New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cruised to re-election and set out an ambitious slate of liberal priorities for his second term, including raising the minimum wage, protecting abortion rights and fighting for equality for women.

Following a rousing victory speech Tuesday night in which he promised,” You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Cuomo celebrated with the last Democratic governor to win re-election, his father Mario, who served three terms in the 1980s and 90’s.

Cuomo took the hand of his frail, 82-year-old father and held it aloft in a victory pose to the thunderous cheers from his supporters and booming music, Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best.”

“From the South Bronx to South Buffalo, the bright sunlight of opportunity shines in places that were too long in the shadows,” Cuomo told supporters at a New York City hotel moments before. “We are just getting started.”

With more than 98 percent of precincts reporting, Cuomo beat Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino 54 percent to 41 percent, with Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins picking up nearly 5 percent of the vote.

Cuomo, 56, will begin his second term with a long list of challenges: a decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, the awarding of up to four licenses for upstate casinos and pressure from liberals to make good on promises, which also include extending financial aid to students in the country illegally and broad public campaign financing.

He’ll have to contend with a divided Legislature: while Democrats held on to the state Assembly, an effort by the party to win a majority in the state Senate fell flat. Republicans, who have controlled the Senate thanks to a power-sharing agreement with a breakaway faction of Democrats, have blocked many of the liberal priorities that Cuomo vowed to support in the campaign.

While Democrats in blue states around the nation faced formidable challenges on Election Day, Cuomo won resoundingly after campaigning on his socially liberal, fiscally conservative record.

Cuomo’s bid for a second term was rockier than many initially expected. Liberals unhappy with Cuomo’s fiscal conservatism threatened to revolt, and a bare-bones campaign from little-known activist Zephyr Teachout claimed a third of the Democratic primary vote. Allegations surfaced that Cuomo’s administration meddled with an anti-corruption commission that Cuomo abruptly dismantled this spring. And his memoir, which he heavily promoted, sold less than 1,000 copies in its first week.

Armed with a more than 9-to-1 fundraising advantage, Cuomo denounced Astorino as an “ultra conservative” and cited his own record of accomplishments — tax cuts, tighter gun control, legalization of gay marriage, reductions in government gridlock and a renewed focus on the upstate economy.

Astorino attempted to paint Cuomo as a corrupt Albany insider who had failed the economy, but he was dogged by low name recognition.

“We have not tilted at windmills in this campaign. We have planted a flag. We will be back to reclaim it,” Astorino said in his concession speech, hinting at a comeback.

According to voting results, Cuomo won three-fourths of the vote in New York City and eked out a slim victory in Erie County, home to Buffalo, where he had campaigned hard. Cuomo also won big in the New York City suburbs, including Long Island and Westchester, where both he and Astorino live.

Astorino performed best with white male voters and in rural and upstate counties.

(AP)