ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo was on a taking-credit tour on two radio shows this morning for the election victories Tuesday by three Democrats he supported, including Erie County Executive-elect Mark Poloncarz.
While the state Democratic Party poured more money into races on Long Island than the Erie County contest, Cuomo did make a personal appearance with Poloncarz in a last-minute campaign event Friday. Cuomo did the most lifting for Steve Bellone, the Democrat who won the Suffolk County Executive race Tuesday, and appeared over the weekend with Mike Spano, a Democrat who won the mayor’s race in Yonkers.
The governor said Poloncarz won, in part, by a sense of frustration by Erie County residents “with the lack of progress’’ on jobs and tax matters. Chris Collins, the Republican who lost his county executive job Tuesday, paid the price, Cuomo said. “People want change, people want progress and their appetite for delay is very low,’’ he said on Albany radio station WGDJ.
Cuomo called the Poloncarz victory “stunning.’’
“I’m sure Siena breathed a sigh of relief,’’ the governor said of Siena College pollsters who were criticized by Republicans for a pre-election poll that showed Collins trailing.
Asked if he had a message for Poloncarz, Cuomo told the Capitol Pressroom, a public radio news show broadcast from Albany, that the County Executive-elect should get to work on his transition “and then buckle your seat belt for your first day in office because it is tough to be in office in these economic times.’’
Like his predecessor, David Paterson, Cuomo turns to a select group of radio shows when he wants to spread a certain message quickly.
One of those messages was about his popularity in the polls being a reflection that residents are feeling better about New York state government. "I am the government,'' Cuomo said.
-- Tom Precious
