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A prominent Long Island congressman left Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James off the invite to his re-election campaign kickoff, The Post has learned.
Rep. Tom Suozzi’s invitation to his Feb. 7 kickoff lists dozens of fellow elected Democrats or retired officials — but the omission of two of the most well-known party members in the Empire State had some insiders raising their eyebrows, especially since state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was featured prominently.
“It’s typical Tom. He would put Bruce Blakeman [Nassau County Executive and Hochul’s Republican rival in her re-election bid] on the list if he could get away with it,” quipped one political source.
Blakeman’s camp said the congressman likely knows Hochul is unpopular in Suozzi’s district — New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes portions of Nassau County and Queens.
“Tom Suozzi knows Kathy Hochul’s high-tax, criminal-first agenda is toxic—making New York unaffordable, unsafe, and driving jobs and families out of the state,” said Blakeman campaign spokesperson Madison Spanodemos.
Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo also claimed Suozzi doesn’t want Hochul in his district.
“Sadly, for the Democratic Party, Congressman Tom Suozzi has confirmed what the voters already knew. Governor Kathy Hochul is so extremely unpopular that even members of her own political party are running for the exits when she enters the room,” Cairo said.
“That is the only plausible explanation surrounding the fact that the congressman omitted the governor’s name from an invitation that featured other Democratic standard-bearers by name.”
Suozzi and state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, a close ally to both Hochul and Suozzi and who is also the Nassau County Democratic leader, said the omission of the two Democratic statewide officials was much ado about nothing.
The Suozzi campaign said only local elected officials with ties to the district were listed as supporters showing up at the campaign kickoff or pledging support.
Jacobs said Hochul’s omission was not a slight.
“This is a standard invitation. Those supporters listed are from Long Island. Tom DiNapoli was on the list because he’s from Nassau County,” Jacobs said.
He said Hochul, who heads the ticket for Democrats, can’t make it to every congressional campaign kickoff.
“The governor absolutely supports Tom. They are all supporting Tom and Tom is supporting them,” he said, also referring to James, who is also seeking re-election this fall.
Hochul defeated Suozzi during the 2022 Democratic primary for governor and the two are not close. But Jacobs said that’s water under the bridge.
“They have a good relationship now,” Jacobs said.
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