Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino kicked off his campaign for governor with a YouTube video—and a call to stanch the flow of people and businesses leaving New York.
He highlighted a lot of non-New York places first.
"This is where New Yorkers are moving to escape the crazy cost of living and killer property taxes,” he said.
"As a state, are we winning or are we losing today?...If New York is losing, and all the evidence says it is, we need to make a change," he said. "We have the highest taxes in the country, the worst business climate, the most corrupt government and the second-highest electric rates anywhere....more than 400,000 New Yorkers have thrown in the towel and left for a lower cost of living or job opportunities elsewhere."
Astorino is the only Republican so far to challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He won a second term as Westchester's County Executive in November—with 55 percent of the vote in a strongly Democratic county.
New York is last in almost every category, but it doesn't have to stay there, he said.
"Over the next nine months, I'm going to have a conversation with every New Yorker," he said.
See more on the Astorino for Governor website and take our thoroughly unscientific poll.
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