By Kelsey Durham
Gov. Andrew Cuomo survived a threat from two challengers in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election and will continue his quest to remain in Albany in the general election in November.
The Associated Press projected Cuomo as the winner shortly after 10 p.m. with just over 40 percent of the votes counted. By that time, he had received nearly 50,000 more votes than his toughest challenger, Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout.
Cuomo had 60.4 percent of the vote by 10:30 p.m., with Teachout taking in 35.5 percent, according to the preliminary results from the AP.
The governor’s running mate, former U.S. Rep. Kathy Hochul, was declared the winner in the lieutenant governor race with 60.6 percent of the vote after about 40 percent of the ballots had been counted. Teachout’s running mate, Timothy Wu, took in about 39 percent.
Cuomo will move on to face GOP candidate Rob Astorino, currently serving as Westchester County executive, on the November ballot.
Cuomo won the election despite taking criticism in recent months over disbanding the Moreland Commission that he had set up to investigate corruption in the state capital.
Teachout, a law professor at Fordham University, made a decided dent in Cuomo’s margin of victory, but she failed to earn key endorsements, including the blessing of The New York Times, because of her lack of experience in politics. The paper opted not to endorse Cuomo as it did in the last election, citing his inability to carry out promises he made during his first campaign to clean up the corruption in Albany.
The third candidate, Randy Credico, did not campaign much throughout the state and was not heavily talked about as a challenger to his two opponents. He also did not name a running mate for lieutenant governor.
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
