Never heard of him.
Could be an interesting race.
Molinaro was first elected to public office at the age of 18 in 1994, serving on Tivoli’s Board of Trustees. In 1995, he became the youngest mayor in the United States when he was elected Mayor of Tivoli. Molinaro was re-elected mayor five times, and was elected four times to the Dutchess County Legislature. In 2006, he was elected to represent the 103rd District in the New York State Assembly. In January 2011, at the recommendation of Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Molinaro to serve on the Governor’s Mandate Relief Redesign Team.[4] Molinaro served in the Assembly until 2011.
Molinaro announced his bid to succeed twenty-year Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus in May 2011. The campaign was endorsed by the county’s Republican, Conservative, and Independence parties. On June 3, Beekman supervisor Dan French was nominated as the Assemblyman’s Democratic challenger. Molinaro prevailed on November 8, 2011 with 62% of the vote.[5] Molinaro was sworn into office on January 1, 2012. In 2015, Molinaro was re-elected to a second term, defeating Democratic challenger Diane Jablonski by a significant margin.[6]
As County Executive, Molinaro was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC).[7] In 2015, Molinaro was elected the organization’s Second Vice President.
In March 2018, Molinaro informed Republican leaders that he would run for Governor of New York in the 2018 election.[8] On April 2, 2018, he announced his gubernatorial candidacy.[9] On May 23, 2018, the Republican Party unanimously nominated Molinaro as its candidate for Governor of New York at its state convention.[10] On April 13, 2018, the Conservative Party executive committee selected Molinaro as its gubernatorial endorsee.[11]