Andrew Cuomo will serve a second term as Governor of New York. Cuomo defeated Republican challenger Rob Astorino, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, and Libertarian candidate Michael McDermott according to the Associated Press who called the race just after the polls closed at 9 p.m. Cuomo’s win marks the first time a Democratic governor has won re-election since 1990, a feat accomplished by his father, Mario. Cuomo's large margin of victory overshadows the fact that Astorino tallied nearly 3,000 more votes than Cuomo in Monroe County.
Western New York will continue to hold on to the Lieutenant Governor’s office, as Cuomo’s running mate, Kathy Hochul, will step in and replace the departing Bob Duffy. Hochul served as Erie County Clerk from 2003-2007, then won a four-way special election in 2011 for the vacant 26th Congressional seat that was vacated by Chris Lee. She lost her re-election bid in 2012 to Chris Collins.
The 56-year-old Cuomo ran on his accomplishments since taking office in 2011:
lower taxes, less government gridlock, a focus on upstate New York's economy,
tighter gun control and legalization of gay marriage.
Cuomo and Hochul focused heavily on female voters, vowing to fight for pay equity
and abortion rights.
Astorino is the Westchester County executive. He criticized Cuomo's record on
the economy and tried to paint Cuomo as a corrupt insider. But he never got
close to Cuomo in the polls and had only a tenth of the money Cuomo was able to
raise for the campaign.