The Times-Union’s Capitol correspondent Jimmy Vielkind had a very interesting story today in which he details how Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to campaign in the districts of Assembly Republicans who voted against his tax deal.
At an earlier appearance today, Gov. Cuomo denied it. Yet barely 36 hours after the bill was signed, Gov. Cuomo is making a rare Brooklyn appearance on the doorstop of, but not in, the district of one of the few Democratic lawmakers who didn’t sign the bill.
That lawmaker is Inez Barron. She is the wife of Charles Barron, the fiery City Councilman who is running for Congress. Oh, and also running for that Congressional seat is Hakeem Jeffries. And it is in Mr. Jeffries’ district that Mr. Cuomo will appear today, a few miles away from the Barrons stronghold in East New York.
Adding to the conspiratorial intrigue is the fact Mr. Jeffries is pretty strong supporter of the governor, even introducing at the Democratic convention last year. Mr. Barron has made this support a cornerstone of his campaign.
The Congressional seat is currently held by Ed Towns.
Thus, so far at least, it doesn’t appear as if Mr. Cuomo is trying to hurt his opponents as he is trying to help his supporters, although in a typical Cuomo power political move, he is actually doing both
