The following is via the NY Post:
NYS Gov. Cuomo is open to endorsing Ray Kelly for mayor should the NYPD commissioner choose to run on the Republican line � if the eventual Democratic nominee takes policy positions at odds with his own, The Post has learned.
Cuomo has also decided to stay neutral in the Democratic primary for mayor, a source familiar with his thinking said.
�The governor is indicating that he�s going to wait and see what policy positions the Democratic candidates take and what the positions of the winner of the primary are,�� said the source.
�And if Ray Kelly is a candidate, I think it�s fair to say he hasn�t completely closed that door on backing him,�� the source continued.
The often bitter city Democratic primaries historically pit �left and leftier�� candidates against each other because the electorate tends to be dominated by liberals.
Cuomo, the de facto head of the state�s Democratic Party, has told associates that he �doesn�t plan to take sides in the primary for mayor because he likes and has relations with all the likely candidates,�� a source familiar with the governor�s thinking said.
�And besides, the governor lives and votes in Westchester, so he�s not himself going to be voting in the primary,�� the source added.
Several of the likely Democratic mayoral contenders have strong ties to Cuomo, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a political ally; Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who worked for Cuomo when he served as federal housing secretary under President Bill Clinton; and former city Comptroller William Thompson, a friend who ran a close second to Mayor Bloomberg in 2009.
But Cuomo also has ties to Kelly through mutual friends. He has praised Kelly�s overall stewardship of the NYPD, and he has conspicuously sided with Bloomberg in refusing to criticize Kelly�s controversial program of monitoring Muslim mosques and organizations for possible terrorist intentions.
(Source: NY Post)
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One Response
Maybe New York City would do well to switch to a system of non-partisan elections. Everyone would run in a single primary, with the top two going in a general election. Political parties in New York City don’t really correlate well with national ones.