Editorial

The election is over. Time to govern.

Posted

"You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” That’s what Andrew Cuomo said in his victory speech last Tuesday, after he defeated his closest challenger, Republican Rob Astorino, by nearly 500,000 votes.

New Yorkers — at least those in New York City, Nassau and 10 other counties (out of 57 in the state) — preferred Cuomo. He was even endorsed by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, a Republican.

Cuomo’s victory was the first time a Democrat had earned a second term as governor of New York since his father, Mario, did it in 1986. On Election Day, Cuomo, at least in part because of his frequent visits to Long Beach and other parts of Nassau after Hurricane Sandy, was rewarded with 25,000 more votes in Nassau than Astorino, 160,000 to 135,000.

Republicans also had a good night on Nov. 4, not only taking control of the U.S. Senate and increasing an already solid House majority, but gaining a clear command in the State Senate as well. When the next session starts, Dean Skelos, a Republican from Rockville Centre, will most likely be named majority leader.

We hope that with the Senate now more firmly in Republican hands, Skelos and Cuomo will continue in the spirit of cooperation they established over the past four years. That cooperation led to four on-time budgets in a row (a first in New York for decades), the passage of gun safety legislation, and marriage equality for New Yorkers. The state went from having a $10 billion deficit to a $4 billion surplus. If that cooperation can continue, there will be hope that other serious issues can be addressed and progress made.

Of course, a fundamental act of governance is assigning priorities to the issues. And in a state where Democrats rule the Assembly and the governor’s office and Republicans have the Senate, there’s bound to be disagreement on both the prioritization of issues and the best solutions.

In his acceptance speech, Cuomo outlined some of his second-term agenda. He wants an increase in the state’s minimum wage, passage of all parts of the Women’s Equality Act, public financing of campaigns and the Dream Act. He says he wants to reduce property taxes and improve the state’s education system.

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