Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he's planning to run for a fourth term in 2022, which could make him among the longest-tenured chief executives in New York history, eclipsing his father, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo.
"I plan to run for a fourth term," Cuomo told public radio WAMC on Monday. "I would like to do it for as long as the people of the state of New York believe I am a positive."
Andrew Cuomo's plan for a fourth term and possibly more has been expected in Albany, if not announced. Even Cuomo, 61, who began in Albany politics in the 1980s advising his father, seemed surprised by the question: "If I wasn't running for office, why would I be raising money?"
An April poll by the Siena Research Institute found Cuomo was still mired in some of the lowest popularity of his tenure. His favorability rating was a statistical dead heat, with 48 percent of voters finding him unfavorable to 47 percent who had a favorable view. His job performance was also negative for most voters, with 37 percent supporting his performance in office to 62 percent who were opposed.
The Republican Party said it welcomed the news.
"Cuomo is trying to go where his father couldn't and he will be met with the same fate," said state Republican chairman Ed Cox.
Cuomo, however, said he will take on what some have called the fourth-term curse.
"I'm making a difference in the state of New York, I believe that in my heart," Cuomo said Monday. "I know this job, I work seven days a week at it, and I think we have accomplishments. And the older you get, the simpler it gets. I think I'm doing good things ..."
Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, was elected to three terms before he was defeated by Republican George Pataki in 1994. Pataki served three terms.
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was the only New Yorker to be elected to four, four-year terms.
The longest-serving was New York's first governor, George Clinton, who served seven three-year terms, or 21 years, from 1777 to 1795 and again from 1801 to 1804.
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