If he becomes lieutenant governor, Jumaane Williams would be a heartbeat away from running the state and its $168 billion budget.
But he and gubernatorial running mate Cynthia Nixon are demanding that Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul remove an “offensive” ad that spotlights Williams’ financial failures — a $625,000 debt on a foreclosed home in Canarsie and a shuttered restaurant in Park Slope that still owes more than $10,000 in unpaid taxes and fees, according to the state Tax Department.
The Post reported on Williams’ financial woes last week.
“Our NY State budget is $168.3 billion per year. If he can’t manage his own finances, do you really want him managing yours?” the Hochul campaign said in the digital ad.
Nixon and Williams, who have cross-endorsed each other as they take on incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Hochul in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary, cried foul in a joint statement released Monday.
“Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul should be ashamed of this ad and should take it down immediately,” the insurgents said.
“It’s incredibly offensive to say that someone is unqualified for public office because their small business shuttered, or because they are going through a foreclosure. We expect this sort of dog-whistling and poor-shaming from Republicans — not Democrats.”
They blasted Cuomo and Hochul as “corporate Democrats” and “out of touch.”
Williams acknowledged he’s in settlement talks about his foreclosed home but claimed that to the “best of my knowledge” he did not owe taxes on his failed vegetarian restaurant.
Hochul defended the ad as putting a spotlight on her rival’s ability to manage money.
“If anyone should feel `ashamed’, it’s Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams,” the Hochul campaign said in a statement.
“Ms. Nixon is viewing this race through a TV camera lens and should try looking in a mirror and see reality. . . . New Yorkers have a right to know how they handle their finances and whether they have any conflicts of interest,” the statement said, calling on both to release five years of tax returns.
Nixon has released her 2017 tax return. Williams has yet to release his.