Mario M. Cuomo

From dKosopedia

Category: New York Democrats

Mario Matthew Cuomo is the former three-term Democratic Governor of New York, 1983-1995.

Ran for mayor of New York City in 1977, but lost to Ed Koch in the Democratic primary. In 1978, was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York, serving under Governor Hugh L. Carey. Won election as Governor in 1982, was re-elected in 1986 and 1990, and was defeated in his 1994 bid for a fourth term by George Pataki (the current governor), serving from January 1983 to January 1995.

Cuomo first achieved national prominence with a speech [1] at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, which was universally celebrated and made the Governor a much-talked-about presidential possibility. But Cuomo, afraid that a presidential campaign would be tough on his family, declined to run, both in 1988 and in 1992.

A devout Catholic, Cuomo opposed abortion in principle but not in policy, and as such refused to do anything to restrict abortion rights. He was also a man of impeccable ethics, so much so that he had a policy that anyone on his staff working on any campaign (including his own) had to do it off state property.

Cuomo retired from politics after his defeat in 1994, although he did advise former Vice-President Al Gore to run in the 2004 battle for the Democratic nomination. His son, Andrew Cuomo, served in the Cabinet of President Bill Clinton.