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Cuomo Says: Vote!

Mike Groll
/
AP

On a state primary day, and during a hotly contested presidential campaign, Governor Cuomo issued a somewhat non-partisan message to New Yorkers: vote, or don’t complain about the results.

Cuomo did not address the latest controversies surrounding Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, nor did he advocate for more Democrats in the state Senate, as some democrats have urged him to do. Instead, Cuomo said, with all of the important issues now swirling, like threats of terrorism and economic unease, the most important thing to do is vote. Cuomo says the legislature is “very powerful,” and it matters who is elected.

“These decisions really do matter. Again if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain and we all want to be able to complain, so you should vote,” Cuomo told reporters, after casting his ballot in a democratic primary for the state Senate seat held by Terrence Murphy, a Republican. He did not say who he supported.

But in most parts of the state, there are no primaries for the state legislature, so the next chance to vote for or against assemblymembers and senators is November 8. 

Karen has covered state government and politics for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 New York and Connecticut stations, since 1990. She is also a regular contributor to the statewide public television program about New York State government, New York Now. She appears on the reporter’s roundtable segment, and interviews newsmakers.