Impeaching and expelling Gov. Andrew Cuomo is shaping up to be a political imperative for New York Democrats as they move to maintain their total grip on power in Albany.
In overwhelmingly Democratic New York, a politically wounded Cuomo on the 2022 ballot represents the Republican Party’s best opportunity to capture the governor’s mansion. But Democrats in the New York Legislature are accelerating efforts to impeach Cuomo amid blistering sexual misconduct allegations, proceedings likely to lead to his removal. If Democrats in the statehouse topple Cuomo, GOP prospects for winning its first gubernatorial contest since 2002 would diminish significantly, party insiders quietly acknowledge.
“Cuomo seeking a fourth term would be a great scenario for the Republican Party and its candidate,” said Tom Reynolds, a former Republican congressman from Buffalo who was minority leader in the New York State Assembly before coming to Washington. “The odds of him being there look bleaker as time goes on.”
But Reynolds and other Republicans are not ready to foreclose the possibility of the GOP pulling an upset.
Beyond Cuomo’s alleged bad behavior, several issues threaten to derail Democrats in President Joe Biden’s first midterm election. Voters are anxious about rising crime, skyrocketing inflation, homelessness, uncertainty about whether public schools will remain open for in-person instruction, and the unfading coronavirus pandemic. And, from Albany to Washington, Democrats control almost every lever of the state and federal government.
BIDEN POINTS FINGER AT GOP GOVERNORS AND POSSIBLE 2024 RIVALS FOR PANDEMIC RESURGENCE
If dissatisfaction with the status quo takes hold across New York, voters may conclude a shake-up in the governor’s mansion is necessary. Republicans say the nominees fielded by the Democrats and the GOP will shape the outcome, arguing their prospects might be better if Cuomo’s replacement at the top of the ticket is too liberal. One example, Republicans say, is New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“The likely candidate is going to be the attorney general — someone from the far-left wing of the Democratic Party,” a Republican strategist said. “She will have some ownership of the crime problem, so it’s not like everything goes away, and there’s a clean slate.”
James’s office oversaw the investigation into Cuomo’s alleged sexual misconduct and issued a scathing report of his alleged lawbreaking, which spurred Democratic demands for his resignation or, if necessary, his impeachment and removal. Cuomo, 63, denied any wrongdoing and gave no indication he will step down or drop his 2022 reelection bid.
The attorney general’s prominent role in exposing the governor and spurring his impeachment raised her profile as a possible Cuomo successor and could inoculate her from charges that she is a part of the problem in Albany if she is the nominee. But she may not be.
If Cuomo resigns or is removed in an impeachment trial, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, would take his place and stand for election.
Running as an incumbent could boost her in a competitive Democratic primary. And even if the Democratic nominee is decidedly liberal, party insiders say Republicans are unlikely to nominate a contender who can win in deep-blue New York. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the most likely Republican nominee, is a close ally of former President Donald Trump, which Democrats say is a major political liability.
“Any Trump-aligned Republican would have a tough time beating any of the potential Democratic nominees if [it’s] not Cuomo,” said Basil Smikle, former executive director of the New York Democratic Party. “Republicans would need a moderate willing to put some distance between himself/herself and the national Republicans. George Pataki-Jack Kemp-type Republicans have all but vanished.”
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Smikle was referring to former Gov. George Pataki, who served three terms and was the last Republican to win a New York governor’s race, and former Rep. Jack Kemp, the Republican nominee for vice president in 1996.
Meanwhile, the other big-name Republicans running for the party’s nomination for governor are Rob Astorino, the former Westchester County executive who was the party’s gubernatorial nominee against Cuomo in 2014; and Andrew Giuliani, a former Trump White House aide and son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
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Tags: News, Campaigns, 2022 Elections, New York, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, Impeachment, Lee Zeldin
Original Author: David M. Drucker
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