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County results Pataki: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Cuomo: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in New York State |
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The 1994 New York gubernatorial election was an election for the state governorship held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic governor Mario Cuomo ran for a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican George Pataki in an upset victory. Pataki had previously been described by the New York Daily News as "a little-known Republican state senator." [1] The conservative New York Post attributed the result to how voters "had grown tired of the 12-year incumbent Cuomo and his liberalism." [2]
Pataki's victory was one of the most notable of the 1994 "Republican Revolution" midterm elections, which also ousted governors in Alabama, New Mexico, and Texas. This is the last time a governor of New York lost re-election. This would be the last gubernatorial race until 2022 that was decided by a single-digit margin.
Only two candidates announced their intention to challenge incumbent governor Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary: Lenora Fulani, who had been the 1990 gubernatorial nominee of the New Alliance Party and its 1988 and 1992 presidential nominee; and Roy Innis, the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. Ultimately, Innis did not submit petitions. Fulani, however, submitted petitions and made it onto the Democratic primary ballot. [4] [5] Fulani's bid was generally considered a losing effort with no hope of keeping the nomination away from Cuomo. Cuomo refused to debate her, Fulani made it plain that she wished to draw African-American voters away from the Democratic Party, and no elected officials endorsed Fulani except Adam Clayton Powell IV. Fulani was also far outstripped when it came to fundraising. [5] On September 13, 1994, Cuomo handily defeated Fulani. [6]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Mario Cuomo (incumbent) | 548,762 | 79.45 | |
Democratic | Lenora Fulani | 141,918 | 20.55 | |
Total votes | 690,680 | 100.00 |
Initially, most expected U.S. senator Al D'Amato to be the Republican and Conservative nominee for governor in 1994. D'Amato began what looked like the beginnings of a campaign in September 1993 when he attacked Cuomo's record as governor, claiming that New York had become "the taxasaurus and spendasaurus capital of the nation." However, less than a month later, D'Amato decided not to run; he, correctly, predicted that his party might take control of the U.S. Senate in the 1994 elections, which would make him chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
After considering other potential candidates, D'Amato—in conjunction with state GOP chairman William Powers—endorsed the candidacy of State Senator George Pataki. Pataki was perceived as a candidate who could garner the support of the party's moderate and conservative factions. [10] [11] [12] Lewis Lehrman, the 1982 gubernatorial nominee who narrowly lost to Cuomo, publicly flirted with a run, but ultimately didn't mount a candidacy. [13]
Former gubernatorial candidate Herbert London declared his candidacy on October 5, 1993. Running on a platform of tax cuts, reductions in state Medicaid and welfare payments and social conservatism, London was critical of both Cuomo and D'Amato. However, London's social conservatism and poor fundraising caused many party leaders to believe that he had no chance of defeating Cuomo. [14] [15]
On January 4, 1994, Evan Galbraith, a businessman from Manhattan and former ambassador to France under the Reagan Administration, decided to explore a potential gubernatorial bid. (Galbraith had also previously been a candidate for governor in 1990, but a court declared him eligible due to residency issues.) He quickly received endorsements from several notable figures, among them Henry Kissinger and William F. Buckley, Jr. Galbraith was considered by some as an alternative to London, holding similar positions but able to appeal to a larger base of voters. Galbraith formally declared his candidacy on April 29; by this time, however, most conservatives had coalesced around either London or Pataki. [16] [17]
Pataki formally declared his candidacy on March 14, but had been actively preparing for a campaign since the previous fall with the support of D'Amato and Powers. Senate Majority Leader Ralph Marino refused to support his nomination, angry over Pataki's association with Change – New York which had worked to prevent Marino's reelection. There was also concern over Pataki's position on the abortion issue, with organizations on both sides of the issue not being satisfied with his "middle-ground" approach. [18]
