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The 2014 NY Gubernatorial Democratic Primary, a contest between Incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo, and Fordham Professor Zephyr Teachout saw Cuomo win with an at-the-time surprisingly low 62% against the underfunded Teachout.
Recruited by the working Families Party to run against Cuomo, Teachout—an expert on public corruption—sought to harness Liberal dissatisfaction with the governor due to his small c conservative-leaning budgeting and governing style
Arguing that Cuomo refused to adequately spend money on education—directly leading to the governor directing the formation of the Independent Democratic Conference in 2011 to keep the NYGOP in controll of the state senate until 2018—in addition to accusing him of not doing enough to curb the use of Fracking in the state.
This was despite Cuomo's public Laudation by liberals on actions such as Same Sex Marriage and Passing Gun Control, such as the SAFE act
Beyond the ideological challenge—which was the base of her coalition—Teachout also attacked Cuomo for shutting down the Moreland Commission halfway into it's term.
The Commission—set up by Cuomo—was intended to root out corruption in NY State, but was shut down with Cuomo before their job was completed. Federal Prosecutors were looking into what happened at the time of the primary
In the end, however, Cuomo's moving of the State Powerbrokers towards supporting him was enough to win in the low turnout primary—winning everywhere but in the Capital region, as a consequence of his unpopularity with government workers due to his pension reforms
As well as the liberal neighborhoods in Downtown Manhattan of Soho, Tribecca and the east village, The liberal Jewish Upper West Side, as well as the proto-progressive corridor in Astoria, Greenpoint, and Downtown Brooklyn/Park Slope
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/nyregion/cuomo-and-hochul-win-new-york-primary.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/nyregion/us-attorney-criticizes-cuomos-closing-of-panel.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/governor-andrew-cuomo-and-the-short-life-of-the-moreland-commission.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/nyregion/us-attorney-warns-cuomo-on-ethics-case-.html
- https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/05/another-cuomo-noninterference-story-falls-apart-049022
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/nyregion/cuomo-labor-unions-ny.html
- https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2015/06/poll-voters-disapprove-of-cuomos-handling-of-education-022715
- https://www.nydailynews.com/2012/03/20/gov-cuomo-says-pension-reform-hated-by-unions-greatly-helped-public-employees/
Other
- https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/19/andrew-cuomo-the-king-of-new-york
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/nyregion/cuomo-legacy-governor-nyc.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-timeline.html
- https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/cuomo-keeps-everyone-guessing/
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