In 2018, when it was rumored that he could run for president, Andrew Cuomo insisted there was only one reason he would leave office early. And it wasn’t the White House. “The only warning,” he said, “It’s if God hits me dead.”
Another possibility will come this week, when the Democrat resigns miserably, his missing allies and his legacy tainted by allegations of sexual harassment. This end was not caused by a blink of the sky, but by 11 women who told their stories to researchers.
For those who watched Cuomo’s daily COVID-19 briefings and saw a beacon of strength and competition, Cuomo’s exit from the governor’s mansion may seem like an impressive investment. For New Yorkers, and especially for those who mocked Cuomo, it’s a story about how his drive to dominate made him the master of New York politics and caused his downfall.
“My natural instinct is to be aggressive and it doesn’t always serve me well,” Cuomo acknowledged in a recent memoir detailing his response to the pandemic. “I am a controlling personality. … But show me a person who doesn’t control and I’ll show you a person who probably won’t be very successful. “
But if equating control and success led to Cuomo’s achievements, it also precipitated his undoing. Many of Cuomo’s defendants told investigators that the governor used his power and the threat of retaliation to harass them, believing they would never denounce him.
“The Andrew Cuomo I’ve known since 1995 has always been about power and control,” said Karen Hinton, Cuomo’s former aide when she was President Bill Clinton’s housing secretary. “Their bullying, flirting and sexual touches are largely about controlling the person. He thought he would get away with it because of that power and control. “
Hinton is not among the eleven women at the center of the attorney general’s report, but she said Cuomo gave her an awkward hug in a hotel room that was “too long, too tight, too intimate.”
The investigation overseen by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and led by two outside attorneys, confirmed allegations that Cuomo touched women inappropriately, commented on her appearance, or made suggestions about her sex life. Most of the women worked in the state government.
Cuomo has apologized for some of his actions and said others have been misunderstood. He has said some of the allegations are “unfair and false” and are driven by politics. Although he initially challenged, he announced earlier this month that he planned to resign on Monday. She will be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, who will become New York’s first female governor.
But not before a last-ditch emergency to challenge Cuomo in his final days. The arrival of Tropical Storm Henri on Sunday once again put Cuomo in the family role of responding to a natural disaster. Whether it was Superstorm Sandy, winter storms in Buffalo or just a typical state snowstorm, Cuomo, the executive, always seemed to be more involved in times of natural disasters, sometimes even while personally responding to motorists trapped in snowstorms (always caught in the movies, of course).
Son of former governor Mario Cuomo, Andrew seemed destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. As a young man, he was his father’s assistant and campaign manager before joining Clinton’s cabinet. He returned to New York for a failed candidacy for governor in 2002, and then won the attorney general’s office four years later. In 2010, he re-nominated for governor and won.
Almost immediately, he began to leave his mark on the state. He angered the progressives by making deals with the Republicans. He announced major economic development programs designed to turn the northern economy upside down. He gathered votes for gay marriage, gun control and the tax cap.
If he had won a fourth term in 2022, he would have surpassed his father’s three terms in office.
While notable for the business culture behind Albany, Cuomo never seemed so comfortable with the personal side of politics. He is not a kisser, but rather a political operator who knows how sausages are made and who seems to enjoy the work.
Cuomo also seemed to delight in the decline of opponents and critics, whether they were reporters or political rivals. He mocked an opponent of the GOP as a short, fired Cynthia Nixon, a 2018 Democratic primary challenger, as a “sucking prosecco” actress and regularly assaulted her friend who became an enemy, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Cuomo declined to comment to The Associated Press through a spokesman, who also declined to comment on his behalf. The rest of Cuomo’s loyalists have gone to social media to defend his successes as governor, a list that includes the same sexual harassment laws he is accused of violating.
It is not the only contradiction of his long career.
It built more bridges, train stations and airport facilities than any governor in decades, but reduced funding to local governments struggling to pay for sewers and aged roads.
It boasted of investments in new businesses and in western New York, but many programs generated little, in addition to state-funded ads with Cuomo. Two of Cuomo’s closest advisers they were sentenced to prison for corruption related to spending on economic development. Investigations into Cuomo’s role ended without charge.
He won an Emmy for his daily COVID-19 briefings and was so proud of the state’s response that he wrote a book, even when his administration was accused of covering up deaths in nursing homes later. which forced them to accept patients with viruses.
“The country was mesmerized by the Cuomo government’s blunt talk on the pandemic, but it didn’t even follow the experts,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause, a good government group that has long held its head with Cuomo. “This is emblematic of his style: the performance looks fantastic, but when you get into the details, there are big holes and very little substance.”
State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said it is too early to review Cuomo’s performance as governor, as there are criminal investigations into allegations of harassment and questions about his handling of residences. during the pandemic.
New York Attorney General also examines whether Cuomo improperly helped state employees with his book on the pandemic
Lawmakers will know once Cuomo leaves office and can assess whether his administration exaggerated some of his successes.
“His legacy will also be based on what we learn,” Krueger said.
Cuomo has not said where he will live after leaving the governor’s mansion in Albany. The Westchester County home he shared with ex-partner Sandra Lee has been sold. Lee, the author of cookbooks and television chef, has moved to California, although she has recently been seen in Europe with a new boyfriend.
His next professional steps are also unclear. With a law degree and deep experience in brokerage business, Cuomo could work as a lawyer or as a real estate development executive.
Could I try to come back? His campaign coffers remain in good condition, with $ 18 million. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, both of whom left their posts amid sex scandals, tried to run for office in New York City. They both lost.
According to Doug Muzzio, a political scientist at Baruch College, in today’s #MeToo weather post, the public may be less lenient.
“It will hide the thinking of most voters,” Muzzio said. “She is very successful. He has been a master builder. When he was elected, the state had a $ 10 billion budget. And he solved it without raising taxes. But will anyone remember that? ”