Former U.S. representative Bill Green declared his candidacy on March 18, hoping to become the moderate alternative to Pataki and London. Green claimed that he was conservative on fiscal issues while "sensibly compassionate" on social issues. His bid was badly damaged when Michael Long, Chairman of the Conservative Party, indicated that he did not believe that Green could receive Conservative support. [9]
Former State Party Chairman Richard Rosenbaum declared his candidacy on March 23. His platform was very similar to that of Bill Green but went even further, supporting Medicaid-financed abortions and tighter restrictions on guns. He also managed to create a much larger campaign chest of about $1.2 million. Rosenbaum decided against trying for an automatic ballot spot through the convention process; a Republican of the Rockefeller mold, he did not believe he could attain the required 25% of the vote. Instead, Rosenbaum opted to petition his way onto the ballot. [8] [19] [20]
J. Patrick Barrett, a businessman from Syracuse who was expected to join the race, dropped out on May 20 when he came to the conclusion that he could not obtain the necessary support at the state convention. [21]
At the Republican convention, Pataki won the overwhelming support of the delegates present. Herbert London, the runner-up, fell short of the 25% showing that he needed to obtain a place on the party's primary ballot. [22]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | George Pataki | - | 72.40 | |
Republican | Herbert London | 22.10 | ||
Republican | Evan Galbraith | 2.80 | ||
Republican | Bill Green | 2.60 | ||
Republican | Scattering | 0.10 | ||
Total votes | 100.00 |
London, Galbraith and Green were all initially determined to petition to be on the primary ballot on September 13, but efforts were made to dissuade them from doing so. In return for his support for Pataki, London was nominated for the position of Comptroller. This move allowed Pataki to secure much of London's support within both the Republican and Conservative parties. On May 31, Green withdrew from the race and endorsed Rosenbaum.
On September 13, Pataki defeated Rosenbaum in the Republican primary by a margin of 75.6–24.4%. Rosenbaum endorsed Pataki the next day. [19] [22] [23]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | George Pataki | 273,620 | 75.60 | |
Republican | Richard M. Rosenbaum | 88,302 | 24.40 | |
Total votes | 361,922 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | George Pataki | 17,649 | 78.40 | |
Conservative | Robert G. Relph, Sr. | 4,862 | 21.60 | |
Total votes | 22,511 | 100.00 |
Independence candidate:
The original Libertarian candidate was New York City radio personality Howard Stern, who announced his candidacy for governor on his nationally syndicated radio show on March 22, 1994. Stern ran on a platform of reinstating the death penalty, letting road crews work only at night, staggering highway tolls to prevent traffic jams, and vowing to resign from office as soon as these goals were accomplished. Stern won the party's nomination by a two-thirds majority on the first ballot at their state convention on April 23, 1994. [28]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Libertarian | Howard Stern | 287 | 75.33 | |
Libertarian | James Ostrowski | 34 | 8.92 | |
Libertarian | Norma Segal | 24 | 6.30 | |
Libertarian | Dottie Lou Brokaw | 22 | 5.77 | |
Libertarian | Joseph Brennan | 10 | 2.63 | |
Independent | Scattering | 4 | 1.05 | |
Total votes | 381 | 100.00 |
Stern refused to file the financial disclosures required by law of any party seeking to hold public office. He filed suit against the state of New York, arguing that the applicable law violated his right to privacy and freedom of association. When the court denied his petition for an injunction, Stern called a press conference on August 4, 1994, and withdrew from the race. [30] Robert L. Schulz, a political activist from Queensbury, New York, replaced Stern on the statewide ballot. Stern's running mate, Stan Dworkin of Westchester County, remained on the slate as candidate for lieutenant governor.[ citation needed ]
Though early on in the election Cuomo led by as much as ten points, Pataki was eventually able to tie him due to his difficulty in defending his record. Pataki promised to cut income taxes by 25 percent which appealed to voters in an economic downturn.[ citation needed ]
