Politics

House hopeful Nick Langworthy faces calls to quit as NY GOP chair from Giuliani, other activists

Prominent GOP activists, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, are calling on state Republican Party chairman Nick Langworthy to step down while he runs for Congress.

Langworthy’s refusal to resign as party leader amid his congressional campaign is jeopardizing the GOP’s chances of winning the governorship, critics warned. They said the chairman’s sole focus in the coming weeks should be electing Republican nominee Lee Zeldin as governor.

“There’s no race more important to the state than the race for governor. We want the state Republican Party chairman 100 percent focused on that,” Giuliani, the former two-term mayor and legal adviser to ex-President Donald Trump, told The Post.

“We’re down 2-1 in enrollment to the Democrats. We can’t be divided,” added Giuliani, whose son, Andrew Giuliani, lost to Zeldin in the GOP primary last month.

“This is a conflict of interest in terms of common sense,” he said. “If we lose the governor’s race to Kathy Hochul, we might as well give the state away.”

Some New York Republicans said it was selfish of Langworthy to allow himself to be sidetracked by his bid in the competitive upstate District 23 GOP primary against conservative firebrand Carl Paladino, the party’s nominee for governor in 2010.

Giuliani said that the GOP chairman should be completely focused on the upcoming race for governor. AP

Rockland County GOP leader Lawrence Garvey, who backed Harry Wilson for governor in the primary but now says he fully behind Zeldin, called Langworthy’s refusal to step down  “disgusting” and “unbelievable.”

“The party chairman should be criss-crossing the state for Lee Zeldin. Instead, we have a chairman putting his own interests before our gubernatorial candidate.”

Garvey also said the fact that Langworthy is “looking for a landing doesn’t show confidence in Zeldin” winning the governor’s race against incumbent Democrat Hochul, the former lieutenant governor who took over as the state’s chief executive last August after Andrew Cuomo resigned under the threat of impeachment amid a sexual harassment and misconduct scandal.

Fulton County GOP leader Sue McNeil said, “This is the type of thing you don’t do as party leader. Nick has every right to run for Congress but he has to lose the chairmanship.”

Langworthy has refused to step down as calls for his resignation mount. Matthew McDermott

“You’re arrogant to think you can do both. It’s disrespectful,” added McNeill who has expressed interest in becoming the state GOP chairperson. 

But other Republican county leaders defended Langworthy — and dismissed the calls for him to step down as coming from a few malcontents.

“Nick is able to do both. There’s been no drop-off or attention from Nick on party matters whatsoever,” said Suffolk County GOP chairman Jessie Garcia, a confidante of Zeldin, the Long Island Congressman and party’s gubernatorial nominee.

Langworthy is “very capable” of “juggling” both tasks — running for Congress and running the state Republican party — said Ontario County GOP leader Trisha Turner.

Langworthy’s opponent in his primary, Carl Paladino, called on him to make a choice between GOP leadership and the congressional race. KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

“We all know Nick and his work ethic. Nick is fully engaged with what’s going on,” she said.

Turner said she’s “disappointed” that a small minority of county leaders didn’t keep their criticism “in-house” and instead are engaging in a “public food fight that’s not helpful to the party.”

The Republican Party pays Langworthy a salary of between $3,562 to $4,148 bi-weekly, according to campaign finance reports.

State GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud, responding on behalf of Langworthy, said, “The Chairman enjoys broad support from every corner of the state for leading our Party to the strongest position it’s been in in 20 years. We are focused and working tirelessly to fire Kathy Hochul and elect Lee Zeldin to bring the change New York needs. “

Langworthy threw his hat in the ring for Congress after Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs announced he would not seek re-election. Jacobs faced fierce blowback from gun rights conservatives after he expressed his support for firearms restrictions following the racially motivated Buffalo supermarket shooting massacre in May.

Langworthy’s opponent, Paladino, also called on him to choose either staying on as party chairman, or continuing with their primary race.

“He either needs to resign as state party chair or back out of the race for Congress. He can’t do both properly and people are going to realize that very, very soon,” said Paladino campaign spokesman Vish Burra.