Keith Wofford

Keith Wofford

Republican 

BACKGROUND: Wofford, 49,  a Republican  running on the Republican and Conservative party lines, is a corporate attorney in Manhattan who grew up in Buffalo. He said he "did not come from privilege, to put it mildly.” His father worked for the local Chevrolet factory and his mother worked in retail. Wofford went to Harvard University and then Harvard Law School on scholarships. He moved to Manhattan  after law school  and rose to become the co-managing partner at the Ropes & Gray law firm in Manhattan, which handles a wide array of legal issues.

ISSUES: He said he is the independent political outsider needed to fight corruption in Albany. He said misdeeds by public officials    have resulted in a “corruption tax” paid by New Yorkers that adds to the cost of doing business in Albany. “New Yorkers have a simple choice: Whether to elect another career politician, who will uphold the corrupt status-quo — or choose an independent outsider, who will do what’s in the best interests of this state.” Wofford’s priorities also include combating opioid addiction by working with local prosecutors and communities and targeting any “super-villians” among manufacturers that knew they were producing a drug they knew would lead to abuse. Wofford also says past attorneys general have enforced unnecessary regulations through “flimsy lawsuits” that have restricted growth, particularly in low-income communities, at the hands of “ultra-liberal” leaders. He is the first African-American to be nominated by the Republican party for attorney general.