Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has served as New York State Comptroller since 2007, making him one of the longest-serving statewide officeholders. He has built a record defined by careful stewardship, ethical integrity, and institutional independence. The state’s pension fund, one of the largest in the nation, has grown steadily under his watch. He has completed meaningful audits, resisted efforts to curtail his contract pre-audit powers, fostered government financial transparency through Open Book New York, and maintained a clean ethical record throughout his tenure.

Earlier this year, his primary challengers argued that 19 years is a long time for a single leader to hold this office, and that the Comptroller’s office has unrealized potential DiNapoli has not pursued. They contend he has adopted a narrow view of his mandate and has not used the bully pulpit effectively to draw adequate public and political attention to his audits or to flag problems within state and local government. Citizens Union finds merit in that critique, and we encourage DiNapoli to be more assertive going forward.

DiNapoli’s path to the office is worth acknowledging. The Albany establishment, including former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who later went to prison on corruption charges, originally elevated him to the position. Yet DiNapoli cleaned up the office, put ethical safeguards in place, and proved independent of the forces that first placed him there. He has correctly run the office as an administrator, not as a legislator. We endorse him for reelection.