Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s efforts to knock his Democratic Party primary opponent off the election ballot failed, with a Supreme Court ruling this week ensuring there will be a race in September after all.
Although Cuomo has mostly avoided publicly acknowledging he is facing a party primary, his campaign and attorneys argued that Zephyr Teachout should be removed from the ballot because she hadn”™t lived in the state long enough to run. State law says a candidate must have lived in the state for at least five years prior to the race.
A state judge ruled on Monday that Teachout, a Brooklyn resident and law professor, provided adequate proof of meeting state requirements.
“Today we beat the governor and his old boys club in court,” Teachout said in a statement Monday. “There wasn”™t supposed to be a primary in Andrew Cuomo”™s New York. Game on.”
Teachout has called on Cuomo to debate prior to the Sept. 8 primary election, but the governor so far has not been receptive. Teachout”™s campaign website has started a petition calling on the governor to agree to a debate.
If victorious, Cuomo will face Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in the general election in November. Astorino, a Republican, has made up a bit of a ground but still trails in the polls as the governor faces questions and a possible federal investigation over alleged political interference in an anti-corruption commission he prematurely dissolved.
