Kathy Hochul ascended to the governorship in August 2021, upon Andrew Cuomo's resignation following allegations of sexual harassment.

She appointed Brian Benjamin to the position of lieutenant governor and planned to run alongside him until he too resigned in April 2022.

Zeldin selected Alison Esposito, an NYPD officer, as his running mate, and she won unopposed in the primary.

Hochul also became the first elected governor from north of Hyde Park since Nathan L. Miller in 1922, in addition to being the first from Western New York since Horace White in 1910 and the first from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland in 1885.

[9] On November 16, 2021, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, described by CNN as "a progressive favorite from Brooklyn", announced his 2022 gubernatorial bid.

[12] The exit of James boosted the campaign of Williams, who became the only major candidate from New York City and the clear choice for the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Graphical summary On April 12, 2022, incumbent lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin resigned from office after being arrested for campaign finance violations.

Despite this, he did not officially withdraw from the race, so under the laws of the time, he could only be removed if he moved out of New York, ran for a different office, or died.

[106] On May 3, 2022, Hochul announced her intent to appoint Representative Antonio Delgado to the position of lieutenant governor after a bill passed the New York State Assembly allowing Benjamin to be removed from the ticket.

[123][124] Trump administration official Andrew Giuliani and 2014 New York gubernatorial nominee Rob Astorino made campaign announcements the following month.

[128] In June 2021, Zeldin was named the 'presumed nominee' of the New York's Republican Party by state chairman Nick Langworthy after he earned 85 percent of a straw poll vote of county leaders, and was also called the 'presumptive nominee' of New York's Conservative Party by Conservative state chairman Gerard Kassar.

[194] On February 8, 2022, the Working Families Party endorsed New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for the governorship.

[196] On February 28, 2022, the party announced that their preferred candidate for lieutenant governor was activist Ana María Archila.

[198] In an unprecedented decision, the New York State Board of Elections rejected all petitions for non-qualified party ballot access in July 2022.

[3] On April 25, 2022, Howie Hawkins, who had run for numerous elected offices including Governor of New York, launched his campaign.

[205] In July 2022, the New York State Board of Elections disqualified Hawkins for not meeting the qualifications for ballot access.

Due to his overperformance, Zeldin was considered to be a challenger to Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee; however, he later declined though he stated that he would remain in politics.