Former Syracuse Mayor Announces Independent Run For New York Governor

SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) - Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is joining the race for governor, according to an announcement reported this morning in the New York Times.

Miner served as mayor of Syracuse for eight years, leaving office at the end of 2017 due to term limits. She spent much of the last several months in New York City, teaching a class at New York University.

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Miner's announcement comes on the same day that the second of two corruption trials involving former associates of Gov. Andrew Cuomo begins. Former SUNY Polytechnic President Alain Kaloyeros and two developers for Syracuse-based COR Development face charges of bribery and bid rigging. Former Cuomo aid Joe Percoco was found guilty of bribery and conspiracy earlier this year.

Miner does not plan to run as a Democrat, but will create her own party, which is allowed under New York State election law.

"I am frustrated by both political parties, and I know I’m not the only one," Miner wrote on her campaign website. "I am fed up by a culture in Albany that has tolerated bad people, bad behavior, bad policy and bad politics. Currently our state government simply isn’t worthy of its citizens."

According to her website, the Serve America Movement, or SAM, is supporting her campaign.

"SAM’s aim is to provide another option to voters, besides the Democratic and Republican parties. We strongly believe that the people deserve a new voice in politics and for New Yorkers to lead the way in defining this political alternative."

Miner joins a crowded field of candidates. Republican Marc Molinaro and Green party candidate Howie Hawkins, also from Syracuse, have already joined the race. Cuomo is also facing a potential primary challenge from actor and activist Cynthia Nixon.

In a statement, Molinaro welcomed Miner to the race.
Mayor Stephanie Miner has been an outspoken critic of Andrew Cuomo’s reckless administration of this state, and I welcome her into the governor’s race. As yet another criminal corruption trial involving the Cuomo Administration kicks off in federal court today, it comes as little surprise that this is now a four-way contest. Governor Cuomo’s corrupt and disastrous pay-to-play policies have cost New York taxpayers billions of dollars they can’t afford, lining Mr. Cuomo’s campaign coffers with an obscene amount of money at everyone else’s expense. The Cuomo corruption holding New York back from reaching its true economic potential must end.