The presumptive Republican candidate for governor, Marcus Molinaro.
With just weeks to go until the Republican Convention, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro seems to have locked up the GOP nomination for governor.
Three more chairs endorsed Molinaro, bringing his weighted vote total to 82.34 percent.
The most recent three chairs to voice support allowed Molinaro’s campaign to collect 48 Republican chairs, giving him enough support to lead Molinaro to lock down the Republican vote to run for governor on the GOP ticket.
Doug Colety of Westchester County, Rich Andres of Niagara County and Christine Benedict of Albany County issued a statement endorsing Molinaro last week.
“It is time for us to move forward and for a new generation to lead us,” Benedict said. “We need a proactive individual to bring stability and a practical approach to governing. We need Marcus Molinaro who offers a positive change and a new vision to help our people and reform our government.”
Molinaro surged past Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, after several of his endorsements switched support. DeFrancisco said he would no longer actively seek the Republican endorsement, leaving Molinaro as the party’s presumptive candidate for governor this fall.
As of now, the race seems to be between Molinaro on the Republican side against either Cynthia Nixon or Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Democratic ticket.
The Republican Convention will be on May 23 and 24 in Manhattan while the Democratic Convention will be on the same days on Long Island. The primary election is Sept. 13 and the General Election is November 6.
