Cuomo sails to primary victory, with eyes to the White House.
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This time, conventional wisdom proved right.
The Associated Pressed called the Democratic Party vote for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday within a half hour of polls closing, beating back Cynthia Nixon’s anti-establishment attack from the left with a message of experienced leadership.
Although Cuomo tried to position the race as a contest between himself and President Donald Trump, who is deeply unpopular in many areas of his home state, the primary election became a referendum on Cuomo’s eight years in office, his centrist style of governing and the state’s Democratic establishment.
Now as Cuomo positions himself for a possible 2020 presidential run, he’ll do so as the head of New York’s sizable Democratic majority in a state that fashions itself as a leader in challenging Trump’s actions to push the country to the right.
Officially, Cuomo says he's not running, but with 88 percent of districts reporting Cuomo posted big numbers, beating Nixon roughly 65 to 35 percent, he has some momentum.
And unlike some Democrats, the primary showed Cuomo’s willingness to move where the party is going.
“Even though he’s been a centrist moderate Clintonista he has shown that he can be pushed to the progressive wing of the party rather swiftly and easily,” Fordham political science professor Christina Greer told POLITICO.
The race cemented both Mr. Cuomo’s standing as an unmatched force in New York politics and a merciless tactician with little regard for diplomacy.