Caribbean Roots Lawmaker Loses Bid For Top NYS Post

By NAN Contributor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 14, 2018: Caribbean-American City Councilmember, Jumaane Williams, last night lost his bid to become the next lieutenant governor of the State of New York.

At 11 p.m. last night, New York 1 called the race for the incumbent, Kathy Hochul who secured 623,544 votes or almost 53 percent ahead of Williams’ 570,752 or 47.2 percent.

The Grenadian-roots, Brooklyn, NY candidate had staged a hard-fought battle as a progressive on the far left, aiming to out-seat an incumbent who is largely invisible to New York City voters.

He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and ran on the Cynthia Nixon ticket which also Zephyr Teachout for attorney general. Both candidates also lost. Nixon lost to incumbent New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo by almost 395,000 votes while Teachout lost to Leticia James by almost 113,000 votes.

Williams had promoted himself as “an independent voice for New Yorkers, an activist for progressive causes (and) an advocate for underserved communities,” breaking with establishment Democrats.

He has drummed up a lot of support, including endorsements from the New York Times and Caribbean-roots rapper, Cardi B, but last night, the Democratic machine candidate seemed to overwhelm the grassroots campaigner, and like Cuomo, Hochul scored a win for establishment politics.