New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo was elected governor of New York State on Tuesday after a remarkably vicious race against Republican/Conservative candidate Carl Paladino. MSNBC and the Associated Press announced Cuomo as the projected winner just two minutes after polling sites closed at 9 p.m.
"The mandate tonight is to clean up Albany and to have elected officials who represent the people of this state and not the special interests and not the lobbyists," Cuomo said in his victory speech. "The people of the state of New York want a government that they can trust, a government that they can be proud of once again, a government that they deserve, and they are going to get it."
Cuomo now joins the elite club of father-and-son governors. His father, Mario, held the position of governor for three-terms during the 1980s and 1990s.
Cuomo, 52, led in the polls from the start against Paladino, 64, a Buffalo-based businessman who has received heavy support from the Tea Party Movement.
As of press time, Cuomo had 58 percent of the vote, with 10 percent of votes reported. In Erie County, Paladino had 64 percent of the vote, with 2 percent of votes reported, while in Niagara County, Paladino had 70 percent of the vote, with 40 percent of votes reported.
Travis Nemmer, vice president of the UB College Republicans, responded to Tuesday's election results.
"Paladino lost. I'm not shocked," Nemmer said. "[It was a] good effort, but Paladino shouldn't have become distracted [by threatening to take out New York Post State Editor Fred Dicker] and [by his comments made in regards to the LGBTA community in early October]. However, we're really excited about the [Republican] pick-ups in the House. In the Senate, the 52 seats [Republicans] could get doesn't really get us much."
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
