Lose your job, then be Prez
Pros tell Andy: Skip ’18 elex to run in ’20
ALBANY — If Gov. Cuomo is serious about a 2020 run for President, he might want to forgo a reelection campaign in 2018, Democratic officials and political operatives say.
Not seeking a third term would allow Cuomo to finish his second at the end of 2018 and immediately throw himself fully into a national campaign that would be quickly taking shape in 2019 with trips to early primary and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire, the Democratic insiders say.
“It would be a natural step for him to jump from governor to candidate; he wouldn’t miss a beat,” said one Democratic consultant.
If he were still governor, out-of-state trips would surely be criticized at home and possibly drag down his New York poll numbers, a situation to which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie can attest, a second operative said.
Not seeking reelection would also remove potential stumbling blocks should Cuomo face a bruising Democratic primary or underperform in, or even lose, the general election, the various Dems said.
“He’s worked really hard to satisfy an angry left in New York, but I don’t know if he necessarily has put those fires out completely,” a Dem said.
Third terms in New York have also been notoriously difficult, and not running again would free Cuomo from any controversies that might pop up unexpectedly in Albany while he’s on the road, the insiders said.
Stepping down when his term ends could also help Cuomo avoid comparisons to his late father, Mario Cuomo, who as governor publicly agonized over running for President before ultimately deciding against it.
“It would be a strong signal of his intentions,” the Democratic consultant said. “Staying in office could very easily perpetrate the Hamlet on the Hudson image that plagued his father.”
Then there are those who question whether Cuomo, known as a micromanager, has the ability to split his focus.
But not everyone agrees Cuomo is better off not seeking reelection. Veteran Democratic consultants George Arzt and Hank Sheinkopf said he would have a far greater bully pulpit as a sitting governor.
“It is tough to keep in the news when you’re out of office, even though you might be traveling on listening tours around the country,” said Arzt.
A Cuomo spokesman referred to the governor’s previous comments that he’s not thinking of a presidential run and is set to seek reelection so he can see through his infrastructure projects, like the rebuilding of LaGuardia Airport.
lll Assemblyman James Skoufis has ripped Cuomo’s college plan for requiring that SUNY and CUNY graduates who benefit from free tuition work for several years in New York. But until recently, Skoufis sponsored a bill that would have done just that.
Skoufis(D-Orange County) for several years was the lead sponsor on legislation that would have made New York public colleges free for all. His bill, until February, had provisions that those who benefited would be required to live and work in New York for five years after graduating.
Skoufis said the bill was amended in February to only require a residency requirement in recognition that the state borders five other states where people could work while continuing to live in New York. “I was convinced it was the right thing to do,” he said.
Scott Reif, a spokesman for the state Senate Republicans who pushed that the work requirement be kept in, blasted Skoufis. Reif called Skoufis, who is considered a future Senate Democratic candidate, “a typical politician who will say and do virtually anything for a headline.”