Running Mate for Cuomo?

New York Times
November 16, 2009

Cuomo Wants to Shape Ticket in Run for Governor, Advisers Say

By DANNY HAKIM

ALBANY — Quietly plotting his campaign for governor, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and his advisers have been discussing potential candidates to run alongside him, to present the most appealing Democratic ticket to the electorate, people with knowledge of those discussions said.

Mr. Cuomo has discussed candidates who would diversify the ticket, which, given the interest shown, has the potential to be dominated by Italian-American men, and he is said to be intrigued by William C. Thompson Jr., among others, as a candidate for state comptroller. Mr. Thompson, New York City’s comptroller, put up a surprisingly strong challenge to Michael R. Bloomberg in the race for mayor of New York, despite being outspent 14 to 1.

Adding a prominent African-American could help Mr. Cuomo soothe any resentment he sets off if Gov. David A. Paterson, the state’s first African-American governor, stays in the race and the two men battle for the party’s support at the state convention in the summer.

Mr. Cuomo is also trying to repair any lingering damage from his 2002 primary for the governor’s office with H. Carl McCall, then the state comptroller and the first black official elected statewide in New York.

Mr. Cuomo, who once ran the political operation of his father, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, is known as an inveterate player of political chess who relishes moving pieces around to create hypothetical scenarios and matchups. Advisers to Mr. Cuomo spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were supposed to be confidential; they cautioned that discussions about a potential Democratic ticket were preliminary. Neither Mr. Cuomo nor his aides have approached any potential candidates, and much could change depending on which Republicans run and whether Mr. Paterson stays in the race. The resurgence of Republicans in New York City’s suburbs in the recent election has also shifted the calculus.

Publicly, Mr. Cuomo continues to deflect questions about whether he will run for governor and a spokesman denied that strategizing over a ticket was taking place.

“There simply have been no talks or conversations of this sort within the Cuomo camp,” said John Milgrim, a spokesman for the attorney general.

Mr. Cuomo declined to comment for this article.

Of course, a candidate for governor, even one with poll numbers as high as Mr. Cuomo’s, would have only so much say in the makeup of a party’s ticket. Taking any overt steps to build a ticket would be a delicate process, because Mr. Cuomo is not likely to formally announce a candidacy anytime soon.

But given the lack of White House support for Governor Paterson and his diminished poll numbers, Democratic Party officials are proceeding under the assumption that Mr. Cuomo will run for governor and become the party’s standard bearer. Perhaps the strongest evidence of this expectation is the number of Democrats — more than half a dozen — who are mulling candidacies to replace Mr. Cuomo as attorney general.

Mr. Cuomo’s speeches are also beginning to take on a cast more like a governor’s, with a focus not on legal issues but on taxation and the ethical morass and dysfunction in Albany.
Taking an active role in shaping the Democratic ticket would also help Mr. Cuomo discourage or defeat other ambitious Democrats with whom he has strained relations. A run for comptroller by Mr. Thompson, for example, would provide an alternative to the incumbent, Thomas P. DiNapoli, a Long Island Democrat and former assemblyman and no favorite of Mr. Cuomo’s.
Mr. Cuomo has also praised Mr. Thompson for adopting a set of pension reforms for the city that were recommended by the attorney general’s office, steps that Mr. DiNapoli resisted.
Mr. Cuomo is also considering who might replace him as attorney general, and is favorably disposed to several women with experience as prosecutors. One is Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County district attorney. Last month, Mr. Cuomo traveled to Garden City, N.Y., to headline a fund-raiser for Ms. Rice at the Cradle of Aviation museum there, extolling her virtues before hundreds.

Mr. Cuomo also has high regard for Janet DiFiore, the district attorney of Westchester County, and Denise E. O’Donnell, a former federal prosecutor from Buffalo who is the Paterson administration’s top criminal justice official.

A possible upstate addition to the ticket is Rochester’s mayor, Robert Duffy, a popular former police chief, who some Democrats hope will run for lieutenant governor.

Whether these politicians are willing to jump into the statewide fray remains to be seen. Mr. Thompson, for instance, is likely to consider other options, including another run for mayor in 2013.

Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for Mr. Thompson, said “it is premature to comment on Bill Thompson’s future plans at this time.”

Ms. Rice, in an interview, said she was “completely focused on my job as D.A., but of course I am flattered people are noticing the innovative work we’ve done in Nassau.”

Mr. Duffy said, “I certainly am flattered that my name has been mentioned, but I wouldn’t want to comment on any speculation or rumor.”