The deadline passed to submit campaign contribution amounts for the fiscal year. Once again we get the chance to review how much our legislators are raising in order to reatain their seats. Which, this year, could be neccessary since they have performed so poorly.
However, the focus of this will be on the Andrew Cuomo and Governor David Paterson. Cuomo raised about 5.1 million in the last year while Paterson raised 3.7 million. Paterson outspent Cuomo though, spending 1.8 million this year while Cuomo spent only 600,000 dollars.
Cuomo has previously stated that he will not be attempting to run for the Gubnatorial position against Paterson, despite the fact that Cuomo has beaten Paterson in every poll since January. With these new numbers we can make a few assumptions though.
Paterson is spending money as fast as he can make it because he knows he will have to hit the ground running well ahead of any challanger. Paterson has taken serious flak on a myriad of issues, not all are his fault, such as current economic situations. However, he will still be held responsible for answering questions about the many mistakes he has made.
Cuomo on the other hand has remained fairly quite and out of the spotlight. Only coming forward when his opinion was needed or demanded. He has quitly been raising a war chest worthy of the Gubnatorial race. I highly doubt that Cuomo needs 5.1 million dollars for the Attorny Generals race, especially with more than a year away from the election.
Everything Cuomo is doing is indicitive of someone who is seriosly considering a move up the ladder. He is building up a huge surplus of cash and spending nearly none. I believe Cuomo is going to wait a little longer to decide if he is going to challenge Paterson. It looks like Cuomo will only step up if it is clear that Paterson can not beat whoever is running on the Republican ticket. It is possible that Paterson’s numbers could turn around, but only time will tell.
