Andrew Cuomo

Andrew Mark Cuomo ( KWOH-moh; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, he served in numerous state and national offices and ran as an independent for Mayor of New York City in the 2025 mayoral election. Born into the prominent Cuomo family and raised in Queens, Cuomo graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts and earned a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School. He began his career as the campaign manager for his father in the 1982 New York gubernatorial election. Later, Cuomo entered the private practice of law and chaired the New York City Homeless Commission from 1990 to 1993. Cuomo then served in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as assistant secretary from 1993 to 1997 and as secretary from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Cuomo was elected New York attorney general in 2006 after a failed bid to win the Democratic primary in the 2002 New York gubernatorial election. Cuomo won the 2010 New York gubernatorial election with over 60 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2014 and 2018. During his governorship, Cuomo signed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage and the recreational use of cannabis. His administration oversaw the construction of the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall, and the reconstruction of the Tappan Zee Bridge and LaGuardia Airport. He also decommissioned the Indian Point nuclear plant, which led to an uptick in greenhouse gas emissions. In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 2012 Webster shooting, Cuomo signed the NY SAFE Act of 2013, the strictest gun control law in the...