Hochul Picked a Running Mate. Now She Has to Pick Another One.

Early within the day, as Ms. Hochul weighed Mr. Benjamin’s future, the Republican leaders within the State Legislature, in addition to some Democratic state lawmakers, had referred to as on her to demand his resignation.

“Kathy Hochul and Senate Democrats may tolerate this corruption, however New Yorkers don’t and neither do I,” mentioned Rob Ortt, the Republican chief within the State Senate.

Ms. Hochul’s dealing with of Mr. Benjamin’s arrest would appear to check the pledge she made upon taking workplace to extend authorities accountability in Albany, which has been plagued for years by corruption, arrests and scandals, together with, notably, the resignation of her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, amid a sequence of sexual harassment allegations.

Rumors have swirled about whether or not Mr. Cuomo may try a political comeback by working for his previous job as an impartial candidate, one thing that might almost certainly be a steep climb for him.

As governor, Mr. Cuomo largely confined Ms. Hochul to a ceremonial function. In choosing Mr. Benjamin, Ms. Hochul, a former congresswoman from the Buffalo space, mentioned she meant to entrust him with a broad coverage portfolio and deal with him as a governing companion — a special relationship than the one she had with Mr. Cuomo.

However Mr. Benjamin appeared considerably of an imperfect alternative.

In January 2021, a report by the native information outlet The Metropolis questioned the authenticity of quite a few contributions to Mr. Benjamin’s comptroller marketing campaign, prompting the marketing campaign to return practically two dozen donations.

Two months later, The Every day Information reported that Mr. Benjamin had spent practically $7,000 from his marketing campaign account on “constituent companies” to apparently pay for his wedding ceremony celebration at a Harlem jazz membership in 2018, an expense that his marketing campaign defended on the time.