Cuomo Will Be Governor But He Will No Longer Be King

Matt Stoller on what the primary results mean for Cuomo:

Andrew Cuomo will be Governor, but his career is over. Cuomo will win in November. He will govern for another four years, or until he is indicted. But he will not hold another elected office, because he has proven himself a very good machine boss but a very bad candidate. The level of petty vindictiveness reflects a brilliant man who simply cannot help himself but indulge his desire for control. Interestingly, Zephyr won Albany County, and people there know him best.

The New York establishment hates and fears Andrew Cuomo. Zephyr Teachout is a great candidate, and she ran an excellent campaign. But Cuomo had a lot of enemies, and her campaign gave them all a chance to vent. It was like a dam broke, and every anti-Cuomo sentiment poured through the wreckage. I saw this up close as a volunteer for Zephyr; a surprising number of people at her rallies had had close experiences with Cuomo, and hated him for his micro-managing style and general petty vindictiveness. I heard from former state employees who complained of his staffs’ screaming and stapler throwing, librarians angry that Cuomo was selling public libraries to be bulldozed for luxury condos, and even the representative of an ultra-conservative wealthy plutocrat who said his boss hated Cuomo because “he is a fucking liar.” But that said, while hating him, they went along with him. For instance, New York politician Ed Koch still wouldn’t forgive Cuomo for a campaign stunt from 1977: “During the ugly 1977 New York City mayoral primary battle between Koch and Mario Cuomo, Cuomo campaign signs appeared throughout Queens — Cuomo’s home turf — reading, “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo.” Cuomo’s son Andrew, then 19, worked alongside his father on the campaign.” That didn’t stop Koch from cutting Cuomo a check for $1000 in 2010. (Koch passed away in 2013). Now that Cuomo’s control of the party is in question, his ability to govern will be dramatically weakened. He will be Governor, but no longer King.

I never thought Teachout or Wu had a chance to beat Cuomo or Hochul.

I did think they had a very good chance to embarrass him with their own strong showings and expose just how much many on the left despise Cuomo.

That's exactly what happened yesterday.

Cuomo knew it was coming too, which is why he hid with Sandra Lee last night rather than hold a victory party with supporters.

He'll try and put as happy a face on this as he can, but Matt Stoller got it right - he's finished as a politician seeking future political office.

He'll serve out his term as governor or he'll be indicted, but he will not be a serious candidate for president.

Teachout, with a little help from Credico, finished his White House dream last night.

No Democratic incumbent who can only get 62% in the Democratic Primary in New York will be taken serious if he attempts to run for president.

Also, we still have the US attorney looking into Cuomo's meddling with the Moreland Commission, so there's an outside chance he ends up with a lot more trouble this second term than he faced in his first.

But no matter - the "fear factor" on Cuomo is dispelled.

He can be beaten up in future political battles, whether over Common Core or APPR, tax caps or education funding.

He has been exposed as a weak, cowardly man, a politician who refused to even say his primary opponent's name until he finally put it into his "victory" press release last night (a press release that he purposely released during Teachout's own concession speech, another cowardly act meant to diminish Teachout that instead diminished Cuomo.)

That Cuomo had to offer a press release instead of give a public statement in person about his "victory" says all you need to know about how he felt about his night.

And it says all you need to know about how this second term is going to go.