2022→ ←2014
Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline:July 12, 2018
Primary: September 13, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Democrat) Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (general elections); primary times vary by county Voting in New York
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2018 Impact of term limits in 2018 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
New York executive elections
Governor Lieutenant governor Attorney general Comptroller

Incumbent Gov.Andrew Cuomo (D) defeated Duchess County ExecutiveMarcus Molinaro (R) and three others in the general election on November 6, 2018, forgovernor of New York.

Heading into the election,New York was one of 16 states under divided government, with theDemocratic Party holding the governor's office and a majority in theNew York State Assembly and theRepublican Party holding an effective 32-31 majority in theNew York State Senate through a coalition with Democratic state Sen.Simcha Felder. As a result of the November 6 elections, Democrats obtained atrifecta for the first time since 2010 by holding the governorship and state Assembly and taking control of the state Senate. For more information on the 2018 elections in the New York State Senate,click here.

Cuomo was first elected in2010 by a margin of 28 percentage points and was re-elected by a margin of 14 percentage points in2014. Heading into the election, New York had not elected a Republican governor since electingGeorge Pataki (R) in 2002.^[1]

Third party and independent candidates included retired United Parcel Service workerHowie Hawkins (Green Party), former Syracuse MayorStephanie Miner (I), and business consultantLarry Sharpe (L).

New York was one of36 states that held an election forgovernor in 2018.Democrats gained seven previouslyRepublican-held seats, andRepublicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were16Democratic governors,33Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with aRepublican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with aDemocratic governor held a gubernatorial election.Seventeen of the36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Clickhere for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.

Clickhere for more information on the Democratic gubernatorial primary andhere for more information on the lieutenant gubernatorial primary.
Clickhere for more information on the Republican gubernatorial primary andhere for more information on the lieutenant gubernatorial primary.

Candidates and election results

Governor

See also:Statistics on gubernatorial candidates, 2018

General election

General election

General election for Governor of New York

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrew Cuomo (D / Working Families Party / Independence Party / Women's Equality Party)	59.6	3,635,340
		Marcus Molinaro (R / Conservative Party / Tax Revolt Party)	36.2	2,207,602
		Howie Hawkins (G)	1.7	103,946
		Larry Sharpe (L)	1.6	95,033
		Stephanie Miner (Serve America Movement Party)	0.9	55,441
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	7,115

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,104,477
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Political party key:
Democratic
Republican
Conservative Party
Green Party
Independence Party
Reform Party
Tax Revolt Party
Women's Equality Party
Working Families Party

Fusion voting candidates

• Andrew Cuomo
• Marcus Molinaro

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of New York

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrew Cuomo	65.5	1,021,160
		Cynthia Nixon	34.5	537,192

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,558,352
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Greg Waltman (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John DeFrancisco (R)
• Pankaj Shah (R)

Lieutenant governor

General election candidates

• Kathy Hochul  (Incumbent) (Democratic Party, Working Families Party, Independence Party, Women's Equality Party) ✔
• Julie Killian  (Republican Party, Conservative Party, Tax Revolt Party)
• Jia Lee  (Green Party)
• Andrew Hollister  (Libertarian Party)
• Michael Volpe  (Serve America Movement Party)

Political party key:
Democratic
Republican
Conservative Party
Green Party
Independence Party
Reform Party
Tax Revolt Party
Women's Equality Party
Working Families Party

Fusion voting candidates

• Kathy Hochul
• Julie Killian

Candidate profiles

See also:Editorial approach to writing about key campaign messages

Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York

Party:Democratic

Incumbent: Yes

Political office: Governor of New York (Assumed office:2011), Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1993-1997), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1997-2001)

Biography: The son of former Governor Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo earned a B.A. from Fordham University in 1979. In 1982, Cuomo earned a J.D. from Albany Law School and was named a top aide to his father's inaugural campaign for governor. He then joined the governor's staff as one of his father's top policy advisers. Cuomo served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997 and as secretary of HUD from 1997 to 2001 under PresidentBill Clinton. Cuomo was electedNew York attorney general in 2006, a seat he held until assuming office as governor in 2011.^[2]

Key messages

• Cuomo ran on his record in office. He listed the state's $15 minimum wage, expanded anti-homelessness programs, and a plan to provide free college for New York students as evidence of his success in combatting income inequality during his tenure.^[3]

• Cuomo touted a $100 billion infrastructure program and partnerships with organized labor as part of his strategy to make the state more competitive in the global economy.^[3]

