Molinaro To Announce Run For Governor

DUTCHESS COUNTY, NY — Despite saying earlier this year that he wasn’t considering running for governor, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, said he will launch his campaign to challenge Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo April 2. Molinaro, 42, said his reversal was based on the encouragement of supporters and changing conditions which made the run possible.

He told USA TODAY’s Albany Bureau there was a genuine outpouring from within his party and outside of his party, the Poughkeepsie Journal said.

Molinaro, who lives in Red Hook, recently received the endorsement of State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, syracuse.com said. Kolb, who dropped out of the race a month ago, said that Molinaro was everything that Albany was not.

On Wednesday, Molinaro received the endorsement of the Manhattan Republican Party, auburnpub.com reported, giving him a little more than 50 percent of support needed to win the nomination at the GOP convention.

Molinaro’s closest competitor is state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-DeWitt. He has about 18 percent of support for the nomination.

According to Molinaro’s biography on the Dutchess County government website, he was first elected to the Tivoli board of trustees at the age of 18 in 1994. The following year, he became the youngest mayor in the United States and was re-elected five times.

Molinaro served four terms in the Dutchess County Legislature. In 2006, he was elected to serve the 103rd District in the state Assembly.

In 2011, Molinaro was elected Dutchess county executive. At the age of 36, he was the youngest executive in county history.

Read Poughkeepsie Journal, Syracuse.com and auburnpub.com.

Photo caption: Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro. Photo credit: Dutchess County.