It’s not about ideology anymore.”
That was Diana Reyna’s pitch at a Wednesday’s announcement that she would be running for lieutenant governor in partnership with Tom Suozzi. Unlike 26 other states, the lieutenant governor position has its own primary independent of the gubernatorial primary and is not a joint ticket.
Suozzi is a Long Island and Queens congressman who styles himself as a centrist candidate for the governorship. He has made combatting crime, lowering property taxes and opposing Governor Kathy Hochul’s accessory dwelling units proposal part of his platform.
“New York doesn’t need to move to the left and doesn’t need to move to the right,” Reyna said at the press conference in Rodney Park. “New York needs to move forward, it’s all about getting things done.”
Suozzi highlighted Reyna’s experience in local government as a benefit to the campaign, including her history with issues regarding land use policy, expanding childcare and education reform.
Reyna emphasized Suozzi’s focus on taxes, crime, and supporting police officers like her husband as some of reasons why she is allying with him. She called for changes to the bail reform law after telling an anecdote of her niece’s friend getting her hair pulled by a stranger and let go shortly after.
“That man has no business walking the streets attacking young ladies at the tender age of 18,” said Reyna. “My niece doesn’t feel safe going to school, that is unacceptable.”
Reyna represented parts of Williamsburg and Bushwick in the 34th City Council District for 12 years before serving as a deputy borough president for Brooklyn under now-mayor Eric Adams. If elected, Reyna would be the first Latina to be elected to state office.
Hochul is so far leading the race with a large advantage. The most recent poll, published in mid-January, showed Hochul with a whopping 46 percent of the vote compared to just 6 percent of voters polled who said they would vote for Suozzi.
As of January 28, Hochul had $21 million cash on hand, while Suozzi told the Post that as of January 17, he had over $5 million in his campaign coffers. Hochul has endorsements from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, labor unions such as the Hotel Trades Council, the Brooklyn Democratic Party, and is expected to be the state Democratic Party’s choice this week for their ballot line.
Reyna noted the location of Rodney Park to announce a campaign pledge to revive the to BQGreen proposal to create a 3.5-acre decked park that would integrate both Marcy Green and Rodney Park.
“We stand here in the shadow of the congested, polluted BQE that decades ago pierced an arrow through the heart of our neighborhood,” she said. “Fifteen years ago I had an idea, a dream that one day we would build a beautiful green flower tree filled park right over that trench and reconnect our community once and for all.
“When Tom Suozzi and I are in office, I promise you that we will build that park,” she added.
