The Associated Press is reporting the leaders of the New York state Conservative Party have endorsed Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro in the race for governor. Molinaro, a Republican from Red Hook, thanked Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long and the organization’s executive committee for supporting his campaign, which he officially launched April 2. The executive committee unanimously voted April 13 to recommend the the party endorse Molinaro. Conservatives will hold their nominating convention May 31 in Manhattan. Molinaro and Syracuse-area state Sen. John DeFrancisco are vying for the GOP nomination, which will be made during that committee's convention on Long Island next month. Democrat Andrew M. Cuomo is seeking a third four-year term as governor in November. Molinaro, 42, started out in politics as a village of Tivoli trustee at the age of 18. He was subsequently elected mayor of Tivoli in 1995, at age 19 and was, at the time, the youngest mayor in the nation. Molinaro was first elected Dutchess County executive in 2011, and then re-elected to a second, four-year term, in 2015. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.