Andrew Cuomo says he might be in the hunt for governor
SAVANNAH, N.Y. (AP) – Federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo bagged a couple of pheasants during a hunting expedition on Sunday, then trained his sights on the future.
“I want to focus on the presidential (election), then look at all the options,” Cuomo said after an afternoon outing with Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman and Buffalo-area Assemblyman Dick Smith at a 5,000-acre wildlife preserve owned by mall developer Robert Congel. “An option that I would take a serious look at is coming back and running for governor. That’s whether or not (Al) Gore wins. I’ve been in Washington. I’ve been there for seven years. New York is home. I want to come back to New York. The only question is when. I’ve made no commitments and no promises, so I’ll reassess everything after November.”

Cuomo, a staunch proponent of developing the Erie Canal into a tourist mecca, didn’t hesitate in assessing the performance of Republican George Pataki, who is halfway through his second four-year term as governor and, with more than $2.3 million on hand, considering another run.

“We’re going on six years now, and the upstate New York economy is not doing well, period,” said Cuomo, the eldest son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. “The upstate economy is doing better than it was – no kidding – because the whole national economy is doing better. Every state is up. The question is relative progress, and when you look at the relative progress of upstate New York, it’s depressing.”

Cuomo said that if upstate were analyzed as a state, without including New York City, it would rank 48th in economic growth. “To the extent that state numbers are getting better, it’s only New York City,” he said. “Wall Street.”

Cuomo’s interest in following his father, who served three terms before losing to Pataki in 1994, could pit him against state Comptroller Carl McCall, the only black ever elected to statewide office in New York.

McCall considered challenging Pataki in 1998 but backed down in the face of the governor’s healthy poll numbers and bulging campaign bank account. Ironically, Bragman is leading an advisory committee to help promote McCall’s potential candidacy, while Andrew Cuomo has yet to form a state campaign committee and has not begun raising money for a possible gubernatorial campaign.

“This is way premature,” Cuomo said. “This is three years away. You don’t know who’s going to run, you don’t know what the circumstances are going to be, and I don’t even think it’s productive to engage this race this early. There’s a lot between here and there. I don’t think anything that divides the Democratic Party is a good thing now. We have the luxury of basic unity as a party, which we don’t have often. Let’s stay unified.”

Cuomo, Bragman, Smith and Congel all were unified in one thing – their support of the Erie Canal.

“I have a passion to see the upstate New York economy improve to where it should be, and I’ve always admired the Erie Canal,” said Congel, whose Pyramid Cos. have developed more than 20 malls in the Northeast. “We have a multimillion-dollar infrastructure that functions that just isn’t utilized. I believe it would be a gigantic economic boom for all of upstate New York, and I have a passion to see it happen. All that needs to be done is to market it properly.”

Cuomo, as HUD secretary, is threatening to sue gun manufacturers unless they adopt a code of conduct and take other steps to keep guns away from kids and criminals. But he said he saw no conflict in donning camouflage on this wintry day and grabbing his 12-gauge Remington shotgun for the hunt near the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge west of Syracuse.

“I enjoy the outdoors,” he said. “I consider myself a sportsman. I enjoy hunting, I enjoy fishing. It’s a very important part of our heritage. I think it’s something that we have to recognize and respect and nurture, and I’m proud of it. I’m also pro gun safety and pro the intelligent marketing and distribution of guns. But the two are not inconsistent.

“You can be a hunter, a conservationist, and a Democrat. Just because you are pro gun safety doesn’t mean you’re anti-gun.”