Politics 88 : Cuomo Acts to Stop Draft Movement

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo said Saturday that he would not endorse any of the Democratic contenders until all the primaries are over, and he moved to extinguish a draft movement started on his behalf by a former New York congressman.

The governor wrote to Richard L. Ottinger, former representative from suburban Westchester County, telling him “not to go forward with your intention to encourage a draft.”

In his letter, the governor said he would not throw his support behind any presidential candidate before the end of the primaries on June 7. Cuomo said he wanted to be neutral so he could help a front-runner collect enough uncommitted votes to allow him to gain the nomination.

A spokesman for the governor said Cuomo wrote Ottinger in an effort to forestall a news conference Ottinger had scheduled on Monday to call for voters to cast their ballots for uncommitted slates in New York’s primary.

“Cuomo has gone to the uncommitted draft people and told them in a very public way, don’t use my name,” said Gary Fryer, the governor’s press secretary.

Fryer explained that Cuomo believed that three candidates were competing in New York state and that voting for uncommitted slates of delegates would be harmful to that competition.

Earlier in the day, a statement by the governor that he had ruled out a draft for himself rekindled a semantic debate in the state capital of Albany, where Cuomo and the Legislature are wrestling with a new state budget.

But after a number of clarifications, it was clear from the governor’s office that nothing had changed. Cuomo’s position remains that he does not expect a multi-ballot convention and he views it as unlikely and counterproductive to the Democratic Party. However, in the event the convention in Atlanta in July became deadlocked, and the party turned to him, he would not refuse a draft.