Incumbent Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo sought re-election to a second term in office, though incumbent Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy did not seek re-election. Cuomo and his running mate, former U.S. Representative Kathy Hochul, won contested primaries, while Republican Rob Astorino, the Westchester County Executive, and his running mate (Chemung County Sheriff Chris Moss) were unopposed for their party's nomination. Astorino and Moss were also cross-nominated by the Conservative Party and the Stop Common Core Party.
On Election Day, Cuomo and Hochul defeated Astorino and Moss by a margin of 14 percentage points.[1]
Democrat Andrew Cuomo, then serving as Attorney General of New York, was elected Governor in 2010. Cuomo defeated Republican businessman Carl Paladino by a nearly 2 to 1 margin, 63% to 33%. Cuomo succeeded retiring Democratic Governor David Paterson. Entering the 2014 campaign, Cuomo enjoyed high approval ratings and a large campaign war chest that totaled $33 million as of January 2014.[citation needed] The Cook Political Report, Daily Kos Elections, Governing, RealClearPolitics, The Rothenberg Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball all rated the 2014 New York gubernatorial election as "Safe Democratic".
Progressive minor parties saw an opportunity to make headway in the state due to Cuomo's relatively conservative stances on taxes and spending.[2][3] A poll commissioned by businessman and progressive political activist Bill Samuels in March 2014 indicated that even an unknown left-wing third-party challenger on the Working Families Party line could garner between 6% and 13% of the vote without threatening Cuomo's chances of winning re-election.[4] A later poll by the Siena Research Institute taken of 772 registered voters from April 12–17, 2014, with a margin of error of ± 3.5%, found Cuomo taking 39% to Republican candidate Rob Astorino's 24% and an unnamed Working Families Party candidate also at 24%.[5] A Quinnipiac poll conducted in May 2014 produced a similar result to Siena's, with Cuomo at 37%, Astorino at 24% and the third party candidate at 22%.[6] The Working Families Party nonetheless cross-endorsed Cuomo in a bitterly contested convention vote, leaving Howie Hawkins of the Green Party as the sole progressive challenger assured of a place on the ballot.[3]
In May 2014, after widespread speculation, Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy confirmed that he would not run for a second term, expressing a desire to return to his home city of Rochester.[7] Byron Brown, the Mayor of Buffalo; Kathy Hochul, a former U.S. Representative; Steve Bellone, the current Suffolk County Executive; Kevin Law, the former deputy Suffolk County executive; and Republican Joanie Mahoney, the County Executive of Onondaga County; were considered to be potential replacements.[8][9][10] Within the Cuomo administration, potential names included Matt Driscoll, the former mayor of Syracuse; RoAnn Destito, a former Assemblywoman; and Cesar A. Perales, the Secretary of State of New York.[11] Hochul was revealed as Cuomo's running mate during the state Democratic convention on May 21, 2014.[12]