AG Cuomo Joins Race for Governor

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D – NY) announced on Saturday that he is running to be the state’s next governor. The Attorney General kicked off his campaign by assailing what he said was a state government saddled with “corruption” that could “make Boss Tweed blush.”

On his campaign website, he says that he wants to, among other things, hold a constitutional convention to make immediate changes to the structure of government, including putting responsibility for legislative redistricting into the hands of an independent commission. He also wants to impose a state spending cap and freeze employee salaries as part of a year-long emergency financial plan to address New York’s fiscal problems, part of which will also include a plan to reduce the number of state agencies, commissions and authorities by 20 percent. Cuomo also wants to reform the state’s economic development efforts with a strategy that his website says is organized around “regional industry clusters,” part of which involves giving businesses a tax credit of up to $3,000 for every unemployed resident they hire. He also referenced reducing “the high costs of doing business in the state,” which might entail some tinkering with taxes that affect businesses.

Cuomo hasn’t even been in the race for a week and already he is polling well ahead of his Republican rivals: according to a Siena College poll, New Yorkers favor Cuomo over any other GOP candidate by a wide margin. A theoretical race between him and his closest challenger, Rick Lazio, finds Cuomo winning 66 to 24 percent. Other theoretical matchups don’t go much better.