Astorino sees GOP support for possible run against Cuomo

ALBANY -- Rob Astorino, the leading Republican considering a challenge to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo next year, said he came away from a meeting with GOP governors in Arizona convinced that the party is not ceding New York to the Democrats.

"Nobody has written off anything," the Westchester County executive said after spending several days in Scottsdale at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, a politically potent group that helps finance gubernatorial campaigns. "If there is movement in the right direction and the potential to win, then the resources would come in dramatic fashion."

Astorino, who was recently re-elected leader of a county with a Democratic voter enrollment edge, said he met with major campaign donors and GOP governors, including New Jersey's Chris Christie.

"I had substantial discussions with political people as well as some very big donors," he said. "If this [running for governor] is something that I choose to do, it's going to be because the backing and resources are there. I'm not going to jump into an empty pool."

Cuomo already has at least $28 million in the bank for 2014.

Astorino said he does not know when he will decide.

But Ed Cox, the state GOP chairman, who also attended the Arizona meeting, said he believes Astorino is leaning more toward running after his time in Scottsdale. "He got to talk to governors about what it was like, and it can't help but have a tremendous impact on your decision-making," Cox said.

Astorino has slowly been emerging as a top prospect for the GOP to try to unseat Cuomo, whose popularity has slipped in a state with a 2-1 Democratic enrollment edge over Republicans.

A number of Republican governors who attended the Scottsdale meeting -- including Christie, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Arizona's Jan Brewer and Florida's Rick Scott -- either declined to comment on Astorino or did not return calls.

The governors association can be an important player to link donors with candidates and could also contribute on its own to campaigns. It raised $23.5 million in the first half of 2013 and has $45 million on hand.