andrew cuomo

This election season seems to feature more than the usual amount of negative ads in New York, with television spots painting opponents in a dark light. But an ad that criticized a candidate’s choice of a football team may have backfired when controversy arose over a picture that was altered to cut out his son.

The primaries are over in New York and the focus now shifts to the general elections, which are a little over seven weeks away. Incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo faces Republican challenger Rob Astorino.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been invited to debate Democratic primary challenger Zephyr Teachout and GOP opponent Rob Astorino, but so far has not agreed to participate. The first-term incumbent was asked Thursday at the New York State Fair in Syracuse if he would accept the debate invitation.

  Voters in New York will decide in November whether the state should borrow $2 billion for new technology, including iPads in school classrooms.  Teachers and school administrators who could benefit from the funds say they are supportive but want to see more details.

The Bond Act, as it reads on the November ballot,  would  provide access to classroom technology and high-speed internet connections, as well as offer funds to build more pre kindergarten classrooms, and replace the trailers that some overcrowded schools in New York City have been using to teach students.

A member of a government reform group says it’s OK if New York Governor Andrew Cuomo uses his campaign coffers to finance this week’s trip to Israel if the visit is for political, rather than government purposes.

Blair Horner, with the New York Public Interest Research Group, says it’s preferable for Governor Cuomo to use funds from his $35 million  campaign fund to pay for his visit to Israel than for state taxpayers to foot the bill.  Horner says by using the campaign money, Cuomo is also signaling that the trip is more of a political event than official government business.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration and the legislature are spending around $1.3 million this year in payments to private law firms, and the public is paying for it, says a fiscally conservative study center.

Education funding advocates say they have a use for the recently announced $4.2 billion New York State surplus. They say schools in New York, particularly the state’s poorest schools, could really use the money.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is using money from his $35 million campaign war chest to pay for a criminal defense lawyer in a federal probe of his office. Critics say while it’s legal to do so, it’s not an appropriate use of campaign money.

For the first time in several years, New York has a surplus of $3-$4 billion. Governor Andrew Cuomo says he’s still looking at options on how best to use it.

The state has recently been the beneficiary of a windfall from major lawsuit settlements with several banks and insurance companies. After years of running a debt or breaking even, New York now has over $4 billion, says Governor Cuomo. Cuomo says he’s still thinking about the best use for the money.

Governor Cuomo confirms that the US Attorney, Preet Bharara, sent a warning letter to the lawyer representing the now disbanded Moreland Act Commission on ethics, as first reported in the New York Times. In it, the paper says, Bharara threatened to investigate the governor’s aides and maybe even Cuomo himself for “possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s opponents in the November races are stepping up accusations over the ethics commission scandal, and citing sections of state law that they say might have been broken by the governor’s aides.

Lieutenant Governor candidate Tim Wu, who along with Zephyr Teachout is challenging Cuomo and Kathy Hochul in the state Democratic primary, teaches New York State criminal law at Columbia University.

  Today's panelists are Newsman Ray Graf, Political Consultant, Libby Post, and Editor of The Daily Gazette, Judy Patrick.

Topics include:
GM Silence
Cuomo Money
Federal Terrorism Insurance
O'Malley Mulls Presidential Run
Atlantic City's Decline
NFL Drug Abuse

Environmentalists are urging a key review board to vote no on a request from the Cuomo Administration to help finance the rebuilding of a major Thruway bridge with a fund designed for municipal clean water projects.  

Governor Cuomo’s administration wants to use money from a revolving loan fund, designed to help local governments keep their sewer and water treatment systems up to date and their drinking water clean, to instead help pay for the massive Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project.

A group of health care professionals are seeking a meeting with Governor Cuomo’s health department, saying they have compiled a compendium of new and on going research that highlights numerous health risks associated with hydro fracking.

Governor Cuomo’s running mate, Lieutenant Governor Nominee Kathy Hochul, is keeping an unusually low profile during the first months of the election campaign. The lack of public campaigning by Hochul is starting to raise some questions.

Kathy Hochul, a former one term Congresswoman and former Erie County Clerk, appeared with Governor Cuomo at the Democratic State Convention in May, one day after she was chosen to run as Lieutenant Governor.

Hochul promised the audience that she would  “carry our message of hope and optimism across this great state”.

The Democratic Primary challenger to Governor Andrew Cuomo , Zephyr Teachout, expects to file more than 40,000 signatures late Thursday to obtain a place on the ballot for the September voting.

New York is now the 23 state to allow medical marijuana, now that Governor Cuomo has signed a bill into law. But, as Karen DeWitt reports, it will be some time before patients will have access to the drug.

A tentative agreement has been reached by New York Governor Cuomo and the legislature to put off the effects of the controversial Common Core tests on teachers for another two years.

The legislative session is scheduled to end on Thursday, and many issues remain unresolved. But a low key end of session might not matter much to New York’s top political figures.

Steve Greenberg discusses Siena College's poll results for the New York State gubernatorial race. Results show Governor Cuomo with a lead over Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Acknowledging that heroin use is at epidemic proportions, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo came to Rockland Community College in Suffern Wednesday to announce a multi-pronged approach to fight the scourge.

Governor Cuomo tried to change the subject with two economic development appearances, in the aftermath of a political endorsement that has shaken up the Capitol.

The fallout from Governor Cuomo’s new alliance with the progressive Working Families Party continues at the Capitol, with those who say they represent upstate interests dismayed at the development.

The Republican candidate for governor of New York, Rob Astorino, is pressing for term limits for state officials. He also spoke against another reform proposal percolating in the legislature, campaign finance reform, on Wednesday.

Now that the major party political conventions are over, New York officials are shifting their focus back to the remaining issues in the legislative session, which ends in four weeks.  But politics will still be front and center in the waning days of the session.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was nominated to run for a second term at the state Democratic convention Thursday in Long Island, along with his freshly chosen running mate, former Western New York Congresswoman Kathy Hochul.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed his choice for lieutenant governor via a video address to delegates at the Democratic Party convention on Long Island Wednesday. The announcement of former Western New York Congresswoman Kathy Hochul comes as a new poll shows Cuomo continues to face a threat from some in the left wing of his party.

Later this week, it’s the New York Democrats' turn to meet at their state party convention, where they will nominate incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo for reelection.

The Republican candidate for governor of New York will be chosen on Thursday. As Karen DeWitt reports, Rob Astorino is definitely the underdog to incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo.