BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — New York gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino visited Binghamton on Wednesday to discuss voting reforms.
The former Westchester County Executive has the second-most donations of any Republican candidate behind Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-1).
Zeldin has raised more than $4 million since he declared his candidacy in April and has backing from GOP leaders across the state, as well as in Binghamton and Broome County. Astorino, who officially announced his run for governor in May, has garnered just under $2.6 million since last September, according to filings with the New York State Board of Elections.
However, Astorino said it is still early in the campaign.
“I think we need to put this in perspective. The primary alone is just about 11 months away, and that’s a long time,” Astorino said. “So we’re all just starting.”
Among the candidates behind Astorino in campaign contributions are Andrew Guiliani and Mike Carpinelli.
After announcing his decision to run for New York State Senate, Binghamton Mayor Rich David told WSKG he believed Zeldin has enough Republican support to be the next candidate.
Broome Republican Party Chair Bijoy Datta endorsed Zeldin in April.
Astorino said he will stay in the race until the end. He ran and lost to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014.
The former county executive railed against the package of voting reforms Cuomo signed into law over the weekend. Astorino said qualifications to receive an absentee ballot in New York should be more stringent.
The new law requires voters to request an absentee ballot 15 or more days before election, instead of the prior rule of seven days.