• Cuomo highlighted that during his tenure New York became "the first large state to pass marriage equality and to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, transgender status or gender dysphoria."^[3]

Marcus Molinaro, Dutchess County Executive

Party:Republican

Incumbent: No

Political office: Dutchess County Executive, (Assumed office: 2012), New York State Assembly District 103 (2007-2012),

Biography: Molinaro graduated from Pace University Land Use Law Center Community Leadership Alliance and earned his A.A. in Humanities and Social Sciences from Dutchess Community College. His professional experience includes work in real estate and acting as the executive director of the Association for Senior Citizens.^[4] Molinaro served as mayor of Tivoli, New York, from 1995 to 2006. When elected at 19 years old, Molinaro became the youngest mayor in the United States. Molinaro was elected to representDistrict 103 in theNew York State Assembly in 2006, serving from 2007-2012. Molinaro was elected as Dutchess County executive in 2011.^[5]

Key messages

• Molinaro proposed an eight-point plan to reform the MTA including reducing project labor costs by addressing workforce efficiency issues. Molinaro cited a two-percent drop in subway ridership between 2015 and 2017 and the New York City Comptroller's finding that New York City Transit (NYCT) delays cost the city’s economy almost $400 million per year as evidence of mismanagement of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).^[6]

• Molinaro supported amending the constitution to include term limits for state elected politicians to combat corruption, saying, "It is neither unfair nor inappropriate to suggest that New York is one of the most corrupt states in the nation.^[6]

• Molinaro pledged to cut property taxes by 30 percent if elected, saying, “these nation-leading taxes aren’t only oppressive, they are foolishly counterproductive.” He said he would make the state's current 2 percent property tax cap permanent, and expand the cap to include New York City, which was exempt at the time of the election.^[6]

Polls

See also:Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Campaign finance

Race rating

See also:Race rating definitions and methods

Noteworthy endorsements

See also:Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, pleaseclick here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites.

• Andrew Cuomo
• Howie Hawkins
• Stephanie Miner
• Marc Molinaro
• Larry Sharpe

Timeline

• November 4, 2018: A Siena College poll showed Cuomo with 49 percent and Molinaro with 36 percent. The margin of error was 3.9 percentage points.
• November 1, 2018:The New York Times endorsed Cuomo.
• November 1, 2018: All candidates except Cuomo participated in a League of Women Voters forum at the College of Saint Rose.Read more below.
• October 28, 2018:The New York Post andThe Auburn Citizen endorsed Molinaro.
• October 27, 2018:The Buffalo News endorsed Cuomo.
• October 23, 2018: Cuomo and Molinaro participated in a head-to-head televised debate.Read more below.
• October 18, 2018: A Quinnipiac University poll showed Cuomo leading Molinaro 58-35. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
• October 3, 2018: TheWorking Families Party voted to removeCynthia Nixon andJumaane Williams from its general election ballot line. Cuomo and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul were offered the party's endorsement, which would result in their names appearing on both the Democratic and Working Families Party line in the election.^[15]
• October 1, 2018: A Siena Collegepoll showed Cuomo leading Molinaro 58 to 28 percent in the six-way race. 10 percent said they would vote for Nixon, 2 percent for Sharpe, 1 percent for Hawkins and 1 percent for Miner. The margin of error was 3.9 percentage points.

Policy stances

This section summarizes candidate positions on select policy issues discussed over the course of the election. If you are aware of a significant policy issue in this race, pleaseemail us.

Abortion

Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo supported abortion access. On his website, he said he "will always protect a woman’s right to choose and will fight the extreme conservatives in Washington who threaten that right."^[16]

Marc Molinaro

In an interview with theAlbany Times Union editorial board on October 31, Molinaro said he would support efforts to codify legalized abortion if theUnited States Supreme Court struck downRoe v. Wade, which said states could not ban abortion. He said, "I understand the need, should the Supreme Court suggest that [abortion is] not a constitutional right – and it is. Should the Supreme Court suggest it's not a constitutional right, the state would need to act, to at least codify, so that it's not treated as a criminal or penal violation."^[17]

Campaign advertisements

Andrew Cuomo

Support

Oppose

Marc Molinaro

Support

Debates and forums

Nov. 1 debate

All candidates except Cuomo participated in a League of Women Voters forum at the College of Saint Rose.^[18]

Read a roundup of the debate fromPolitico.

