(CNN) – One of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's potential political rivals has criticized the length of time it took the state's top legal officer to recuse himself from investigations into the governor.
Cuomo appointed retired Judge Judith Kaye as independent counsel to run the investigations into Gov. David Paterson after a preliminary probe
determined "there are credible issues that need to be resolved," Cuomo said during a Thursday conference call.
The governor, a Democrat, announced two weeks ago he will not run for a full term in office. Cuomo is widely expected to make a bid for Paterson's job, and before his announcement Thursday, had drawn some criticism for investigating the governor.
Former Rep. Rick Lazio, the likely GOP New York gubernatorial nominee, said it took Cuomo too long to appoint an independent counsel to oversee the probes.
"After calling for an independent prosecutor for weeks, I am glad that Andrew Cuomo finally agreed with me and recused himself from this investigation," Lazio said in a Thursday statement. "It should not have required two weeks and a drop in the polls for Andrew Cuomo to recognize what he should have instinctively known from the beginning."
(CNN) – With New York Gov. David Paterson's announcement Friday afternoon that he won't run this year for a full term in office, all eyes are on fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the state's attorney general.
With Paterson out of the campaign picture, Cuomo is considered the Democratic Party's likely gubernatorial nominee. While the son of former three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo has not formally indicated if he'll make a bid for governor, he hinted Friday that some kind of announcement would be forth coming.
"This is an election year and I will announce my plans at the appropriate time. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on my job as Attorney General and the many important issues we are pursuing," he said in a statement.
Cuomo added that he is "sure this is a difficult choice and a sad day for the Governor and his family. It is in the best interests of all New Yorkers that the state government function through this difficult time and address the pressing budgetary problems we face."
According to a Siena College Research Institute survey released Monday morning, Cuomo led Paterson by 42 points in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup. The survey also indicated that Cuomo would top former Rep. Rick Lazio, the probable GOP nominee, 63 percent to 26 percent in a hypothetical general election matchup. In that same poll, Lazio led Paterson 46 percent to 39 percent. The survey also showed two-thirds of New York state voters had a favorable opinion of Cuomo.
Gov. David Paterson, D-New York, launched a bid for his own term on Saturday. (Getty Images)
(CNN) – In his first press conference since a bombshell New York Times story reported that he may have intervened in a domestic assault case involving a top aide, New York Gov. David Paterson said late Thursday that he will forge ahead with his troubled election bid, despite calls from fellow state Democrats to suspend his campaign.
But Paterson did not completely rule out ending his campaign, which was facing difficult odds even before the New York Times story was published. He said he would spend the "next few days" soliciting the opinions of other party leaders.
"I am not suspending my campaign, but I am talking to a number of elected officials around the state, as I would, fellow Democrats, to hear their opinions," he told reporters in New York City. Asked about the calls for him to back out of the race, Paterson said he had "an open mind" about the situation.
"I want the Democrats to win this November," he said. "I want the governor of the state of New York to be Democratic, hopefully me, and I will weigh what they have to say, but right now I am a candidate for governor."
Paterson said he is in the race "for the long haul," but added: "I am not in it without having my colleagues feel they can talk to me about this."
(CNN) – Two new surveys suggest that David Paterson's poll numbers are inching up - but that the New York governor still trails state attorney general Andrew Cuomo by a wide margin in a hypothetical Democratic primary race.
According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday, 40 percent of New York's registered voters approve of the job Paterson's doing as governor. That's up 10 points from a Quinnipiac survey in October. The poll indicates that Paterson's disapproval rating has dropped 8 points, from 57 percent in October to 49 percent now.
A Siena College Research Institute survey released Monday suggested a similar trend, with Paterson's favorable rating at 37 percent, up 9 points from earlier this year.
But both polls indicate voters believe Paterson does not deserve election next year to a full four-year term as governor. Fifty-nine percent of people questioned in the Quinnipiac survey say Paterson doesn't deserve to be elected in 2010, a modest improvement from October, when more than two of out three voters felt the governor didn't deserve a full term. The Siena poll also indicates an improvement for Paterson, but less than one in five think he should be elected next year, with nearly two-thirds preferring someone else.
(CNN) -- A new poll suggests that the big television ad push by New York Gov. David Paterson's campaign may not be quite as effective as he'd hoped: A Marist College survey released Friday indicates that 56 percent of New York state voters have seen at least one of Paterson's television commercials - and those who'd seen the ad appeared slightly less likely to support his run.
Sixty-one percent who hadn't seen the ad thought the governor should not remain in the 2010 race. Among those who'd actually seen the spot, that number was roughly 4 points higher: Nearly two-thirds of those who say they've seen the ad don't think Paterson should run in 2010. That 4-point margin is just outside the poll's 3.5 percent sampling error.
Paterson went up on the airwaves last month with a major ad campaign designed to reintroduce himself to voters. His campaign said the commercials would run for several weeks, and constitute a "multi-million dollar" ad buy. A Siena College Research Institute survey released last week gave a hint the spots might not be having the impact Paterson was looking for: Only 21 percent of New Yorkers had a positive opinion of the job he was doing as governor, with 79 percent holding a negative opinion - a result virtually unchanged from his October showing.
The latest Marist poll suggests Paterson, who took office after Eliot Spitzer's scandal-scarred resignation, trails New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by nearly 51 points in a hypothetical 2010 Democratic primary matchup - with results virtually the same whether or not a voter has seen the governor's new ads.
(CNN) –New York Gov. David Paterson is calling on potential challengers to lay their cards on the table.
"I keep hearing about all these people who are running for office," said Paterson during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning. "If you had any courage, if you wanted to become a leader in a crisis, get up and say what you'd do now."
When Paterson was asked if he had anyone in mind, such as New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo or former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the governor said said he wasn't talking about anybody in particular.
"When all these phantom people who say they're running for governor get into this race, they are going to have to same questions I've been answering for 18 months," added Paterson. "If they wanted to show that they were different and exciting and would make Albany a different place, why don't they answer those questions now."
(CNN) – New York Governor David Paterson was outraised by a two to one margin by a state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a possible challenger in next year's Democratic Party primary.
Paterson's campaign announced Wednesday that the governor raised $2.3 million in campaign cash in the period ending June 30.
"Gov. Paterson spent perhaps two months out of six engaging in fundraising," says Paterson spokesperson Tracy Sefl, who adds that the budget process and the stalemate in the New York State Senate kept the governor tied to Albany, forcing him to cancel a number of fundraisers.
A spokesperson for Cuomo reports that the attorney general's campaign brought in more than $5 million the first six months of this year and has more than $10 million in the bank.
(CNN) – New polls of New York state voters suggest that two of the state's top politicians are headed in different directions.
Sixty-one percent of those questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday disapprove of the job David Paterson is doing as New York governor. Twenty-eight percent approve of Paterson's performance in office, unchanged from April's survey. It's the lowest-ever approval rating for a New York governor recorded by Quinnipiac polling.
The survey indicates that Paterson would lose a hypothetical primary matchup next year against state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by an overwhelming 62 to 17 percent margin. Cuomo, who has not yet revealed whether he plans to run for the top spot, is the son of former three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
If Paterson survives a primary challenge, the survey indicates he trails Republican Rudy Giuliani by 22 points in a hypothetical general election matchup. The poll suggests Cuomo would beat Giuliani by 6 points in a possible November 2010 showdown, down 11 points from April's poll.
"Paterson has time to turn things around before the 2010 election, of course, but there's not a hint of good news for him in this poll," says Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent Comments