NY 2022 - Zeldin/Esposito, Libertarian & WFP updates

[NewYorkExpress]

I think the more interesting question in regards to Cuomo, is will he (again) face a primary challenge?

AOC could run, Jumaane Williams could run, De Blasio could run at him from the left, and so could half the New York City Council.

[NewYorkExpress]

According to Axios, the Joe Biden campaign is considering Governor Cuomo for Attorney General.

https://www.axios.com/andrew-cuomo-biden-attorney-general-97fba9a0-03c5-4709-80b9-5e254c2e1e1f.html

If that happens, and Hochul becomes Governor, I'd bet that either she doesn't run, or she loses the primary to someone to her left (AOC, De Blasio, possibly Souzzi)

[NewYorkExpress]

According to Axios, the Joe Biden campaign is considering Governor Cuomo for Attorney General.

https://www.axios.com/andrew-cuomo-biden-attorney-general-97fba9a0-03c5-4709-80b9-5e254c2e1e1f.html

If that happens, and Hochul becomes Governor, I'd bet that either she doesn't run, or she loses the primary to someone to her left (AOC, De Blasio, possibly Souzzi)

DeBlasio winning a NY primary? Yeah not happening.

Against Hochul? It'd be doable, if difficult. That said, a Governor's election with Hochul as the incumbent would likely draw multiple Democrats. Suozzi probably runs, Jumaane Williams already was running against Cuomo, he'd definitely run against Hochul, and if AOC's seat becomes unwinnable for her in a primary, she probably runs here instead of against Schumer, because Hochul is easier to beat.)

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8844413/Cuomo-says-religious-practices-Orthodox-Jewish-areas-blame-Covid-spread.html

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said 'religious practices' within Orthodox Jewish communities has caused the renewed spread of Covid-19 in New York City and other hot spot zones within the state.

Cuomo said that while the overall infection rate in New York was low compared to other states, officials are closely watching 'mini clusters' that have popped up to avoid any statewide spikes.

He singled out hotspot neighborhoods across New York City and other parts of the state that are largely Orthodox Jewish strongholds.

'We're now having issues with the Orthodox Jewish community in New York where, because of their religious practices etc, we're seeing a spread,' Cuomo said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. 

While I agree with Cuomo, he could have worded that better.

Could someone from the Orthodox Jewish community challenge Cuomo, either in a primary or general election, like Simcha Felder, Dov Hikind, Simcha Eichenstein or someone else, and how would they do, either in a primary or a general election?

[NewYorkExpress]

Cuomo would crush Biaggi.

If AOC ran against him...that would be more interesting.

[NewYorkExpress]

What do you guys think the margin will be after all this nursing home controversy?

Cuomo probably wins the primary unless someone like AOC jumps in.

The Democratic nominee wins the general election unless there's a Republican tsunami.

[NewYorkExpress]

Stefanik doesn't have a chance even against Cuomo.

However, if Republicans want to win the seat, they should nominate someone like Chris Gibson or Nicole Malliotakis instead.

[NewYorkExpress]

I'll go as far as to say that if Cuomo is the Democratic nominee in 2022, this race is Safe R.

[NewYorkExpress]

Bill De Blasio is considering primarying Cuomo.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has been talking to his inner circle and union allies about running for governor, and sources say he is growing increasingly confident he can win.

“I fell out of my chair laughing — he is honestly thinking about it,” said a former senior adviser. “Because of all this Cuomo s–t, he is feeling bold.”

Hizzoner played coy all week when asked if he was eyeing his embattled rival’s job. “The future will take care of itself,” he said, grinning, when a reporter posed the question on Thursday.

The public comments are not only intended to rile Gov. Cuomo — but behind closed doors, de Blasio is openly talking with advisers about running against him in a 2022 Democratic primary, multiple insiders said. De Blasio is term-limited and leaves office at the end of this year, while Cuomo can seek re-election to a fourth term in November 2022.

The discussions come as Cuomo faces two widening probes — a state Attorney General inquiry into sexual harassment allegations from at least three women, and a federal investigation into his administration’s alleged cover-up of COVID-related nursing home deaths.

With Cuomo’s blood in the water, the mayor’s team has reached out to the big labor unions to gauge support, including District Council 37, which represents public employees; the Local 1199 SEIU healthcare workers union; and the 32BJ Local SEIU, which reps building workers, sources said.



“He’s calling his labor friends,” said one operative. “He’s interested. I think that no matter what – even if the governor runs for a fourth term — de Blasio will primary him.”

[NewYorkExpress]

One of Cuomo's accusers claims that a staffer took sexual harrassment training for the Governor.

When asked Wednesday if he had completed sexual harassment training, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the "Short answer is yes." But Charlotte Bennett, one of the women accusing the governor of sexual harassment, said his office director completed the training for him in 2019. 

"In 2019, he did not take the sexual harassment training," Bennett told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell. "I was there. I heard [the office director] say, 'I can't believe I'm doing this for you' and making a joke about the fact that she was completing the training for him. And then I heard her at the end ask him to sign the certificate."

