What you should know
- New York Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin thanked Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for electing him when he was sworn in Thursday to join his two-week administration.
- Hochul, the former lieutenant governor of the state, took office as governor on August 24 following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo on allegations of sexual harassment that he has denied.
- Benjamin, the Harlem-born son of Caribbean immigrants, is the second African-American lieutenant governor of New York. David Paterson, also a former Harlem state senator, was elected lieutenant governor in 2006 and took office as governor in 2007 when Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal.
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NEW YORK – New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin thanked Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for electing him when he was sworn in Thursday to join his administration.
“If you ask me to join the administration, make it very clear that you want all ethnicities, all cultures to feel included in both the north and south of the state,” said Brian, a former state senator from Harlem, after lending sworn in at Hochul’s New York. City office.
Hochul, the former deputy governor of the state, took office as governor on Aug. 24 following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo on allegations of sexual harassment that he has denied.
Hochul is the first woman to serve as a Western New York State Governor and Democrat. He vowed to elect someone from New York City to be his lieutenant governor. He announced his election of Benjamin on August 26.
Benjamin, the Harlem-born son of Caribbean immigrants, is the second African-American lieutenant governor of New York. David Paterson, also a former Harlem state senator, was elected lieutenant governor in 2006 and took office as governor in 2007 when Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal.
Hochul praised Benjamin, 44, as an example of the American dream, saying that “he started small, he got to where he is today, but now he turns around and doesn’t think about himself, he thinks about how he can serve not only in your Senate district, but will now help me serve 20 million New Yorkers. “
Benjamin, a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School, unsuccessfully ran as New York City Comptroller this year. He has served as the Senior Assistant Majority Leader in the State Senate and chair of the agency’s budget and revenue committee.
A special election will be held to fill your Senate seat.
Benjamin said Hochul has asked him to focus on areas that include increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates and improving conditions in New York City’s public housing system.
Benjamin said that Hochul “wants to make sure he’s part of the team that goes around the state to make sure people know that the vaccine is the answer and that if we are going to overcome this COVID epidemic we are going to do it together and the vaccine is the answer. key”.
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