Gubernatorial Candidates Seek to Woo Women

With the Democratic primary just days away, the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are scrambling to lure women voters by proving they are the most progressive candidates.

Incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing a challenge from Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout, a woman who says she is the most progressive candidate for governor. Her running mate Tim Wu is campaigning against former Congresswoman Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s running mate.

Cuomo’s camp announced in July that it had collected enough votes to create a Women’s Equality Party to carry his 10-point women’s agenda, which failed in the state legislature last year. The agenda supports equal pay for women and measures to reduce domestic violence, but it was blocked by Republicans because it also allowed late-term abortions in New York.

Hochul has said the Women’s Equality Party offers women another option on the ballot in November for Republican women who support the women’s agenda but don’t want to vote on the Democratic line. Teachout calls the party a sham meant to distract women voters.

Cuomo has been popular among women voters. He got two thirds of the women’s vote when he beat Republican Carl Paladino in 2010. Those kind of numbers would help boost his image in the national stage.

With Teachout a relative unknown, Cuomo is almost certain to face Rob Astorino, a Westchester Republican, in November. And Astorino could have more appeal than Paladino to the suburban professionals and soccer moms who helped lift Cuomo’s numbers four years ago.

At a Hochul event at a senior center in the Bronx last week, resident Patria Marin said she had never heard of Hochul and doesn’t believe gender or age should be a factor in choosing a candidate.

“You can’t be a sexist, you can’t be an ageist,” she said. Then again, Marin said, “Because we are women, we understand the plight of women a little bit more than men.”

For more information on Tuesday's primaries, and to find out where you can vote, visit our voter guide at WNYC.org.