Andrew Cuomo
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Andrew Mark Cuomo ( KWOH-moh; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of New York. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, Cuomo served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021 following numerous sexual misconduct allegations. Born in Queens, New York City, Cuomo is a graduate of Fordham University and 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 United States. He also delivered Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act; a 2011 tax law that raised taxes for the wealthy and lowered taxes for the middle class; a 12-week paid family leave law; and a gradual increase of the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour. Cuomo was initially lauded locally and nationally for his administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, but he faced criticism and a federal investigation for ordering nursing homes to admit patients from hospitals without testing them for COVID-19. The order was blamed for a large number of nursing home deaths, and the administration's subsequent actions were scrutinized in a number of reports and investigations. A January 2021 report by state attorney general Letitia James found that the Cuomo administration had undercounted COVID-19-related deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%. As of May 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice has an open investigation into Cuomo's testimony on his involvement with a questionable report used to combat criticism of his handling of the pandemic. Beginning in late 2020, Cuomo faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. A report from independent investigators commissioned by James found in August 2021 that Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women from 2013 through 2020 and retaliated against victims who made complaints about his conduct. Following the release of James's report, there were widespread calls for Cuomo's resignation, including from President Joe Biden. On August 23, 2021, in the midst of an impeachment investigation against him, Cuomo resigned from office. After his resignation, criminal investigations from the district attorney offices for New York County, Nassau County, Westchester County, and Oswego County were closed without charges being filed. A criminal charge in Albany County was dropped in 2022. In 2025, Cuomo mounted a political comeback bid and ran for mayor of New York City in that year's election. Despite leading in most Democratic primary polls, he lost to Zohran Mamdani in what was considered a major upset. He continued his run as an independent, then lost again to Mamdani in the general election.