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Andrew Cuomo
Cuomo in 2017
Cuomo in 2020
56th Governor of New York
In office
January 1, 2011 – August 23, 2021
Lieutenant
  • Robert Duffy
  • Kathy Hochul
Preceded by David Paterson
Succeeded by Kathy Hochul
Chair of the National Governors Association
In office
August 5, 2020 – July 8, 2021
Vice Chair Asa Hutchinson
Preceded by Larry Hogan
Succeeded by Asa Hutchinson
Vice Chair of the National Governors Association
In office
July 26, 2019 – August 5, 2020
Chair Larry Hogan
Preceded by Larry Hogan
Succeeded by Asa Hutchinson
64th Attorney General of New York
In office
January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2010
Governor Eliot Spitzer
David Paterson
Preceded by Eliot Spitzer
Succeeded by Eric Schneiderman
11th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
In office
January 29, 1997 – January 20, 2001
President Bill Clinton
Deputy Saul N. Ramirez Jr.
Preceded by Henry Cisneros
Succeeded by Mel Martínez
Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Community Planning and Development
In office
May 28, 1993 – January 29, 1997
President Bill Clinton
Preceded by Skirma Kondratas
Succeeded by Saul N. Ramirez Jr.
Personal details
Born
Andrew Mark Cuomo

(1957-12-06) December 6, 1957 (age 66)
New York City, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse
(m. 1990; div. 2005)
Domestic partner Sandra Lee (2005–2019)
Children 3
Parents Mario Cuomo
Matilda Raffa
Relatives Cuomo family
Education
Fordham University (BA)
Albany Law School (JD)
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician
Signature

Andrew Mark Cuomo ( KWOH-moh born December 6, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and former government official who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuomo, held for three terms as the 52nd governor.

On August 23, 2021 Cuomo officially resigned from office and was succeeded by his lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul. At the time of his resignation, he was the longest-serving governor in the United States still in position.

Early life and education

Andrew Mark Cuomo was born on December 6, 1957, in the New York City borough of Queens to lawyer and later governor of New York Mario Cuomo and Matilda (née Raffa). His parents were both of Italian descent; his paternal grandparents were from Nocera Inferiore and Tramonti in the Campania region of southern Italy, while his maternal grandparents were from Sicily (his grandfather from Messina). He has four siblings; his younger brother, Chris Cuomo, is a current NewsNation anchor and a former CNN journalist, and his elder sister is noted radiologist Margaret Cuomo.

Cuomo graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in 1975. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University in 1979 and a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School in 1982.

Сareer

HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo
Cuomo as HUD Secretary, 1998
B&T 3604 (8139739680)
Cuomo in New York City in October 2012 following Hurricane Sandy
Inaugural ride of the Second Avenue Subway (31193357844)
Cuomo speaking at the inaugural ride of the Second Avenue Subway on December 31, 2016

Cuomo began his career working as the campaign manager for his father in the 1982 New York gubernatorial election. Later, Cuomo entered the private practice of law and chaired the New York City Homeless Commission from 1990 to 1993. Cuomo then served in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as assistant secretary from 1993 to 1997 and as secretary from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. After failing to win the Democratic primary in the 2002 New York gubernatorial election, Cuomo was elected New York attorney general in 2006.

Cuomo won the 2010 Democratic primary for governor of New York and won the general election with over 60 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2014 and 2018. During his governorship, Cuomo signed the Marriage Equality Act in 2011 to legalize same-sex marriage. Cuomo's administration oversaw the construction of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall, and a reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport. In 2012, Cuomo signed the NY SAFE Act of 2013, the strictest gun control law in the United States. He also delivered Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act; a 2011 tax code that raised taxes for the wealthy and lowered taxes for the middle class; 12-week paid family leave; and a gradual increase of the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Personal life

President Bill Clinton at a movie screening outside the Family Theatre of the White House (07) Color Balance
Cuomo with then-wife Kerry Kennedy and President Bill Clinton in 2000

Cuomo married Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, on June 9, 1990. They have three daughters: twins, Cara Ethel Kennedy-Cuomo and Mariah Matilda Kennedy-Cuomo (born 1995), and Michaela Andrea Kennedy-Cuomo (born 1997). They separated in 2003, and divorced in 2005.

Cuomo began dating Food Network host Sandra Lee in 2005, and the couple moved in together in 2011. The two resided in Westchester County, New York. On September 25, 2019, the couple announced that they had ended their relationship. From the fall of 2019 until August 21, 2021, Cuomo lived in the New York State Executive Mansion on a full-time basis with his three daughters.

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See also

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