Oct. 23 debate

Cuomo and Molinaro participated in a head-to-head televised debate.^[19]

Read roundups of the debate here:

• Buffalo News
• Politico
• The New York Times

Campaign themes

Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo’s campaign website stated the following:

Marc Molinaro

Molinaro’s campaign website stated the following:

Social media

Twitter accounts

Tweets by Andrew CuomoTweets by Marc Molinaro

Facebook accounts

Click the icons below to visit the candidates' Facebook pages.

Andrew Cuomo

Marc Molinaro

Other 2018 statewide elections

See also:States with both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2018

This race took place in one of twenty-two states that held elections for bothgovernor andU.S. Senate in 2018.

A table of where these elections occurred, the names of incumbents prior to the 2018 elections, and links to our coverage of these races can be viewed by clicking "[show]" on the banner below:

States holding both Gubernatorial and Senate elections in 2018
State	Incumbent Governor	Open Seat?	Incumbent Senator	Open Seat?
Arizona	Doug Ducey	No	Jeff Flake	Yes
California	Jerry Brown	Yes	Dianne Feinstein	No
Connecticut	Dan Malloy	Yes	Chris Murphy	No
Florida	Rick Scott	Yes	Bill Nelson	No
Hawaii	David Ige	No	Mazie Hirono	No
Maine	Paul LePage	Yes	Angus King	No
Maryland	Larry Hogan	No	Ben Cardin	No
Massachusetts	Charlie Baker	No	Elizabeth Warren	No
Michigan	Rick Snyder	Yes	Debbie Stabenow	No
Minnesota	Mark Dayton	Yes	Amy Klobuchar	No
Nebraska	Pete Ricketts	No	Deb Fischer	No
Nevada	Brian Sandoval	Yes	Dean Heller	No
New Mexico	Susana Martinez	Yes	Martin Heinrich	No
New York	Andrew Cuomo	No	Kirsten Gillibrand	No
Ohio	John Kasich	Yes	Sherrod Brown	No
Pennsylvania	Tom Wolf	No	Bob Casey, Jr.	No
Rhode Island	Gina Raimondo	No	Sheldon Whitehouse	No
Tennessee	Bill Haslam	Yes	Bob Corker	Yes
Texas	Greg Abbott	No	Ted Cruz	No
Vermont	Phil Scott	No	Bernie Sanders	No
Wisconsin	Scott Walker	No	Tammy Baldwin	No
Wyoming	Matt Mead	Yes	John Barrasso	No

Pivot Counties

See also:Pivot Counties by state

Eighteen of 62 New York counties—29 percent—arePivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and forDonald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election,Hillary Clinton (D) won New York with 59 percent of the vote.Donald Trump (R) received 36.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, New York voted Democratic 45.6 percent of the time and Republican 35 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, New York voted Democratic all five times.^[23]

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in New York. Click[show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled byDaily Kos.^[24][25]

Seat election history

2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Andrew Cuomo/Kathy HochulIncumbent	54.3%	2,069,480
	Republican	Rob Astorino/Chris Moss	40.3%	1,536,879
	Green	Howie Hawkins/Brian Jones	4.8%	184,419
	Libertarian	Michael McDermott/Chris Edes	0.4%	16,967
	Sapient	Steven Cohn/Bobby K. Kalotee	0.1%	4,963
Total Votes				3,812,708
Election results viaNew York State Board of Elections

2010

New York Governor/Lt. Governor, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Andrew Cuomo/Robert Duffy	61%	2,910,876
	Republican	Carl Paladino/Gregory Edwards	32.5%	1,547,857
	Green	Howie Hawkins/Gloria Mattera	1.3%	59,906
	Rent is 2 Damn High	Jimmy McMillan/No candidate	0.9%	41,129
	Libertarian	Warren Redlich/Alden Link	1%	48,359
	Anti-Prohibition	Kristin Davis/Tanya Gendelman	0.4%	20,421
	Freedom	Charles Barron/Eva Doyle	0.5%	24,571
	Blank	-	2.3%	107,823
	Void	-	0.1%	3,963
	Scattering	-	0.1%	4,836
Total Votes				4,769,741
Election results viaNew York State Board of Elections

Wave election analysis

See also:Wave elections (1918-2016)

The termwave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makessignificant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from PresidentWoodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 toDonald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016.We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition togubernatorial elections, we found that Republicans needed to loseseven seats for 2018 to qualify as awave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 gubernatorial waves from 1918 to 2016.Click here to read the full report.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in New York heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in New York.
• Democrats held 17 of 27U.S. House seats in New York.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Democrats held 5 of 11state executive positions, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of New York was DemocratAndrew Cuomo. The state heldelections forgovernor andlieutenant governor onNovember 6, 2018.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of theNew York State Legislature. They had a 104-41 majority in the state Assembly and a 32-31 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• New York was aDemocratic trifecta, meaning that the Democratic Party controlled the office of the governor, the state House, and the state Senate.

