Harry Wilson, Republican outsider, wants to restructure Albany from the inside
This is the third in a four-part series examining the major candidates running in New York’s Republican primary for governor. Primary Day is June 28.
ALBANY — Harry Wilson is seeing red.
The former hedge fund manager believes New York is ready to elect a Republican governor for the first time in two decades — as long as it’s his name on the ballot in November.
Wilson has made a career out of restructuring failing businesses, nearly won a tight 2010 comptroller’s race, and is now one of four candidates competing in the GOP gubernatorial primary on June 28.
Businessman Harry Wilson speaks to reporters at the 2022 NYGOP Convention in Garden City, New York on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (John Minchillo/)
The 50-year-old is funding much of his campaign from his own pocket and believes New Yorkers are ready to elect someone with his business background to lead the state.
”I’ve been blessed with the American dream in this state and I think all New Yorkers deserve that same right and I will not sit idly by as career politicians on both sides of the aisle destroy that opportunity through bad policy coming out of Albany,” he told the Daily News recently.
The upstate native, now living in Westchester, paints himself as the ultimate outsider capable of winning over voters of all persuasions at a time when political divisions run deep.
Businessman Harry Wilson (left) responds to Suffolk County Congressman Lee Zeldin (right) during New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of CBS2 TV in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/)
He’s been slammed by his fellow Republican candidates for not supporting former president Donald Trump and traded blows with frontrunner Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) during a heated debate earlier this week.
“You’re on the wrong debate stage, man,” Zeldin said after dismissing Wilson as a “Never-Trumper” and a Republican-in-name-only.
The bad blood between the pair is also playing out in snarky digital ads as well as the courts since Wilson recently sued Zeldin over alleged campaign finance violations, arguing that the congressman is dipping into funds reserved for post-primary.
Suffolk County Congressman Lee Zeldin listens as he prepares to participate in New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of CBS2 TV in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/)
But Wilson, also facing former Trump aide Andrew Giuliani and former Westchester County executive Rob Astorino in the primary, has taken the bitter back-and-forth in stride and said he is focusing on convincing New Yorkers that he’s best suited to win in November.
“Republicans are desperate for an outsider who can really make improvements to the system, not a career politician who’s repeatedly failed us,” he said.
The one-time adviser to the federal Treasury Department under former president Barack Obama says his “turnaround plan” will cut crime, taxes and cost of living and it begins with the state budget.
Businessman Harry Wilson listens as he prepares to participate in New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of CBS2 TV in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/)
Wilson wants to take an ax to the state’s spending plan, slashing it by as much as $25 billion, to seed tax cuts and spark business by rolling back regulations he says are stymying mom and pop operations in the Empire State.
“We have no checks or balances,” he said. “We have a system that effectively rigged to benefit insiders where they hand out our tax dollars to favored interests in exchange for campaign contributions.”
Wilson entered the Republican field late in the game, saying he turned down GOP pleas to run against former governor Andrew Cuomo in 2018 and didn’t initially expect to run this year.
That changed after discussions with his family and seeing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin defeating an incumbent Democrat in Virginia last year.
But with Zeldin shoring up early support from the state party, Wilson has a steep hill to climb as New Yorkers head to the polls in the coming days. Still, he sees a path to victory and hopes Republican voters do too.
“I think people will gravitate to the person they think is going to be in the best position to prosecute the case for what we can and should be able to do as a state,” he said. “People are realizing how different what we’re offering is and how much better it is for them and their lives and their families than any other alternative.”
