Wilson said he believed there is pent-up frustration with the governor and an easy counter-vision to present, but acknowledged in the post that any campaign “would be hard, both given the state’s voter registration rolls and the current political climate.” | AP Photo Harry Wilson says he won't run for governor

ALBANY — Harry Wilson, a business adviser who was considered by many Republicans as their best candidate against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has said he will not launch a campaign this year.

In a Facebook post, Wilson said that he made the decision because he knew the exigencies of a campaign would take him away from “irreplaceable” time with his wife, Eva, and four daughters at a “critical” moment of their childhood.


“Eva and I have spent an enormous amount of time thinking and discussing whether we can create some compromise where I can do as good a job as governor as I would want to and as the state deserves, while also continuing to spend as much time as I want to and need to with Eva and the girls,” Wilson wrote. “Sadly, we could not come up with a workable solution. Inevitably, one or both would suffer, and, as much as I would like to do both, I have to be honest with myself, and with you, that, at this point in my life, I cannot.”

He had spent the last year or so making pre-candidate moves, including speeches from Queens to Chautauqua County, schmoozing with Republican leaders in Albany and producing an ad that attacked Cuomo, a Democrat who says he will seek a third term in office this year, over his stewardship of New York City’s subways.

Cuomo is expected to have roughly $30 million in his campaign account when he reports to the state Board of Elections later this month. Wilson said he believed there is pent-up frustration with the governor and an easy counter-vision to present, but acknowledged in the post that any campaign “would be hard, both given the state’s voter registration rolls and the current political climate.”

That climate includes losses for Republicans in key suburban areas in November, including Wilson’s home county of Westchester. Wilson, who narrowly lost a 2010 campaign for comptroller, had told party officials that he would spend up to $10 million of his own money on a race. He was considered the best horse available.

Leaders of the Republican State Committee are set to convene in Albany on Jan. 8, when potential candidates can make their pitch. They are Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, state Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse), Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua) — who has formally launched his campaign — and Joel Giambra, a lobbyist and former Erie County executive.