About Andrew

Andrew Mark Cuomo is the 56th and current governor of the state of New York. Elected in 2010, Cuomo is a member of the Democratic party. Born in Queens, New York on December 6th, 1957, Cuomo began his political career working as the campaign manager for his father, Mario Cuomo, who served as the governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. A father of three daughters (Michaela, Cara, and Mariah), Cuomo is married to Food Network host Sandra Lee.

Prior to his election as Governor, Cuomo worked two years as a New York assistant district attorney and briefly for the law firm of Blutrich, Falcone & Miller. He became active in the issues of homelessness and state housing policy during the 1980s and 1990s. This in turn spurred him on to create Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP), a non-profit organization whose goal is to provide housing and the supportive services necessary for the homeless and people in need to become and remain self reliant. He was appointed Chairman of the New York City Homeless Commission during the administration of New York City Mayor David Dinkins, from 1990 to 1993.

From 1993 to 1997, Cuomo served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and was later appointed as secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1997-2001 under President Bill Clinton. During his time as secretary, Cuomo brought about dramatic reforms to combat fraud and abuse, and fought racial discrimination by bringing about 2000 anti-discrimination cases all across the country. His work earned the HUD the “Innovations in American Government Award” from the Ford Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on three different occasions (to be frank, it probably didn't hurt that he was married to Kerry Kennedy at the time).

Andrew Cuomo also served as Attorney General for the state of New York. As Attorney General, Cuomo brought national reform to the student loan industry, uncovered fraud within the largest health insurers in the country, won decisions forcing the EPA to enforce pollution laws, protected investors from abuses on Wall Street, and made the Internet safer for children nationwide. He made investigations into the state pension system that ended decades of government corruption in New York and set a model for public pension fund management across the country.

As governor, Cuomo has focused on LGBT rights, including the legalization of gay marriage, women's rights and economic stimulus. Known for his bipartisan approach to achieving his goals, Cuomo's first two years saw him popular statewide and across party lines. That appeal dipped in early 2013 following Cuomo's work to pass the nation's strictest gun-control laws. Following the law's passage, polling showed more of a traditional split between update and downstate as well as Republican and Democrat.

Sources:

http://andrewcuomo.com/about-andrew/

https://www.governor.ny.gov/about

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/republicans_approval_of_andrew.html

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/06/like-father-like-son-the-story-of-political-bravery-about-mario-and-andrew-cuomo/