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.