Cuomo loses North Country in Dem primary

Governor Andrew Cuomo won his Democratic Party primary yesterday but it was a stinging sort of victory.

His poorly funded challenger, Zephyr...

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo during one of his many first-term visits to the North Country. Photo: Mike Lynch, courtesy Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Governor Andrew Cuomo won his Democratic Party primary yesterday but it was a stinging sort of victory.

His poorly funded challenger, Zephyr Teachout, captured 33 percent of the vote statewide.

She also won a clear victory in many Upstate New York counties and came close to sweeping the North Country.

A spirited campaign

Governor Andrew Cuomo congratulated Zephyr Teachout, a college professor, for running what he called a 'spirited' campaign. So spirited, in fact, that Teachout actually dominated Cuomo across much of Upstate New York, an astonishing feat for an underfunded progressive challenger who was a complete unknown just a few weeks ago.

Here in the North Country Teachout won a majority of votes over Cuomo in Clinton, Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties. Cuomo only captured a majority of votes in Franklin and Jefferson Counties.

Dissatisfaction and controversy

That outcome may reflect dissatisfaction with Cuomo among public employee union members, including teachers and prison guards in our region. It comes as Cuomo faces bruising press for the state's roll-out of Common Core education standards and for his role in limiting the work of an ethics panel created to clean up Albany corruption.

Yesterday's vote also came as gun rights groups were urging Democratic gun-owners to "repudiate" Cuomo because of the SAFE Act, the tough gun control law he pushed through the legislature last year. Even with those factors, it was a surprisingly weak showing for Cuomo, a governor who has invested a huge amount of time, state dollars, and political capital in the North Country.

Cuomo has been embraced by many of the region's most powerful elected officials, including Republican state Senator Betty Little and Bill Farber chair of the board of supervisors in Hamilton County.

One question going forward is whether this protest vote will translate into real support for Cuomo's Republican challenger Rob Astorino.

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