Breaking News: Tish James Suspends Run for Governor, Decides She will Seek Re-election as AG

By Yehudit Garmaise

 Six weeks after announcing that she is running for governor, Tish James has decided to suspend her campaign and run for re-election as New York’s attorney general.

“I have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general,” James said on Twitter. “There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job. I am running for re-election to complete the work New Yorkers elected me to do.

James may be emboldened by the success of the investigation she led into the wrongdoings of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was forced to resign just a week after the attorney general publicly revealed the voluminous evidence she collected.

Now, James is going after former President Donald Trump, whom she is investigating to determine whether his organization engaged in financial fraud when valuing its properties, the Washington Post reports.

James, who wants to depose Trump on Jan. 7, is looking into whether rampant fraud "permeated the Trump Organization," a source told the Washington Post.

The attorney general's inquiry is separate from an ongoing criminal probe conducted by the Manhattan district attorney's office, with which James' office is collaborating.

Just yesterday, Politico reported that James was not campaigning aggressively for governor.

“It’s a little bit bizarre,” said Republican political consultant Bill O’Reilly, who had top campaign roles in the past two gubernatorial elections in New York. “I would have thought she would have come out like a cannon.

“It’s almost as though she’s taking a 'Rose Garden strategy,' and Kathy Hochul is too strong for that. It’s a really competitive primary, she’s behind in public polling, and Hochul’s traversing the state every day.”

"Today is bad day for Donald trump and the National Rifle Association (NRA), when Tish James in making sure justice is done," said Gov. Hochul who said she suppoorted James' decision to run for re-election as attorney general.

When Gov. Hochul, who has consistently been ahead in the polls, was asked hours laters at a press conference whether she felt "relieved" that James dropped out of the governor's race, she stopped, waited a beat, and smiled.

"You don't know me," Gov. Hochul said. "I always run like an underdog: no matter what is happening in the polls or in the political landscape."

Photo credit: jamesforny.com