Andy is dandy, says GOP ex-nemesis Al
Gov. Cuomo’s bid for a third term is getting a boost from an unlikely source — Republican former US Sen. Al D’Amato.
“I think Gov. Cuomo has done a good job. You can put that on the record,” said the GOP power-broker-turned-lobbyist.
“Cuomo hasn’t raised taxes — I like that. He said he wouldn’t raise taxes on millionaires. I like that,” D’Amato said.
D’Amato said the state’s 2 percent annual cap on property-tax increases approved by Cuomo in 2011 has helped control costs on his home turf in Nassau County and other suburbs.
“I give him credit for that,” D’Amato said.
He also said Cuomo’s building projects at the airports and bridges will pay dividends for the region.
Some Republican Party insiders, however, believe D’Amato’s cheerleading for Cuomo has more to do with his lobbying firm, Park Strategies, which represents corporate clients with business before state government.
“He’s being a businessman,” one GOP source said.
In fact, D’Amato endorsed Cuomo’s bid for a second term in early 2014 before the Republican Party had decided on a candidate.
D’Amato was a major force in helping Republican George Pataki topple three-term Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo, Andrew’s father, in the 1994 race for governor. Pataki, who served three terms, was the last Republican to hold statewide office.
D’Amato, 80, said his pro-Cuomo sentiment should not be construed as an endorsement, at least at this point — but it certainly sounded like one.
D’Amato, who served three terms in the Senate from 1981 to 1998, said Cuomo is not without liabilities, particularly noting the decline in subway service.
“The governor faces a big challenge with respect to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But it’s easy to criticize. The transportation system is a hundred years old,” he said.
Cuomo could also face embarrassing news coverage and political fallout at the upcoming federal bid-rigging and pay-to-play corruption trials of former top aide Joe Percoco and contractors who were big donors to the governor’s campaigns.
“I have no reason to believe the governor was personally involved,” D’Amato said.
D’Amato said the political terrain has gotten tougher for Republicans since he was senator, George Pataki was governor and Rudy Giuliani was New York City mayor. Republicans last month lost the county executive seats in Westchester and Nassau counties.
Currently, there are no Republicans holding statewide office, and the GOP’s hold on its remaining power base in New York — the state Senate — is hanging on by a thread.
“It’s never easy for a Republican to run in New York state,” D’Amato said. “The numbers [of GOP] voters] are just not there. You have to have a lot of money.”