DeWitt politician seeks to become first person from Upstate New York elected governor in 98 years
By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
State Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-DeWitt) has formally announced his decision to run for New York governor on Tuesday. The senator will be the third Republican to seek nomination in the race.
“Everybody in politics knows that once in a blue moon we can bring about fundamental change,” said DeFrancisco, the senate deputy majority leader, in a reference to the Super Blue Blood Moon set to occur the morning after his announcement. “Well folks, tonight there is actually a blue moon.”
DeFrancisco will attempt to become the first person from Upstate New York to be elected governor in 98 years, and his decision to run will result in the opening of his senate district seat for only the second time in 52 years.
“After careful consideration, we determined that there’s just too much at stake to sit on the sidelines,” said DeFrancisco at his Jan. 30 campaign launch at the Holiday Inn on Electronics Parkway in Salina. “New Yorkers need a leader that they can trust, and one who will fight for what is right for them and their families.”
The Republican senator and “lifetime New Yorker,” who has served on the Syracuse School Board, Syracuse Common Council and, since 1992, the state senate, said his ongoing fight includes “reducing taxes, controlling state spending and increasing government transparency.”
“Our once proud state has become a laughing stock around the country with the highest taxes, the worst business climate, high energy costs, a failing transportation and infrastructure system, failing schools and raising unemployment in every region of the state except for New York City,” said DeFrancisco. “Over one million people have left the state since [Cuomo] became governor. We now have more people leaving New York than coming to New York.”
DeFrancisco, who has been called “an irascible straight-shooter” by the New York Times, is a notable opponent of the current governor’s economic policies. Among his most infamous criticisms of Cuomo concerns that of the $90 million dollar LED lightbulb manufacturing facility in Dewitt that remains empty, despite offering a promise of 800 new jobs. After the manufacturer, California company Soraa, backed out, a different company, NexGen Power Systems, has plans to use the 82,000-square-foot factory.
“Now [Cuomo] is seeking to bring another company in by investing another $15 billion dollars, with the promise of creating 200 new jobs,” said DeFrancisco. “What security are we going to get as taxpayers in case that company pulls the same thing as Soraa?”
Emphasizing a need for a “friendlier” business environment, the backbone of DeFrancisco’s campaign will focus on the state’s economy. “We want to make New York affordable again,” he said.
Two other Republican candidates have announced their bid for nomination, including Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, of Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes region, and Joel Giambra, the former Erie County executive.
Former State Sen. Terry Gipson, of the Hudson Valley, is the only Democrat so far to announce a bid to challenge Cuomo to his party’s nomination. Cuomo, a Democrat who has been in office since 2011, has plans to run again.
