Andrew Cuomo Educational Background and Biography: Andrew Mark Cuomo (born December 6, 1957) is an American politician, author, and lawyer serving since 2011 as the 56th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position his father, Mario Cuomo, held for three terms.
In 1993, Cuomo joined the Clinton Administration as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 1997 to 2001, he served as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Andrew Cuomo Educational Background
In 2006, Cuomo was elected Attorney General of New York. He won the election as Governor of New York in 2010 and has been reelected twice after winning primaries against liberal challengers Zephyr Teachout (2014) and Cynthia Nixon (2018). During his governorship, Cuomo oversaw the passage of a law legalizing same-sex marriage in New York; creation of the United States Climate Alliance, a group of states committed to fighting climate change by following the terms of the Paris Climate Accords; passage of the strictest gun control law in the U.S.; Medicaid expansion; a new tax code that raised taxes for the wealthy and lowered taxes for the middle class; paid family leave; an increase in the minimum wage; wage equality; and legislation legalizing medical marijuana.
Born in New York City, Cuomo is a graduate of Fordham University and Albany Law School of Union University, New York. He began his career working as the campaign manager for his father, then as an assistant district attorney in New York City before entering private law practice. He founded Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP USA) and was appointed chair of the New York City Homeless Commission, a position he held from 1990 to 1993.
Andrew Cuomo Political Rise
Cuomo served as his father’s campaign manager during the race to become the 52nd governor of New York. After the elder Cuomo was elected to the first of three terms, in 1982, Andrew managed his father’s Transition Committee and then became a top adviser.
Cuomo began serving as assistant district attorney of Manhattan in 1984, before becoming a partner in the law firm Blutrich, Falcone & Miller. Transitioning back to public service, in 1986 he founded the state’s Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP). According to Cuomo’s website, HELP has since become “one of the nation’s largest builders and operators of transitional and low income housing.”
In 1993, Cuomo became an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Bill Clinton. He took over as HUD secretary in 1997, and served in the role until 2001.
Cuomo made his first run for the New York governorship in 2002 but withdrew from the race after making a controversial comment about then-Governor George Pataki’s lack of leadership following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It was perceived as a major gaffe for the Democratic hopeful, and Cuomo dropped out of the public eye for a few years to work in real estate.
Cuomo returned to the spotlight by running for the position of New York attorney general in 2006. Promising to crack down on corrupt state government officials and enforce environmental laws, he easily defeated his Republican opponent, Jeanine Pirro.
Working alongside New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Cuomo earned praise for fulfilling his campaign pledge to address corruption, notably filing a civil lawsuit against New York Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. for stealing $14 million from his nonprofit health clinic. Additionally, his investigations prompted reforms within the state pension system and national student loan organizations.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Holds Coronavirus Briefing | NBC News
Biography
Andrew Cuomo, the 56th governor of New York, is the son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and brother of news anchor Chris Cuomo. He formerly served as New York's attorney general and U.S. secretary of HUD.