6 April 2021: Governor Cuomo's Diminishing Power and Strategy to Keep What's Left of It

Cuomo’s Albany dominance takes backseat to political survival

This article reveals that Cuomo's budget deal reflects his diminished political power resulting from all his scandals. Here's an excerpt:

In years past, Cuomo has been able to wield considerable power in the Legislature by reaching out to rank-and-file members and their political power brokers. But that’s harder than ever with huge portions of Democrats in both chambers calling for his resignation last month.

“Typically what you’d be doing is in order to get to the lawmakers you’d be working their constituency groups and their advocacy groups and that would influence the lawmakers,” the former official said. “But the progressive groups, every single one of them, wants to see them gone.”

Governor Cuomo was forced to yield in many policy areas that he has previously resisted, confirming his weakened political position.

The article also quotes a former Team Cuomo member who describes the Governor's apparent strategy to stay in office:

“I think the goal here is to run out the clock to the extent possible and hope that the Tish James report comes out in the middle of the summer when everyone is vaccinated and there’s all this stimulus money coming in," said another former Cuomo aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He has in his back pocket [the] I’m-not-going-to-run-for-a-fourth-term card, and the closer we get to June [2022] primary, the more effective that is,” the official said. “But I would not underestimate his desire and intention for running for a fourth term.”

Will New York Attorney General Letitia "Tish" James accommodate Governor Cuomo's preferred schedule?