NY Democrat Andrew Cuomo defeats Cynthia Nixon in race for governor
The New York Times called the race for Cuomo, who held a two-to-one lead on Nixon with about a quarter of precincts counted in the Democratic nominating contest.
By JTAUpdated: SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 19:45New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.(photo credit: REUTERS)
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo appears headed for a third term as governor after soundly defeating a Democratic primary challenge from his left.Cuomo overcame negative publicity when a former aide’s last minute attempt to mislead Jewish voters about the Israel positions of his rival, Cynthia Nixon, backfired. Media called the race for Cuomo soon after polls closed Thursday at 9 p.m., with close to 70 percent of the vote counted. Cuomo led Nixon, an actor best known for her role in “Sex and the City”, 66-34 percent.The son of a revered former governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo is believed to be a sure bet to defeat the Republican challenger, Marc Molinaro.Otherwise, it appeared to be a good night for progressives. Julia Salazar, a proponent of the movement to boycott Israel whose constantly revised claims to Jewish identity raised questions and challenges in the media, ousted an incumbent, Martin Malavé Dilan, in a race for the state Senate, 59-41 percent.Additionally, a number of conservative Democrats who have for years worked with Republicans to keep the Senate in GOP hands were in peril of losing their seats.On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Democratic Party, which is led by Cuomo, sent 7,000 Jewish homes a flier claiming Nixon was silent on antisemitism, that she backed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, and that she opposed subsidies for Jewish education.All of the claims were false, and newspapers reported that a former top aide to Cuomo wrote the flier and another former top aide signed off on it. Cuomo denounced the release, but Nixon and her supporters pushed back, accusing the establishment of dirty tricks. Nixon is raising her two children as Jewish. She does not back BDS, but she opposes the penalty Cuomo has imposed for compliance with the movement.Salazar, 27, mounted a strong campaign to unseat Dilan in the 18th state Senate district, covering areas of Brooklyn, including Williamsburg and Bushwick. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and is that grouping’s second major upset in the State. In June, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also aligned with the DSA, ousted a longterm congressman in the Bronx.Salazar, like the DSA, backs BDS. Her biography came under close scrutiny when journalists uncovered evidence that she had not grown up working class, as she had claimed; that she was not an immigrant, as she had allowed campaign officials to claim without correction; and after evidence appeared to undercut her claim to Jewish roots, through her father, and Jewish identity.Family members denied knowledge of Jewish roots, and digging into her late father’s family’s history in Colombia showed nothing but Roman Catholic affiliations. Salazar said she had converted to Judaism while at Columbia University, but the Reform rabbi she named was a rabbinical intern at the time, and the movement does not allow rabbinical interns to perform conversions. A number of friends from her university days vouched for her Jewish identity.
However much these issues preoccupied the Jewish press, the larger themes of her campaign, including calls for rent control, resonated against her rival, whom she accused of deferring to real estate interests.Eight members of a conservative group called the Independent Democratic Conference faced primary challenges — unusual in the Senate, where most incumbents were unchallenged, and some appeared headed for certain defeat.The eight hastily disbanded the group at Cuomo’s behest in April as it appeared likely they would face challenges from the left, but it was for naught — they were primaried nonetheless.Among those likely headed for defeat was Sen. Jeffrey Klein, whose 34th District represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester. Julie Goldberg, a teacher, was mounting a strong challenge against another IDC member, David Carlucci, in the 38th District in Rockland County northwest of New York City.The IDC was reviled among Democrats for striking deals with Republicans in the Senate, getting powerful chairmanships in exchange for giving the GOP an effective majority in the body. Cuomo was believed to silently back the arrangement as a means of keeping liberal Democratic pressure at a minimum.
