His Democratic rivals may be jousting for position, but Gov. Cuomo says he’ll be running again in 2018 — and plans to stay in office “as long as the people will have me.”
Cuomo’s disclosure of his plans for a third term came a mere six months after he was elected to a second term.
He told reporters Monday that the state is in the middle of a “phenomenal transformation” and he wants to stay in office as long as possible to be part of it.
“We’re doing all sorts of exciting things, big things, things that will take time but make a phenomenal difference,” Cuomo said at CUNY’s Stella and Charles Guttman Community College in Midtown. “We are on the right track finally and there is nothing else that I would rather do than [what] I am doing.
“I plan to stay as long as the people will have me.”
Cuomo has already opened a new campaign account called Cuomo 2018 and has held two fund-raisers just this month.
Political consultant George Arzt said the governor’s comments don’t come as a surprise.
“No one is going to announce that he is a lame duck in office,” Arzt said, adding that Cuomo would be hard to beat, either in a Democratic primary or a general election.
“There aren’t very many strong figures who could take him on in a Democratic primary, and furthermore, there aren’t any Republicans who look strong,” Arzt said.
Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who challenged Cuomo last year in the general election, has signaled he is interested in a rematch, and upstate GOP Rep. Chris Gibson, too, is exploring a run after announcing he won’t seek re-election.
Although the next primary is more than three years away, Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is being mentioned repeatedly as a possible Cuomo challenger in 2018.
Schneiderman has been raising his profile since his re-election last year, sometimes at Cuomo’s expense.
The AG has called for ethics reforms in Albany more sweeping than those proposed by Cuomo, and urged the governor to suspend plans to delete government e-mails after 90 days.
But Schneiderman’s office issued a statement on Monday denying that he’s got his eyes on Cuomo’s job.
“My plan for 2018 is to run for re-election,” Schneiderman said.
“I am not thinking about or planning to run for governor, and I have no interest in challenging an incumbent Democratic governor who shares my views on virtually every issue.”
Cuomo’s father, Mario, served three terms as governor from 1983 through 1994.