Cuomo, Hochul victorious in Democratic primary

Gov. Andrew Cuomo warded off a primary challenge Tuesday from a liberal-leaning law professor, with early returns showing the incumbent garnering about 60 percent of the vote.

Democrats in New York backed the first-term governor over challenger Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham Law School professor and former aide to then-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.

With 41 percent of precincts, Cuomo had received 120,499 votes to Teachout's 70,565, which was about 36 percent. Comedian/activist Randy Credico had received 8,257 votes, or 4 percent.

The Associated Press called the race in Cuomo's favor at 10:14 p.m. Cuomo's running mate, former Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-Buffalo, was also victorious, according to the AP.

Cuomo will now officially hold the Democratic ballot line this November, when he will face Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins.

Cuomo was cruising in western New York, New York City and Westchester County, but Teachout was faring well in the Albany area and the mid-Hudson Valley, including Dutchess and Ulster counties. Teachout was also winning in Tompkins County.

The 56-year-old governor was the heavy favorite and declined to do much by way of traditional campaigning ahead of the primary challenge, leaving much of the work to friendly surrogates and Hochul, his pick for lieutenant governor.

Teachout appeared on pace to outpace recent challengers to candidates backed by the Democratic Party. In 2006, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi picked up 18 percent of the vote in a gubernatorial primary against then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Hochul, however, faced a separate primary challenge from Teachout's running mate: Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu, a scholar known in the tech world for his advocacy of "net neutrality."

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Hochul led Wu with nearly 61 percent of the vote.

(Photo by Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News)