ALBANY, N.Y. _ A bitter six-month primary battle between New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and insurgent Democrat Cynthia Nixon drew to a close Thursday night.
A confident Cuomo, who went into primary day on Thursday way ahead in the polls, told reporters after voting for himself at his Westchester County polling station that he wants to continue a "robust" agenda that includes major building projects like the rebuilding of LaGuardia and Kennedy airports and taking on the Trump administration.
"As governor I believe it's New York's obligation to stand up and lead and lead against a lot of these changes in Washington that are totally opposite of who we are as New Yorkers and what we believe," he said. "There is a divisiveness coming out of Washington that I think is cancerous to this nation."
"The arrows are pointing in the right direction," Cuomo said. "I want to keep that going. And I want to keep up the battle against these Washington policies that will erode the fundamental foundation of what we're about."
Looking ahead to the general election, Cuomo made it clear he will continue to try to tie GOP gubernatorial nominee Marc Molinaro to President Donald Trump, saying "the Republicans are all in lockstep now."
"They are all following President Trump and President Trump has carved out a very harsh agenda and a very anti-New York agenda, not just in values, but economically," Cuomo said.
The primary battle with Nixon was one of several in New York that pitted establishment Democrats against insurgents from the left wing of the party.
While even those close to her were preparing for a big loss to Cuomo, Nixon before the polls closed predicted the progressive movement that has sparked major upsets nationally and in New York, including in Queens where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated longtime Rep. Joseph Crowley, will roll on.
"This is not just a moment in time," Nixon said Thursday morning on upstate public radio's "The Capitol Pressroom." "I think this is a movement and I think it is a movement to make sure that the Democratic Party is not just a kinder gentler, more diverse version of the Republican Party. People don't show up when we're not clear about who we are and what we fight for."
"This is a movement because Donald Trump is doing so much harm to our country and our values," she added. "But one of the good things that he has inadvertently done is he has gotten the progress movement on the move and people are getting involved in ways they never have before.
"It's not the end, it really is the beginning."
Four years ago, Cuomo barely acknowledged his primary challenge from underfunded and little-known Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout, who was in a four-way primary for attorney general Thursday night.
But this year, with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party energized against Trump, Cuomo took no chances.
He dipped into his massive fundraising account, spending more than $16 million and blanketing the airways with ads.
Nixon couldn't compete. She raised roughly $2.5 million, mostly through small donations. Without the money to launch a statewide ad campaign, she relied heavily on digital and social media.
Nixon continuously hammed Cuomo as a corporate Democrat who governs more like a Republican. She repeatedly called him a liar and corrupt and repeatedly tied him to two top aides and other associates who were found guilty of federal corruption charges. Cuomo was never implicated in the cases.
She also accused him of emboldening the Republicans in the state Senate, which blocked key progressive legislation.
Cuomo and his camp continually highlighted her inexperience in government while playing up his progressive record that led to the legalization of gay marriage, passage of a tough gun control law, enactment of a $15 minimum wage and creation of a statewide paid family leave program.
Unlike four years ago when he ran against Teachout, Cuomo healed the rifts with most public sector unions and took away a key upstate leftist issue that followed him around in 2014 by banning a controversial gas drilling practice known as hydrofracking in the state's southern tier.
Cuomo also shifted left on different issues, including now supporting the idea of marijuana legalization after only a year ago calling it a "gateway drug." Nixon aides have taken to calling such shifts "the Cynthia effect."