2018 elections

See also:New York elections, 2018

New York held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• One U.S. Senate seat
• 18 U.S. House seats
• Governor and lieutenant governor
• Two lower state executive positions
• 63 state Senate seats
• 150 state Assembly seats
• Municipal elections in New York, Buffalo, and Erie County

Demographics

As of July 2016, New York's three largest cities were New York (pop. est. 8,622,698), Hempstead (pop. est. 774,959), and Brookhaven (pop. est. 486,170).^[29][30]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in New York from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from theNew York State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in New York every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), New York 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	59.0%	Donald Trump	36.5%	22.5%
2012	Barack Obama	63.3%	Mitt Romney	35.2%	28.1%
2008	Barack Obama	62.9%	John McCain	36.0%	26.1%
2004	John Kerry	58.4%	George W. Bush	40.1%	18.3%
2000	Al Gore	60.2%	George W. Bush	35.2%	25.0%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results ofU.S. Senate races in New York from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), New York 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Chuck Schumer	70.7%	Wendy Long	27.1%	43.6%
2012	Kirsten Gillibrand	67.6%	Wendy Long	24.7%	42.9%
2010	Chuck Schumer	64.0%	Jay Townsend	31.1%	32.9%
2008	Hillary Clinton	67.0%	John Spencer	31.0%	36.0%
2004	Chuck Schumer	71.2%	Howard Mills	24.2%	47.0%
2000	Hillary Clinton	55.3%	Rick Lazio	43.0%	22.3%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in New York.

Election results (Governor), New York 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Andrew Cuomo	50.3%	Rob Astorino	40.3%	10.0%
2010	Andrew Cuomo	61.0%	Carl Paladino	32.5%	28.5%
2006	Eliot Spitzer	65.3%	John Faso	27.1%	38.2%
2002	George Pataki	49.4%	Carl McCall	33.5%	15.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent New York in theU.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, New York 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	9	33.3%	18	66.7%	D+7
2014	9	33.3%	18	66.7%	D+7
2012	6	22.2%	21	77.8%	D+15
2010	8	27.6%	21	72.4%	D+13
2008	3	10.3%	26	89.6%	D+23
2006	6	20.7%	23	79.3%	D+17
2004	9	31.0%	20	69.0%	D+9
2002	10	34.5%	19	65.5%	D+9
2000	12	38.7%	19	61.3%	D+7

Trifectas, 1992-2017

Astate government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the termsNew York governor election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External links

Suggest a link

• Governor of New York official website
• Lieutenant Governor of New York official website

Footnotes

v • e Governors Current Governors Alabama •Alaska •American Samoa •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Guam •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Northern Mariana Islands •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Puerto Rico •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •U.S. Virgin Islands •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming Elections 2025 •2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017 •2016 •2015 •2014 •2013 •2012 •2011 •2010 Features States with gubernatorial term limits •Election of lieutenant governors •How gubernatorial vacancies are filled •States with gubernatorial recall provisions •Gubernatorial impeachment procedures •Comparison of gubernatorial salaries •Comparison of lieutenant gubernatorial salaries •Residences of the American governors

v • e Lieutenant Governors Current Lieutenant Governors Alabama •Alaska •American Samoa •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Guam •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Northern Mariana Islands •Ohio •Oklahoma •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •U.S. Virgin Islands •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin Elections 2025 •2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017 •2016 •2015 •2014 •2012 •2011 •2010 Features States with gubernatorial term limits •Election of lieutenant governors •How gubernatorial vacancies are filled •States with gubernatorial recall provisions •Gubernatorial impeachment procedures •Comparison of lieutenant gubernatorial salaries

	v • e State ofNew York Albany (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? |Elections in 2025 |How to vote |How to run for office |Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? |U.S. President |U.S. Congress |Federal courts |State executives |State legislature |State and local courts |Counties |Cities |School districts |Public policy