ALBANY — The five GOP bosses representing New York City are getting behind a candidate to take on indicted state Attorney General Letitia James next year, The Post has learned.
Michael Henry, who is challenging James again after an unsuccessful bid to unseat her in 2022, is now able to tout the backing of the five Republican committee chairs representing the five boroughs.
GOP attorney general candidate Michael Henry has the backing of the GOP committee chairs representing the five boroughs. Hans Pennink“He understands what New Yorkers are facing and will not bow to political pressure or partisan witch hunts,” Brooklyn GOP Chair Liam McCabe said.
Henry, a commercial litigator, received 45% of the vote when he ran against James in 2022 — “the best showing for a Republican in decades,” McCabe said, adding that Henry “has traveled to all 62 counties meeting voters face to face.”
Henry had around $275,000 in the bank as of the end of June. He plans to take advantage of the statewide campaign finance matching system that matches small dollar donations.
“As an attorney and as a leader, he represents the kind of common-sense, law-and-order approach this city and state need. Letitia James has failed New Yorkers. Michael Henry will not,” Staten Island Republican Chair Michael Tannousis said.
Henry seized on James’ bombshell fraud indictment, saying he wouldn’t “weaponize” the law for political advantage.
“New Yorkers deserve an Attorney General who will enforce the law fairly, not weaponize it for politics. Together, we are going to restore justice, integrity, and accountability to the state of New York,” Henry wrote in a statement.
Attorney General Letitia James beat Henry in 2022. APHenry has also already received the backing of North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who says she will be running against Gov. Kathy Hochul at the top-of-the-ticket race for governor next year.
“Letitia James has turned the Attorney General’s Office into a political weapon instead of a force for justice,” said Bronx GOP Chair Mike Rendino.
Queens GOP Chair Tony Nunziato and Manhattan GOP Chair Andrea Catsimatidis also signed onto the endorsement.
James, who was first elected AG in 2018, was slapped last week with charges of bank fraud and making false claims to a financial institution stemming from alleged misrepresentations on a mortgage application for a house she owns in Virginia.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia allege James may have benefitted up to $19,000 in savings on the loan she ultimately received for the home.
She denies the charges.
At a rally for mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani Monday, her first public appearance since the indictment against her was revealed, James remained defiant and promised: “I will not give up!”
The AG’s office told The Post on Friday that James will not tap into a $10 million taxpayer-funded legal defense fund state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul set up for her earlier this year.






