OntheWilderSide

(excerpt from) NY Daily News
Attorney General Cuomo steaming over Gov. Paterson’s state Dem pick
by Elizabeth Benjamin

Tensions between Gov. Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have reached frosty new levels with the recent pick of a state Democratic boss.

Paterson tapped Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs to replace June O’Neill, a veteran of former Gov. Mario Cuomo’s administration.

A Paterson ally described Cuomo – the governor’s potential 2010 primary rival – as “off-the-charts angry” about the nod.

It’s not Cuomo’s allegiance to O’Neill that’s the problem.

Paterson’s camp believes it’s Jacobs’ close ties to Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi…

Another Paterson source said Cuomo made it known he was “very unhappy” with the selection of Jacobs…

Jacobs has a business background and is a prodigious fund-raiser. Paterson’s camp hopes he will be able to strengthen the foundering party as the governor prepares to run for the seat he inherited last March after Spitzer’s prostitution scandal.

Keeping the party weak would benefit Cuomo, whose best-case scenario for 2010 is that Paterson fails to improve his poll numbers and is pressured by nervous Democrats not to run.

Cuomo is well ahead of Paterson in opinion polls, and last week he reported raising more than twice as much campaign cash as Paterson since January…

Previous coverage of this story at onthewilderside: here.

Filed under: elections, New York State Politics, News Tagged: | 2010, andrew cuomo, democratic party, Governor, Governor Paterson, Jay Jacobs, nassau, NY State, Suozzi, Tom Suozzi