One key issue in the election was capital punishment. Cuomo had long been a staunch opponent of the death penalty while Pataki supported it. In the 1980s and early 1990s most New Yorkers supported capital punishment due to high crime rates. Republican ads pointed to the case of Arthur Shawcross, a multiple murderer convicted of manslaughter who was paroled by New York in 1987 and committed additional murders while on release (during the time Cuomo was governor). This revelation caused a significant loss of support for Cuomo.[ citation needed ]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Source | Date | George Pataki (R) | Mario Cuomo (D) | Tom Golisano (IF) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Buffalo News | November 6, 1994 | 38% | 42% | 5% |
Marist Institute | November 3, 1994 | 40% | 43% | 7% |
New York Daily News | November 3, 1994 | 36% | 50% | 7% |
New York Post/FOX-TV | November 2, 1994 | 32% | 46% | - |
Quinnipiac College [31] | November 1, 1994 | 31% | 44% | 7% |
The New York Times | October 31, 1994 | 34% | 44% | - |
New York Daily News/WNBC | October 30, 1994 | 42% | 43% | - |
New York Post/FOX-TV | October 30, 1994 | 40% | 36% | - |
The New York Times/WCBS-TV | October 7, 1994 | 44% | 41% | - |
Quinnipiac College | October 2, 1994 | 38% | 42% | - |
Marist Institute | October 2, 1994 | 44% | 38% | - |
WROC-TV/WIXT-TV | September 16, 1994 | 41% | 35% | - |
New York Post/Buffalo News | September 11, 1994 | 43% | 41% | - |
While the race was very close overall, Pataki won by running up huge margins outside of New York City. Cuomo won only one county outside of the Five Boroughs, Albany County, while also failing to sweep the Five Boroughs unlike in his previous three successful runs, losing Staten Island.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | George Pataki | 2,156,057 | 41.43% | +20.08% | |
Conservative | George Pataki | 328,605 | 6.31% | −14.09% | |
Tax Cut Now | George Pataki | 54,040 | 1.04% | N/A | |
Total | George Pataki | 2,538,702 | 48.79% | +27.44% | |
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 2,272,903 | 43.68% | −7.74% | |
Liberal | Mario Cuomo | 92,001 | 1.77% | +0.02% | |
Total | Mario Cuomo (incumbent) | 2,364,904 | 45.45% | −7.72% | |
Independence | Tom Golisano | 217,490 | 4.18% | N/A | |
Right to Life | Robert T. Walsh | 67,750 | 1.30% | −2.10% | |
Libertarian | Robert L. Schulz | 9,506 | 0.18% | −0.43% | |
Socialist Workers | Lawrence Lane | 5,410 | 0.10% | −0.21% | |
Majority | 173,798 | 3.34% | −28.49% | ||
Turnout | 5,203,762 | ||||
Republican gain from Democratic |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | George Pataki | 368,788 | 24.39% | |
Conservative | George Pataki | 42,981 | 2.84% | |
Tax Cut Now | George Pataki | 11,238 | 0.74% | |
Total | George Pataki | 423,007 | 27.97% | |
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 1,007,747 | 66.63% | |
Liberal | Mario Cuomo | 52,316 | 3.46% | |
Total | Mario Cuomo (incumbent) | 1,060,063 | 70.09% | |
Independence | Tom Golisano | 16,516 | 1.09% | |
Right to Life | Robert T. Walsh | 9,943 | 0.66% | |
Libertarian | Robert L. Schulz | 1,018 | 0.07% | |
Socialist Workers | Lawrence Lane | 1,806 | 0.12% | |
Total votes | 1,512,353 | 100% |
Breakdown by Borough | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Republican | George Pataki | 1,787,269 | 48.42% | |
Conservative | George Pataki | 285,624 | 7.74% | |
Tax Cut Now | George Pataki | 42,802 | 1.16% | |
Total | George Pataki | 2,115,695 | 57.31% | |
Democratic | Mario Cuomo | 1,265,156 | 34.27% | |
Liberal | Mario Cuomo | 39,685 | 1.08% | |
Total | Mario Cuomo (incumbent) | 1,304,841 | 35.35% | |
Independence | Tom Golisano | 200,974 | 5.44% | |
Right to Life | Robert T. Walsh | 57,807 | 1.57% | |
Libertarian | Robert L. Schulz | 8,488 | 0.23% | |
Socialist Workers | Lawrence Lane | 3,604 | 0.10% | |
Total votes | 3,691,409 | 100% |
Breakdown by County | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Herman Carl McCall is an American politician of the Democratic Party. A former New York State Comptroller and New York State Senator, McCall was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York in 2002. McCall was the first African-American to be elected New York State Comptroller. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and is on the board of directors of several corporations. From October 17, 2011, until his retirement on June 30, 2019, McCall was chairman of the State University of New York Board of Trustees.
