Winner Considers AG Run
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- May
- 27
State Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, said Wednesday he will explore a run for state attorney general next year.
“I just think that my candidacy would have something to offer, particularly giving upstate a voice in statewide offices here, and also I have a broad range of experience in state government,” Winner said.
Winner, 59, who has served in the state Legislature since 1978 and the Senate since 2004, is one of several Republicans eyeing a run for attorney general next year when all statewide offices will be on the ballot.
He said some Republican leaders have reached out to him about considering a run, but he said it’s too early to determine if he will officially vie for the seat, currently held by Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
“I’ll move around a little bit and see whether or not some of the political leaders will be receptive,” he said.
Winner gained statewide attention in recent years when he served as chairman of the Senate Investigations Committee and held hearings into potential misconduct by the Spitzer administration.
Winner’s name surfaced amid speculation that Cuomo may not seek re-election next year and instead run for governor because Gov. David Paterson’s approval ratings are the lowest in modern times.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Winner is among potential Republicans candidates, including Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan.
On the Democratic side, Assemblymen Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County, and Denise O’Donnell, Paterson’s deputy secretary for public safety, are possible candidates. Both ran briefly for the position in 2006.
Brodsky said Wednesday it’s too early to discuss his intentions, saying there is no vacancy yet.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
