Rochester mayor tapped as Cuomo running mate

RYE BROOK - Andrew Cuomo, the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has selected Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy to be his lieutenant governor running mate, the Cuomo campaign said Wednesday morning.

The pair was to appear together at an announcement in Manhattan later in the morning.

Duffy, 55, is in his second term as mayor of the upstate city, home to photo giant Eastman Kodak. He was first elected in 2005 after serving as police chief since 1998. He joined the police department in 1976.

In choosing Duffy, Cuomo aides said the state attorney general sought to address concerns that a potential successor be able to step in and run the state immediately. Then-lieutenant governor David A. Paterson succeeded Eliot Spitzer in March 2008 after Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. However, Paterson's tenure as governor has been rocky.

The Duffy selection also helps balance the Democrats' six-member statewide ticket by adding a second upstate resident. However, the ticket probably will have no minorities.

Duffy was expected to be nominated Wednesday by the state Democratic Convention in Rye Brook. His nomination will follow those for U.S. Senate and state comptroller.

The state Democratic Convention was to vote Wednesday on nominations for all statewide offices except governor.

Five candidates are vying to succeed Cuomo as state attorney general. But a deal was struck Tuesday to allow all of them on the September primary ballot.

The move guaranteed party harmony, a top priority of Jay Jacobs, head of the state and Nassau Democratic committees. "We are a united party and that's important going forward," he said.

Jacobs also said he expected the 446 delegates to quickly dispatch the nominations of incumbent U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer of Brooklyn and Kirsten Gillibrand of Hudson, and incumbent state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli of Great Neck.

Voting for attorney general will begin around 2 p.m. and could take several hours. Two ballots are required to ensure all five get the required 25 percent of delegate votes. Each candidate will address the delegates.

Cuomo's choice for lieutenant governor will likely receive 25 percent to get on the election ballot. Of the declared candidates, party activist Bill Samuels said he would not mount a floor fight, while Christopher St. Lawrence, supervisor of Ramapo Town, may run for Rockland County supervisor.

The convention also is expected to approve some policy resolutions as part of the party platform.

Seeking to upstage the Democrats, Republican state chairman Edward Cox has planned a news conference for Wednesday morning outside the convention hotel to criticize Schumer, Gillibrand and DiNapoli.

Cox's spokesman noted Tuesday that Democrats are calling themselves a new party to try to put distance from three and a half years of disarray in the Capitol.

Democrats were undeterred.

"You are going to see the leadership that will join Andrew Cuomo in fighting for reform, making government work, improving education and creating jobs," said Charlie King, executive director of the state Democratic Committee.