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984. Pataki was the third Republican since 1923 to win New York's governorship, after Thomas E. Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller, and is the most recent one to do so.
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Alfonse Marcello D'Amato is an American attorney, lobbyist, and Republican politician who represented the state of New York in the United States Senate from 1981 to 1999. From 1995 to 1999, he chaired the Senate Banking Committee.
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The Independence Party was a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot status in 2020 under a change in the New York state election law that required at least 130,000 votes on the party line every two years. Although often associated with Ross Perot, as the party came to prominence in the wake of Perot's 1992 presidential campaign, it was created prior to Perot's run. In 2020, it affiliated with the Alliance Party, but disaffiliated in 2021. It used to have one elected member of the New York State Assembly, Fred Thiele, until Thiele switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party in 2022. On December 9, 2022, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed S1851A, banning the use of the words "Independent" and "Independence" from use in political party names in New York state.
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Denis E. Dillon, was an American prosecutor and politician who served as District Attorney of Nassau County, New York, from 1975 to 2005. Dillon was well known for his opposition to abortion rights, and the issue prompted his defection to the Republican Party in 1989, having previously been one of the very few Democratic politicians to have success in Nassau County. Prior to his defection, Dillon challenged incumbent Democrat Mario Cuomo from the right in the 1986 New York gubernatorial election, finishing in third place with 3% of the vote as the nominee of the New York State Right to Life Party.
The 2002 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Republican governor George Pataki was re-elected to a third term, defeating Democrat Carl McCall and Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano, who ran on the Independence Party line. As of 2025, this was the last time a Republican won a statewide election in New York, and the last time Albany, Tompkins and Westchester counties have voted Republican in a statewide election.
Herbert Ira London was an American conservative activist, commentator, author, and academic. London was the president of the Hudson Institute from 1997 to 2011. He was a frequent columnist for The Washington Times. London was president of the London Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank hosted at The King's College in New York City, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The 2010 New York gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic governor David Paterson, elected as lieutenant governor in 2006 as the running mate of Eliot Spitzer, initially ran for a full term but dropped out of the race. Democratic New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo defeated Republican Carl Paladino to become the next governor of New York.
Pierre Andre "Pete" Rinfret was the founder of Rinfret-Boston Associates, an economic advisor to three American Presidents, and the Republican candidate for Governor of New York in 1990.
In New York State, to obtain automatic ballot access, a party must qualify every two years by receiving the greater of 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote in the previous gubernatorial election or presidential election. In years with a gubernatorial election or presidential election a party must run a gubernatorial candidate or a presidential candidate to be eligible for automatic ballot access; if 130,000 voters vote for that candidate on their party line, they have qualified the party for the next two years until the following presidential or gubernatorial general election whichever one comes first. A party that is not qualified may run candidates by completing a petition process. Parties are also allowed to cross-endorse candidates, whose votes are accumulated under electoral fusion, but any parties must cross-endorse both the governor and lieutenant governor candidates for fusion to apply. Parties that are already qualified must issue a Wilson Pakula authorization if they cross-endorse someone not enrolled in that party; there are no restrictions on who can be nominated on a non-qualified ballot line, as these lines are determined by filing petitions.
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Tax Cut Now was a short-lived ballot line in New York. It was established by the New York Republican Party in 1994 to take advantage of New York's electoral fusion laws, providing Republican gubernatorial nominee George Pataki a ballot line that the Republican Party felt might attract Democratic voters in the 1994 New York gubernatorial election. The Tax Cut Now line gave Pataki a third ballot line, along with the Republican and Conservative Party of New York lines. Tax Cut Now was run in Albany, New York by the state Republican leadership. The ballot line was open only to Republican candidates, and its endorsements were identical to the Republican ballot line.
The 2018 New York gubernatorial election occurred on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican Marc Molinaro and several minor party candidates. Cuomo received 59.6% of the vote to Molinaro's 36.2%.