Stephanie Benton, Cuomo's office director, "categorically denies the exchange," according to a statement from the governor's office that added, "this is not true." 

"Some state employees take an online course; for Executive Chamber Senior Staff, the training takes the form of personal review of documentation," Beth Garvey, special counsel to the governor, told CBS News. "The Governor did this review of the mandated material and completed the training." 

In her interview with O'Donnell, Bennett also described what allegedly transpired after she told Cuomo's chief of staff that the governor made a number of inappropriate comments, including asking her if her experience with sexual assault impacted her sex life.

[NewYorkExpress]

Speaking of Virginia:

https://twitter.com/RobertHarding/status/1368709899115446277

Also, new news:

https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1368707406776184841

Ralph Northam has forfeited the right to comment on any other Governor's scandals, quite frankly.

[NewYorkExpress]

Speaking of Virginia:

https://twitter.com/RobertHarding/status/1368709899115446277
Also, new news:

https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1368707406776184841

Ralph Northam has forfeited the right to comment on any other Governor's scandals, quite frankly.

It was a quote by Cuomo about Northam from 2019.

Which makes Cuomo a hypocrite. Still doesn't change my feelings on Northam though.

[NewYorkExpress]

Speaking of Virginia:

https://twitter.com/RobertHarding/status/1368709899115446277
Also, new news:

https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1368707406776184841

Ralph Northam has forfeited the right to comment on any other Governor's scandals, quite frankly.

It was a quote by Cuomo about Northam from 2019.

Which makes Cuomo a hypocrite. Still doesn't change my feelings on Northam though.

Your feelings are fine but barring a misinterpretation on your end of the initial tweet which I shared, they're wholly irrelevant to the conversation at hand.

Yeah, I misinterpreted that to have been by Northam, rather than about Northam.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/NickReisman/status/1368993462473916418

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/NickReisman/status/1368993462473916418

How many votes do they need? Is it a simple majority like at the federal level?

yes simple majority and two thirds to convict in the Senate.  There is no way Cuomo ever resigns.

Assuming they can get Carl Heastie on board, they'll have both. Andrea Stewart-Cousins already seems to be on board with impeachment and can rally support in favor of removal should it come to the State Senate.

[NewYorkExpress]

The irony is that if Rs convict Cuomo, a Progressive LT Gov will redraw the lines and multiple Rs will be losing seats in NY

Kathy Hochul is NOT a progressive.

[NewYorkExpress]

Groping allegations against Cuomo have been referred to the Albany Police Department.

An allegation of groping made by an aide of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) who said he fondled her at the Executive Mansion last year has been referred to police in Albany.

Albany Police Department spokesperson Steven Smith told The New York Times on Thursday that the department received the referral Wednesday night by New York State Police after The Times Union of Albany published additional details of an account by a sixth woman who accused the governor of unwanted sexual behavior.

The aide did not file a formal complaint over the incident. Cuomo has denied the allegation.


Smith told The New York Times that the referral doesn’t mean that the department has begun investigating, but that it has offered the victim services “as we would do with any other report or incident.”

Albany police said the referral came from state police but the governor's acting counsel Beth Garvey said the state notified the department because the unnamed aide declined to reach out.

“As a matter of state policy when allegations of physical contact are made, the agency informs the complainant that they should contact their local police department. If they decline, the agency has an obligation to reach out themselves and inform the department of the allegation,” Garvey said in a statement to The Hill.

[NewYorkExpress]

Bad (or sick) guy.

Scratch this one off for 2024/2028.

I don't recall Cuomo ever saying he was interested in running for President (if he was, wouldn't he have run in 2016 or 2020?)

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1371266971392733184

Reminds me of when Sanford just dipped without telling anyone to go to his mistress in Argentina

Lucky for Cuomo that he's single.

[NewYorkExpress]

Accuser Charlotte Bennett talked to investigators for four hours, said Cuomo was obssessed with discussing his large hand size and what it meant.

A woman who has accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment told investigators Monday that he was preoccupied with talking to subordinates about his “hand size” and “what the large size of his hands indicated,” her lawyer revealed.

The accuser, former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett, spent four hours talking via Zoom teleconference software to investigators conducting a probe of claims by her and several other women that the Democrat sexually harassed them, or otherwise made inappropriate comments and physical contact.

The investigation is being overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James.

Bennett, 25, “detailed her allegations of sexual harassment and provided the investigators with more than 120 pages of contemporaneous records, as well as other examples of documentary evidence, to corroborate her accusations against Gov. Cuomo and his senior staff,” her lawyer Debra Katz said in a statement.

Katz said that Bennett gave the investigators “detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment the Governor fostered in both his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention.”

“One piece of new information that came to light today was the Governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff,” Katz said.

The lawyer said the investigators “have been moving quickly, and with sensitivity, to get to the heart of these allegations.”

