Representative Thomas Suozzi, a Long Island Democrat, announced on Monday that he would enter the race for governor of New York, broadening the field of candidates running against the incumbent, Kathy Hochul, and becoming the first Democrat to take direct aim at her support among moderate suburban voters.
Mr. Suozzi, who has most recently focused on federal negotiations over raising a cap on state and local tax deductions, has positioned himself as a vocal centrist who is quick to lash what he casts as the excesses of his party’s left wing.
His decision to run for governor, which he made official at a virtual news conference, will intensify and complicate the battle for moderate voters in one of the nation’s marquee Democratic primary contests next year.
“It’s not about being politically correct,” said Mr. Suozzi, who outlined an agenda that includes lower property and income taxes, robust efforts to fight crime and reduce homelessness and a focus on combating the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy. “It’s about doing the correct thing to actually help people.”
Mr. Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive who is billing himself as a “common-sense Democrat,” could cut into parts of the coalition Ms. Hochul is seeking to assemble on Long Island and in suburbs around the state. And in a crowded field, the race increasingly appears to be fluid and unpredictable.
Mr. Suozzi, a strong fund-raiser, nevertheless would face steep challenges in a statewide Democratic primary.
While early polling has limited value ahead of a primary slated for next June, he was in the single digits in a recent survey. Ms. Hochul, the state’s first female governor who has consistently led the field in early polls, has an overwhelming head start in fund-raising and endorsements.
Other candidates in the race also have the kind of history-making potential that Mr. Suozzi, a white man, does not — most notably Attorney General Letitia James, who could be the first Black female governor in the country should she win. She and Ms. Hochul are widely seen as the two most formidable candidates at this early stage of the race.
Democrats are expected to face a brutally challenging environment in next year’s midterm elections, but Mr. Suozzi insisted that had no bearing on his decision to run. He argued that as a veteran of local and federal government with pragmatic instincts, he was well positioned to guide the state forward at a moment of deep divisions.
“I feel like this whole, you know, left-right extremist thing in our country is killing our country and it’s killing our state,” he said. “I don’t think I could sit on the sidelines and watch what’s happening, watch what’s happening to our state, and not be engaged in an effort to try and bring it forward.”
Mr. Suozzi’s candidacy for governor could risk the Democrats’ hold on his largely suburban House seat at a time when they are battling nationally to retain control of the chamber.
Without a popular incumbent there to defend it, Republicans would likely make the seat a top pickup target in New York. Democrats could find themselves spending large sums to defend the seat or be forced to give it greater consideration during the once-in-a-decade redistricting process.
Diverting more Democratic voters to the district could in turn complicate the party’s efforts to use the redistricting process to seize one or two more House seats on Long Island.
“Tom Suozzi is making the smart decision to quit Congress rather than lose in 2022,” said Camille Gallo, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
On the Democratic side, Melanie D’Arrigo, who lost to Mr. Suozzi in a primary last year, has said she is running again. A number of others are also thought to be eying the seat, including Robert Zimmerman, a Long Island businessman and a Democratic national committeeman; Josh Lafazan, the youngest person ever elected to the Nassau County Legislature; and Assemblyman Edward Braunstein.
A Guide to the New York Governor’s Race
Two Republicans have also filed with the Federal Election Commission, including George Santos, who appears to be raising funds at a steady clip.
Elections experts say that Mr. Suozzi could not seek two offices on the same ballot and must choose between running for Congress and running for governor.
“I’m running for one or the other, and I’m running for governor,” he said. Asked if he would not be a candidate for Congress under any circumstances next year, he replied, “I’m running for governor of New York State.”
Pressed on whether he could rule out another congressional run should his race for higher office be unsuccessful, Mr. Suozzi was far from declarative, even as he also promised he would do “everything I can to make sure my congressional seat goes to another common-sense Democrat.”
Mr. Suozzi began discussing with allies whether to run for governor at least as far back as this summer, after Ms. James’s office released a damning report detailing accusations of sexual harassment by then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, according to people involved in the talks.
But he has long been interested in the job.
He first ran for governor in 2006, and was trounced in the Democratic primary by Eliot Spitzer, who would later resign from the governorship in disgrace.
In that race, Mr. Suozzi ran on a message of managerial competence, a theme he is reprising, this time by also citing his federal experience; his campaign slogan in other races has been: “Suozzi gets it done.” This time around, there is a slight modification: “a common-sense Democrat who gets things done.”
He will be challenged on every aspect of that pitch by several others in the race, most notably by Ms. Hochul and Ms. James, the two candidates who currently hold statewide office.
