary, did not ask Wu for his endorsement and press reports quote Liu as emphatically rejecting it.  Here’s video of Wu’s endorsement, beginning with his statement and his response when I asked whether he’s spoken with Liu and Liu’s reaction.  We’ve also included a clip from a second segment of the press conference in which Capital New York’s Conor Skelding asked Wu about Liu’s recent appearance with Kathy Hochul.

Acknowledging that Liu had not shown any interest in receiving his endorsement, Wu spoke of a “Cuomo fear factor” and what he sees as Liu’s “active fear of reprisal”.  He offered that “I imagine he’s been nervous to communicate with our campaign because of Cuomo.”

Lieutenant Governor Role Model:

I asked Wu whether he views any prior New York governor or lieutenant governor as a role model: