Greetings. This is the latest installment of coverage on the 2018 New York Governor Race. In the last article, the basic outlines of the race had been described as they were at the time. You can view that article here. This article will cover some of the key events which have recently occurred.
The Cuomo administration is under fire on issues of ethics and corruption. Joseph Percoco, who was one of Governor Cuomo’s top aids and closest political associates, is currently on trial for several corruption charges, including allegedly taking $300,000 in bribes from companies seeking to benefit from state economic development programs. While the jury has yet to reach verdict, it is clear that this trial has hurt Governor Cuomo’s public image and exposed some of the questionable practices which occurred during his administration.
Governor Cuomo is also facing ethical questions in relations to donations. The New York Times reports that governor Cuomo reinterpreted a 2007 executive order by Governor Spitzer, which prohibited the governor from taking donations from people in appointed state positions. Cuomo reinterpreted this order to allow many state types of state appointees to not fall under this restriction and is reported to have taken $890,000 in donations from them. While what Governor Cuomo did is legal, critics contend that his actions were unethical and were a step backwards in the effort to limit the influence of money in politics.
In other news, Joel Giambra, who was running to seek the nomination of the Republican Party and Reform Party nominations, has dropped out of the Republican race. Giambra decided to leave the Republican race due to the many figures in the party opposed to him and his failure to attract any significant support in the party for his campaign. Giambra has decide to focus his attention on trying to get the Reform Party nomination, though he will still face competition in the race for Reform Party nomination.
The New York Republican Party held in a meeting of leadership in Saratoga Springs on March 2nd. During this, they conducted a straw poll as to who they currently preferred to have as the Republican nominee for governor. Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro won 55 of 83 votes. Despite the fact that Molinaro had previously stated that he is not running for governor, there are those in the party who are hoping that he might change his mind. Of the people who are currently running for the Republican nomination, John DeFransisco got 23 votes and Joseph Holland received 5. If Molinaro does decide to enter the race, it would certainly change the dynamic for the Republican nomination. If he decides to stay out of the race, there comes the question of where the alignment of those supporting him would shift to.
This is it for this installment of coverage for the New York Gubernatorial race. Stay tuned for future coverage.