“We remain confident that their investigation will substantiate Charlotte’s claims of sexual harassment against Gov. Cuomo, as well as the failure of his senior staff to meet their mandatory reporting requirements under the very laws he signed,” Katz said.

She also said that “it is imperative” that the probe focus not only on Cuomo’s conduct toward women, “but also on the culture of fear, abuse and secrecy that he and his most senior staff cultivated. ”

“To that end, we have full confidence in the investigation and the investigators.  We urge others who have been subjected to inappropriate conduct by the Governor – and we know you are out there – to come forward with what you experienced,” Katz said. “And to those who observed the behavior, we urge you to do the same.”

[NewYorkExpress]

It looks like Governor Cuomo is safe, for now:

Siena poll: Just 35 percent of New York voters want Cuomo to resign

Most New York voters are satisfied with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s explanation of the sexual harassment allegations made against him and barely a third want him to resign, a Siena College Research Institute poll released Monday morning found.

The governor’s overall popularity has taken a hit over the past month, however. Only 43 percent of New Yorkers now view him favorably, while 45 percent view him unfavorably.

“Voters appear to be able to compartmentalize how they feel about Cuomo,” Siena spokesperson Steve Greenberg said in a statement. “While their views on him generally — favorability, job performance, re-elect — took a significant hit this month, voters’ views on Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic remain largely positive, except for his handling of nursing home death data.”

Cuomo’s numbers had already been gradually declining from the stratospheric highs they hit last spring. He’s now back around where he was before the pandemic; he polled at 44-50 favorable in a Siena poll in February 2020.

But as the governor fights back rapidly-spreading calls for him to leave office, it’s safe to assume that the numbers which will resonate the most are those finding that most voters aren’t ready for him to go.

A total of 57 percent of respondents say they’re “satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations,” while 32 percent say they are “not satisfied.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, the populace of New York!

What, do my fellow New Yorkers want someone like Janice Dean to become Governor in 2022, because that's where we are headed if Cuomo isn't removed from office.

[NewYorkExpress]

NY Black Leaders supporting Cuomo: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2021/03/17/go-to-your-friends-black-leaders-and-voters-rally-around-cuomo-1368623

I'm trying to figure out what African-American political leaders have against Kathy Hochul.

[NewYorkExpress]

The other surprise flip I can think of off the top of my head is NY-3, largely because I think Tom Suozzi is going to attempt to primary Cuomo.

Is he? He seems one of the worst-placed in the delegation to do so - he's just too similar and undistinctive to really drive the message home.

Souzzi previously ran for Governor in 2006, so I wouldn't be shocked if he still has statewide ambitions, and he might see a wounded Cuomo as easy pickings.

[NewYorkExpress]

A reminder that Cuomo is still under investigation. Attorney General Letitia James's investigative team will interview the Governor Saturday in Albany.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to be questioned on Saturday by investigators from the New York State attorney general’s office, signaling that a four-month-long inquiry into several sexual harassment accusations may be entering its final stages.

Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark, the two outside lawyers hired to lead the investigation that is being overseen by Letitia James, the state attorney general, are expected to interview the governor in Albany, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The lawyers have spent months gathering hours of testimony from several women who have accused Mr. Cuomo of sexual misconduct or harassment. The lawyers have also in recent weeks interviewed senior administration officials in preparation for questioning the governor.

They have subpoenaed and collected troves of records, including state documents, emails and text messages, as they scrutinize the women’s accounts and examine whether Mr. Cuomo and his staff broke any laws in dealing with sexual harassment complaints. The governor, a Democrat, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.


Once their investigation is complete, Mr. Kim, a former senior federal prosecutor, and Ms. Clark, a prominent employment lawyer, are expected to issue their findings in a public report. Its contents could be politically devastating for Mr. Cuomo, who is navigating one of the most turbulent points of his decade-long tenure.

While many of the state’s top Democrats called on Mr. Cuomo to resign earlier this year, many others said they would wait for the outcome of the investigation before weighing in his fate. The findings could inform a separate, broader impeachment investigation being conducted in the State Assembly, which is also looking at the governor’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic, among other controversies.

[NewYorkExpress]

State Assembly Speaker says that the Attorney General's investigation won't influence whether the Assembly moves forward with impeaching Governor Cuomo.

The Democratic leader of the Assembly suggested Friday that any potential wrongdoing that might be uncovered by the state Attorney General’s Office regarding sexual harassment and other allegations against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo might not be enough, on their own, for the 150-member chamber to impeach the third-term Democrat.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who has dismissed criticism that he is looking to protect the governor amid the various scandals that jeopardize his political future, said in a stop in Schenectady that the public needs to be patient with the investigation his chamber’s committee has underway.

The Assembly leader said he can't predict what the attorney general's findings might ultimately be and can't, as a result, say one way or another what course the Assembly Judiciary Committee's own probe might take because the panel is looking into allegations that go beyond just the sexual harassment allegations against the governor.