New York Assembly Appears to Have Enough Votes to Impeach Cuomo
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New York legislators appear to have enough votes as of Friday to force Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) departure.
A total of 58 Democratic legislators have called for his resignation in public statements. A dozen more have said they support his impeachment. On the Republican side, 20 legislators have called for Cuomo to resign, while 35 have called for his impeachment.
In the New York Assembly, that means a total of 38 members have called for his resignation while 40 have said they prefer impeachment, for a sum total of 78. Just 76 votes are required to initiate impeachment proceedings in the chamber, which is analogous to the United States House. In the event of a successful impeachment vote, the governor would sit before an impeachment court composed of state senators and state appeals court judges.
Cuomo reiterated on Friday that he would not resign, despite facing allegations made by numerous women over the the last month, and condemned lawmakers who had spoken out against him. “Politicians who don’t know a single fact, but yet form a conclusion and an opinion, are in my opinion reckless and dangerous,” Cuomo said in a call with reporters. “The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance.”
Republicans in the Assembly moved forward with a resolution to impeach Cuomo this week, while state Democrats are reportedly planning behind the scenes to replace the governor. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will fill the role in the event of Cuomo’s immediate resignation or impeachment, though New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Rep. Tom Suozzi have been floated as possible candidates to run in the state’s 2022 election.
The last time New York impeached a governor was in 1913. That process resulted in the removal of Gov. William Sulzer, who was found guilty of campaign finance violations after a three-week trial. The last New York governor to resign was Eliot Spitzer (D), who stepped down in 2008 in the wake of allegations that he had spent up to $80,000 on prostitutes.
