Mario Cuomo

Mario Matthew Cuomo (born June 15, 1932) is an American lawyer and New York state Democratic Party politician.

He was born in the Queens burrow of New York City. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1974 but was not elected. He was appointed New York Secretary of State by Governor Hugh Carey in 1975. Cuomo was defeated by Ed Koch in the democratic primary for the New York City mayoral election, but was elected Lieutenant Governor on Carey's ticket in 1978. He became Governor himself in 1983, defeating Koch in the 1982 democratic primary and Republican businessman Lewis Lehrman in the general election, and won election for three consecutive terms, serving until 1995. He ran for a fourth term in 1994 but was defeated by George Pataki. He is notable for his liberal views. He gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention of 1984, and there have been speculations during several presidential election campaigns that he might run for the Democratic Party nomination for president, but has always declined to run. He believes in the committment of the government to social welfare and the aiding of less fortunate members of society. Among the projects he helped to start and continued to support was the New York State Games for the Physically Challenged.