When he first ran for governor in 2010, Andrew Cuomo swept almost the entire state of New York, including several counties in Upstate. What happend after that caused him to lose most these in 2014 and 2018? By comparison, Chuck Schumer in 2016 and Kirsten Gillibrand in 2018 did better in this part of the state. So I'm not sure this can only be explained by the increasing uran/rural divide that cost Democrats a bunch of senate seats in 2018. What caused Cuomo to lose ground in upstate New York after he became governor and that kept him just under 60% statewide in last years election?
Interestingly, in Erie County the opposite happend: Cuomo lost it in 2010 and won in 2014 and 2018. Maybe a Kathy Hochul effect since she's from Buffalo?
There seem to be four reasons in my assessment:
1.) Kirsten Gillibrand's House district encompassed Albany. That explains her strength in Upstate New York.
2.) Gillibrand's last election took place under the impression of an anti-Trump wave, thus the Democratic turnout was stronger than usual. The problem of the unanimous Trump-Schumervote splitting is hard to explain.
3.) As POL_Itician already assumed, his urban arrogance made him unpopular upstate, as the gubernatorials from 2014 and 2018 prove:
4.) The not uncommon revers-political trend in gubernatorial elections. The party that is favored in federal elections has to fight an uphill battle in statewide elections, as for instance in Massachusetts or in West Virginia.
