Andrew Cuomo was re-elected to governor on November 4th, beating out republican challenger Rob Astorino. This win has afforded him the title of being the first democratic governor to win the re-election since his father, Mario Cuomo who served three terms in New York in the late eighties to early nineties. The elder Cuomo was welcomed on stage to join his son in victory. He campaigned mainly on his previous term and his successes in that realm. Points that he focused on included tax cuts, tighter gun control, legalization of gay marriage, reductions in government gridlock and a renewed focus on the upstate economy.
Cuomo will not have an easy ride this upcoming term. He will come into this term with a long list of challenges that will include implementation of a possible medical marijuana law, the decision on fracking for natural gas as well as the approval for four new casino sites that would be located in upstate New York. From the liberal side, Cuomo will be looking to make decision on a host of issues including: higher minimum wages, abortion rights, womens rights including equal pay for women and broad public campaign financing.
In addition to Cuomo’s win, former US representative Kathy Hochul was elected lieutenant governor, beating out Chemung County Sheriff Chris Moss. This win of course brings up the neverending chatter regarding Cuomo’s national bid for the 2016 presidential election. Cuomo will undoubtedly have some stiff competition with another rumored 2016 hopeful, Hillary Clinton. Clinton has been rumored to run again after current President Barack Obama is done with her second term. She has been a party favorite for years since Obama took office. That said, she continues to toy the line on whether or not she’s running and hasn’t publicly made any declarations as of yet. Despite all the rumors coming out of the rumor mill, Cuomo has stated numerous times that he intends to serve a full four year term.
It wasn’t an easy win for Cuomo as Astorino had the majority of the state logistically. However, Cuomo won in the more densely populated areas of New York including New York City, Albany, and Westchester counties. Winning the more densely populated areas afforded him fifty four percent of the vote to Astorino’s forty one percent of the vote. Astorino won nearly even split vote among White individuals, but in the end he couldn’t surpass Cuomo’s popularity among women and minorities.
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